Trial by fire: A new generation of wildland firefighters learns the ropes [Video]

SALIDA, Colo. — Nathan Prater walked across the stage at his high school graduation at 7 p.m. on May 14. He went home, packed his belongings and said goodbye to his family. Early the next morning, Prater left to learn how to fight fire. 

Prater was one of 24 students to complete the four-day S-130/S-190 wildland firefighter training at the Colorado Fire Camp last month. Prater, 17, is already a certified EMT. He hopes that adding wildland firefighter training will bolster his resume and open jobs as a paramedic. 

Prater shields his eyes with a pair of Pit Viper sunglasses, a graduation present. He’s a self proclaimed adrenaline junkie. 

“I don’t see the risk honestly, like it’s life. If you die, you die,” he said.

Beneath this cavalier veneer, however, Prater carries a sense of maturity he developed from treating people in life-threatening situations as an EMT. 

“It’s all fun …