SAN ANTONIO — After four years in the Marines, Emmanuel Solis still wanted to serve his community.

“I was just unsure of how I could keep doing it without getting deployed and be away from home,” Solis said. “I sat there and was like, you know what? The fire service is still giving back to the community.”

Solis enrolled at San Antonio College Regional Fire Academy in August. He is interested in working in a large city, such as San Antonio or Austin.

“They’ve definitely done a good job of teaching me all the skills to carry to those bigger cities,” Solis said. “Also, having that experience of living in bigger cities helps.” 

Chief Frank Poyner, SAC’s regional fire academy director, says courses at this academy are filled to the brim. The academy hit capacity, even after incorporating a summer session. 

“So now I’m having to push everyone to fall or spring of 2026, but the crazy thing is, is even with that, they still sign up,” Poyner said. 

Poyner encourages applicants to take EMT classes in the meantime. He believes the large turnout is a positive indicator.

Poyner says Texas has a shortage of firefighters and EMS personnel. He says Alamo Colleges, which oversees SAC, is investing more money into its first responders program. 

“The state itself has really been pushing hard for programs like ours to really try to get as many people as we can to help get production of qualified and certified firefighters into the field,” Poyner explained in reference to fire stations statewide.

Poyner says there is money in the budget to add an additional 80 students per year to the academy. 

“You can go across the state and across the entire country and they will tell you they need more firefighters, we need more law enforcement, we need more medics,” Poyner said. 

Cadets like Solis will train with live fires for the rest of the school year, until they graduate. 

“We will get to feel the heat, feel the pressure, and I’m excited to see how I can apply what I learned under pressure,” Solis said. 

As the students work under pressure, the academy aims to alleviate the pressure of worker shortages in Texas.