By: Grace Ryan
For Colton Bass, a 21-year-old LaBelle firefighter, career Lehigh Acres firefighter and high school teacher, the path to fire service began before he even got his drivers license. What started out as mere curiosity about a firefighting career turned into a calling. Today, Bass fights fires and also shares his experience and passion with students who are where he once stood.
“I had an early curiosity about firefighting,” said Bass. “Going into high school, they offered an introduction to firefighting course as an elective. When I signed up for it, I wasn’t completely sure if it was what I wanted to do, but I was going to find out.”
By Bass’s sophomore year his interest in the career had spiked and he wanted to get further education in the field. That focus became even more prevalent when the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools across the country. While many students stayed home, Bass was given an opportunity – and he ran with it.
”I was at the station every day,” he recalled. “It was on-the-job training. It went from ‘Do I want to do this?’ to ‘This is what I want to do.’ It just clicked.” Bass threw himself into every class and training opportunity available and began what has been a successful career in fire service.
In addition to being a firefighter, Bass also teaches the very same introduction to fire safety course at LaBelle High School that molded his life. “It made me look at giving back in a different way,” Bass said. “I was in that same situation six years ago. I know what this program can do.”
He teaches his students how to put on gear, what to expect, the standards and codes, fire behavior, safety and also the reality that the fire department responds to far more than just flames. “The joke is, if people don’t know what to do in a given situation, they call the fire department,” he laughed.
He now watches students discover that this career is within their reach. Bass holds an AS in Fire Safety, a BS in Public Safety Administration and is a fire college and EMT school graduate. While a college degree is beneficial for advancement, he says it isn’t required to begin a career as a firefighter. “Students can graduate high school at 18, attend the fire academy for six months, EMT school for three more months, and bring home $70,000 to $80,000 a year with very little tuition debt,” said Bass.
While Bass is a first year teacher, he has been immersed in fire service for six years, since age 15, and that gives him much more experience than other firefighters his age. “My age can make people hesitate at first,” he admitted. “They meet a young firefighter and probably think he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Then they find out I’ve been involved in the fire service for six years.”
Despite his young age and being in the early stages of his firefighting career, Bass has already earned The Valor Award and The Life Saving Award for courage in the face of danger while off duty. In one incident, Bass was driving to his shift when he witnessed a car accident. A teen sustained a broken leg and was trapped in his vehicle which caught fire. Bass was able to remove him from the vehicle before it was too late. The other incident occurred when Bass was still in high school. On his way to football practice, he saw a vehicle fire. Before firefighters and EMS arrived, he and two deputies safely removed a paraplegic man from his vehicle.
Bass continues to balance being a first responder with being an educator. He is excited to help open the doors for the future generation of firefighters and hopes his students discover the same passion that sparked his journey. According to Bass, “Firefighting is the best career in the world.”