SLIPPERY ROCK — On the first day of the 2013 fall semester, Cameron Delestienne was on his way to his first class of the year at Slippery Rock University when he received a call about a garage fire.

With the threat of the fire spreading to the attached house, Delestienne, who is a firefighter with the Slippery Rock Volunteer Fire Company, chose to respond to the fire rather than go to class.

Delestienne, 22, of Chester County is one of the several SRU students who also are firefighters at the Slippery Rock company.

Chief Ken Taggart said the company has eight members who are SRU students. Two students who recently graduated continue to be active.

“We always get two or three new ones every year,” Taggart said.

The company has about 30 active firefighters.

He said the only drawback to student firefighters is that they usually are not around during the summer and winter breaks.

Delestienne, who also belongs to the Keystone Valley Fire Department back at his home, has been a member since 2011. He got involved in firefighting because his father was a firefighter.

“We've always been around it,” said Delestienne, who is a senior parks and resource management and safety management major at SRU.

Although he responded to that fire on his first day of class, he said his top priority is being a student.

“It's a balance,” Delestienne said.

Kurt Reasner, 23, of Franklin Park originally got involved partially because he is in the same fraternity as Delestienne. He also was involved back home with the Franklin Park Volunteer Fire Company. Additionally, his great uncle was a captain in the Pittsburgh Fire Department.

“I just grew up with all of his stories,” said Reasner, a junior safety major.

He said being a firefighter can be fulfilling, and he said it is nice to help the community.

“It's exciting. Everything's always different. No calls are the same,” Reasner said.

But, he too said balance is important. Sometimes, he said, he could be out all night on a call and then have an 8 a.m. class. Then he would have to decide if he wants to go to the class or if he is able to miss it.

When he gets fire calls, it is important deciding if he is going to go.

“If I'm in class, I'm not going. If I'm on my way to class, depending on what the call is, I'll go,” Reasner said.

He said friends and other students often ask him about fire calls.

“I'm always getting text messages,” Reasner said.

Reasner is taking a semester off from SRU to pursue professional firefighting in Virginia. He said he recently passed a written application, and will undergo physical testing and an interview to see if he is accepted. He will travel back and forth between Slippery Rock and Virginia this semester while all of this is happening.

Delestienne and Reasner in January were named lieutenants at the company.

“It's kind of humbling to know that the fire company has the trust in college kids to be officers,” Reasner said.

Jess Beatty, 21, of Beaver County decided to be a firefighter while at SRU because she no longer was involved at her home fire department, the Darlington Volunteer Fire Department.

“I figured since I wasn't doing it at home, I would do it here,” Beatty said.

A senior public health major, she joined the Slippery Rock department when she was a freshman.

“It's been great. I enjoy it. We're all pretty close-knit here,” Beatty said.

Although calls come in at all hours of the day, she said her education is the most important.

“I'm not going to leave class for a call,” Beatty said.

But it's not just fire calls that these SRU students respond to. They also help out with fundraisers, such as the annual fish dinners and gun raffle.

“There is a lot that goes into that, too,” Beatty said.

Nick Yurkovich, 23, of Imperial, like the other student firefighters, became involved partially because of family ties. His father was a firefighter for 38 years.

“I'm kind of walking in his footsteps,” said Yurkovich, a senior safety management major.

He hopes to be a professional firefighter some day.

Over the years, he has had some interesting calls. Recently he went on a night call because a girl pulled the fire alarm at her apartment building because her cat pulled her fish tank into a power strip.

Last year, he responded to a fire at a house where ammunition was stored. With the heat, the ammunition began to go off.

Yurkovich said there is only one thing you can do in those cases.

“Don't move,” Yurkovich said. “Hopefully it doesn't hit you.”

Taggart said the company always is looking for new volunteers, and said those interested could call the fire station at 724-794-3817.

The company responded to 1,200 calls in 2014.

Founded in 1907, the company covers Brady, Cherry, Slippery Rock and Worth townships and Slippery Rock and West Liberty in Butler County as well as Liberty Township in Mercer County, Plain Grove Township in Lawrence County and a 20-mile stretch of Interstate 79.