THOMSON - Ray Blessing has been a firefighter in Martinez for 18 years. But when he started taking fire science classes at Augusta Tech a few months ago, he was a little overwhelmed.

"I'll admit, I've struggled," the Martinez-Columbia Fire Rescue captain said. "This is totally new to me. We're used to just going in and putting the fire out. This is a whole new world."

Firefighters from several Augusta-area departments are already enrolled in the school's fire science program, said Jerry A. Asbach, the head of the school's Fire Science Technology Department.

"For the most part, people participating in this aspect of our program are already working in field or possibly a related safety field," he said. "These are persons with an eye towards the future, maybe for promotion, or seeking better positions. ... This is the future of the fire service in America, and many professional firefighters are recognizing the importance of advanced education."

For the most part, students do much of their classwork online.

"We operate nearly entirely in the virtual world," Mr. Asbach said. "But there are a few classes that require some hands-on or other outside, non-online activity."

For example, students spent part of a recent Saturday learning how to investigate a suspicious fire at an abandoned house in McDuffie County. In the mock arson scenario, a room at a hotel - called "No-tel" - had been torched, and the students had to figure out which character did it, why and how the fire was set.

"When you do an investigation like this, everything counts," said Elizabeth Hankins, a volunteer with Govan Fire Department in Bamberg County for eight years and with Barnwell City Fire Department for eight months.

She hopes the degree she's working toward will help her eventually move to the administrative side.

Augusta firefighter Miranda Turner said the arson class has already brought her new perspective.

"It opens my eyes for things I should be looking for, but I wasn't necessarily looking for in the past when we get a call," she said.

While some students are working toward a degree in the program, others are working toward achieving the National Fire Association's National Professional Qualification Firefighter 1 level. It's the basics of firefighting, Mr. Asbach said.

The Firefighter 1 curriculum is spread over 20 weeks, mainly at night and on Saturdays - allowing firefighters to balance regular jobs with school, Mr. Asbach said.

Thomson Fire Chief Rick Sewell said the class seems to be working well and could prove very beneficial in the future.

"The thing that I look forward to is the fact that, hopefully, in the future it would create us a pool of potential applicants to maybe choose from when we have an opening," Chief Sewell said. "Instead of hiring somebody, having to send them to school and train them, I'm hoping that eventually these classes will produce a pool that we can just say, 'Hey we've got an opening.' And we'll get some applicants for that."

Mr. Asbach said he's grateful for the support he has received from area fire departments, especially Martinez-Columbia, McDuffie County and Thomson.

"Without the support of the fire department in Thomson, it would have been impossible to offer this learning experience to my students," he said, adding that Thomson fire officials helped with the mock arson and McDuffie fire officials set up a January practice fire for students.