Fire Science

Earn your two-year firefighter degree in Butler’s Fire Science program as you practice with real heat, flames and smoke. Learn valuable skills like fire suppression, emergency rescue and how to scale a burning building from instructors who live it every day.

Our program is fully immersive, so you gain experience fighting live fires while completing coursework that helps you understand the chemistry and medical science of firefighting.

We are teaching our students and making sure that their basic foundation of firefighting skills are second to none.

Dave Voss Lead Instructor, Fire Science

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Ignite Your Future

Explore the fundamentals of firefighting, master basic EMT skills and learn how best to handle hazardous materials in the field. Learn innovative training tower techniques, including rope rescue, forcible entry and fire evolutions.

For Firefighters, Our Faculty Make Great Scientists

In a few semesters of work, you’ll become that special breed of scientist who knows how to run into a burning building. New technologies, chemicals and industrial processes are increasing the potential for fires. By learning the latest in firefighting skills, you become privy to the newest techniques employed to control and extinguish fires. When you become a firefighter, you exhibit personal courage and commitment and become an irreplaceable asset to your community.

Get Certified

Get it Done Fast

We offer an 8-week Fire Academy fast track that grants students four certifications and one-third of a two-year degree within the first semester. You can also complete a 8-credit hour Fire Science Leadership certificate program to add to your credentials.

Hire Ready Fire Academy

Immerse yourself in firefighter and EMT training and in just 16 weeks, you'll have four industry certifications including IFSAC Firefighter 1 & 2, Haz-Mat Operations and EMT-B that will help you get hired right away.

Think you might want to get your associate degree, too? After 16 weeks you'll be a third of the way there!

Schedule

Monday – Thursday
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Training Tower

Exclusive Training Tower Used by the Pros & Butler Students

The training tower was built by Butler Community College, the El Dorado Fire Department and the City of El Dorado. It is three stories tall with rooftop facilities for high angle rescue, allowing fire science students to train more extensively in a realistic environment. Components of the tower include a burn room, smoke features and simulation for high rise evacuations. This state-of-the-art facility allows consistent and year-round training opportunities for not only Butler fire science students, but also professional firefighters from the region.

Residency Program

Kansas’ Only Fire Science Residency Program

In partnership with El Dorado Fire Department, you now can live in a hands-on learning environment. Butler is home to Kansas’s only Fire Science Residency Program where ten select students (male and female) live in our station while working shifts in and around El Dorado. It’s an experience you won’t find anywhere else.

Residency Address

Butler Fire Science Emergency Service Training Center
2610 W. 6th Ave.
El Dorado, KS 67042

Residency Requirements

Students must:

Be at least 18 years of age and possess and maintain a valid Kansas Driver's License.
Be enrolled in the Fire Science program and maintain at least 12 credit hours per semester. To complete an associate degree at Butler in two years, you will need to enroll in 15 or 16 credits each semester.
Maintain a 2.5 GPA per semester.
Possess IFSAC-approved Firefighter I Certification OR be currently enrolled in Firefighter I (FS 100) within one year of beginning the residency program and successfully pass the KFTRI Firefighter I Exam prior to the next consecutive semester.

What You Can Do with a Fire Science Degree

No matter what your dream job is, you’ll gain the building blocks to earn your bachelor’s degree at a four-year university or start your career right away in positions like: