1. The Legislature finds and declares that: through programs and courses county fire academies work to enhance the ability of firefighters to deal more effectively with fire and related emergencies; county fire academy courses offer students an opportunity to grow professionally and to increase their knowledge and skills to provide a safe and effective response to their communities; and certain courses offered by county fire academies are equal in difficulty to those at the college level.
The Legislature, therefore, further finds that it is appropriate for county colleges to award college credits to firefighters for certain courses completed in county fire academies.