Like her fellow student firefighters, Kili Wetherell, 18, lives and breathes firefighting. She trains for hours each week and is prepared to respond at any time night or day when on duty.

Outside the dorm room she lives in at the fire department is an alarm that will alert her and the crew to an emergency they must respond to.

Wetherell helps deal with emergencies in the Fairbanks area. Often the department gets calls from elderly people who fall down or babies that have pneumonia, but Wetherell says her most difficult call was trying to save a child shot by a gun. The girl didn't make it. Wetherell explained that, as an emergency worker, one cannot be emotionally involved in tense situations.

"You try to empathize," she said, "but it is more like training, you need to think about what you are doing."

The process to become a firefighter is a rigorous one. The students have to pass a written exam, an oral board interview as well as a physical fitness test that includes climbing a ladder chopping through a roof and dragging a dummy.

Wetherell, who is the only woman on the student crew, said that some of the physical work is more challenging. She describes living in the maledominated environment as interesting, but says that she is just considered one of the gang. Her room is decorated with girly posters donated from her fellow firefighters who thought she needed something to put on her blank walls.

Wetherell will be buying ice cream for all her fellow firefighters this week. It is tradition that if one of them gets a picture in the paper, or mess up somehow, they have to buy ice cream for everyone. She is also part of the department's intramural hockey team, and that contributes plenty of experience because she's played since age four.

Wetherell first became interested in becoming a fire fighter when she took an EMT class in high school in Anchorage. She was not old enough to begin working for the fire department in Anchorage but tried to get a feel for the job by doing ridealongs. When she told her family that she wanted to be a firefighter, she said they were surprised because none of them had ever been involved in anything like it, but Wetherell says they were supportive.

The student firefighters work shifts of 24 hours on call at a time. They work for 24 hours on and 48 off, in a schedule that Wetherell describes as "crazy."

While on shift they can attend class, but they must carry a pager in case they have a call. The firefighters also gain additional training and certification while on duty. Wetherell has already accumulated 24 credits from certifications and classes taken through the fire department. She has EMT II and III certification.

The intense schedule brings students in the department closer together. Many live in the dorms and share a kitchen where they often cook meals together. "Birthdays are a big deal. You don't want to tell anyone when it is your birthday," she said, because they will make a big deal of it. They spend a lot of time doing homework; to stay on they must maintain a minimum 2.0 grade point average.

Students must spend some holidays and summers, spring breaks and Christmas breaks training and working. During Christmas break, Wetherell flew home for just a few hours and then was back at the station, training for an emergency.

Wetherell likes what she does because she said she likes working with people and that she is involved in helping people who need it. "It's a good job and a lot of fun," she said.