Local students place high in firefighting competition; here’s how you can help one to go to nationals

IDAHO FALLS — A local Career and Technical Education Center student has qualified for a national firefighting competition after placing first in the state.

Senior Ty Whitmeyer, 17, was one of four students who attended the SkillsUSA 2025 State Leadership and Skills Conference in Boise and placed first in firefighting.

Whitmeyer will now head to the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta on June 23 to 27.

SkillsUSA State

CTEC firefighting instructor Gregory Foster told EastIdahoNews.com he is very proud of Whitmeyer, CTEC Senior Clark Cleverley, who placed third, and the other technical career students who also went.

“I look forward to seeing what they all do with their futures,” Foster said.

Foster said the SkillsUSA State involved a series of tests and physical challenges each student had to complete.

Students take a written test and an interview, submit their resumes and cover letters, and then take the physical test. This includes performing CPR, tying different knots and taking a CPAT.

CPAT stands for the Candidate Physical Ability Test, a national standard that tests the skills needed to be a firefighter, Foster said.

Whitmeyer and Cleverley spoke with EastIdahoNews.com about the state conference. Both said they had never heard of SkillsUSA until the beginning of the school year.

Whitmeyer said Foster had spoken with the class pitching the skill competition, and he, Cleverley and two others decided to sign up.

“I was interested in competing with other people and showing off what I can do after learning what we do in Foster’s class,” Cleverley said.

Whitmeyer said they did a modified version of the CPAT to train for the competition throughout the year.

During the conference, Cleverley said the overall challenge wasn’t as hard as he imagined, but he was disappointed to take third place. He said he was the first of the group to experience the challenges and advised the others on what to expect.

“I think that probably helped quite a few people, but it was a competition. It was still pretty fun,” Cleverly said.

Whitmeyer said that for his tests, he scored high marks on the written aspect and had the best times for the CPAT.

His dad and grandfather, who were all firefighters, inspired him to pursue firefighting.

“Naturally, that’s kind of just been what I’ve always leaned towards… getting into this class and being able to go and work and do this has been awesome,” Whitmeyer.

He said he’s grateful for his experiences at CTEC. He was homeschooled, which allowed him to focus on his firefighting classes.

Fundraisers

Two fundraisers are being held to raise $4,000 for Whitmeyer’s trip to nationals.

The first is Dyno Day, which will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on May 24 outside Idaho Falls High School.

For $65, community members can bring their two-wheel drive gas vehicles, no four-wheel drive, and use a dynamometer for two pulls.

CTEC firefighting instructor Gregory Foster said the school’s auto program does this fundraiser every year to raise funds for it’s program, but for this year, they decided to donate the funds to Whitmeyer.

The other is a corn hole tournament fundraiser by Moneyshot Cornhole with an entrance fee of $20 on June 12 at 6:30 p.m at the Idaho Falls Elks Lodge.

Looking to the future

Being seniors and graduating at the end of the month, Whitmeyer and Cleverley look forward in pursing careers in firefighting locally.

“Never thought I’d be able to get my EMT and Fire 1 (certification) at 17 years old, so it’s just awesome,” Whitmeyer said.

“I’m hoping once I graduate, I’ll go and try and get on full time with a fire department,” Cleverley said.