MIDDLEBURY — If you call the fire department in Middlebury, the ones helping you will not only be your neighbors. The Middlebury Fire Department has seven Middlebury College students on staff at all times.

One of these is 21-year-old Aidan Ulian, a rising senior and Physics major from Wellesley Hills, Mass. Like the other firefighters, he is on call 24/7 for any emergency.

Though balancing his studies with firefighting is not an easy task, Ulian said he volunteers to fights fires so he can get involved in the broader Middlebury community.

“I didn’t want to come to school and just go to Middlebury College. I wanted to come here and live here for four years, ” Ulian told the Independent.

In his first year at the college, Ulian felt that it was easy to stay isolated on campus and not come into town. Since becoming a firefighter, though, he has built connections with the department in addition to interacting with the Middlebury community. On each call, he discovers new parts of town and meets Middlebury residents.

“This is such a great way to get to know the people in the department who have all different types of jobs in the community,” Ulian said. “And it’s a really good community here within the station.”

Ulian has built close working relationships with gas delivery drivers, people who work at Goodro Lumber and all varieties of Middlebury residents. But Ulian’s interest in the fire department doesn’t end with connecting to the local community. It also came from a dream that began at age five.

Sixteen years ago, Ulian’s mom took him to hear Charlie Duke, an Apollo astronaut. Duke was a spacecraft communicator for the first ever moon landing, and in 1972, he was the 10th person to walk on the moon — and the youngest. When Ulian heard him speak, he wanted to be an astronaut, too.

“I was five years old — I was blown away. He was on the moon, oh my goodness. I immediately went into my astronaut phase,” Ulian said, “and then as I got a little bit older, I was like, how could I do this?”

After doing some research, Ulian found out that many astronauts start out in the Navy. At around age 12, Ulian decided that if he wanted to be an astronaut, he should work toward entering the Navy.

To Ulian, the Middlebury Fire Department is another step in that journey.

“The Navy has a big emphasis on firefighting,” Ulian said. “They’re carrying weaponry on boats, and a fire on a boat is not going to be the best thing in the world.”

Before Ulian began working for the fire department, though, he had to go through the competitive application process. The Middlebury Fire Department limits its force to seven students at a time. This ensures that the department isn’t overwhelmed in the summer when the majority of college students leave.

However, this strict limit means that when one or two firefighters graduate, 20-30 students will apply for a single opening.

In his sophomore year, Ulian was accepted.

“If you get accepted, you’re enrolled into the Vermont Fire Academy,” Ulian explained. “It’s a Fire One Certification, which is literally our national firefighting standard, and then Vermont will also teach you hazardous materials certifications.”

The training program lasts nine months, an entire school year for Ulian. According to Middlebury Fire Chief David Shaw, the students accepted into the program are an essential link between the college and the community — one that not many residents know about.

“The Middlebury students are an integral part of our department. We rely on those seven students for their ability to get trained,” Shaw said. “They have to go through the Firefighter One program and maintain good grades and be good students, and then we want them to be good town servants as well.”

During his training, Ulian built a close bond with two firefighters that he worked with, Joe D’Avignon and Dan Ribaudo. Since completing training last year, Ulian has been thriving in the program and is now an important part of the team.

“Aidan is excelling in the program. He’s setting the bar for others to reach,” Chief Shaw said.

Now, Ulian is a 24/7 paid on call firefighter. At any point in the day, Ulian will receive a call from his pager alerting him to an emergency. Every time Ulian is on a call, he’s paid $15 per hour for his work.

BALANCING ACT

Though Ulian loves the job, it can sometimes be hard to balance with his schoolwork.

“As a student, the 24/7 part can get tricky to handle, because you’re in class or you’re studying for an exam. And it’s crunch time,” Ulian said.

“The exam’s tomorrow, it’s 9 p.m., and I started studying just a few hours ago. And a call can go off,” Ulian said. “You have to make a decision.”

Last year, Ulian had an exam for a physics class — one of the hardest he had taken. The night before the exam, after he finished studying, he went to bed at 11 p.m. Just two hours later, he was woken up at 1 a.m. by his pager. A call came in for a structure fire.

Structure fires happen when fire spreads to the walls, roof or other structural components of a building. The calls can take upwards of five hours. Ulian had to make a choice: would he get enough rest for one of the largest exams of his college career, or take the call and help someone in need?

He took the call.

From 1 to 6 a.m., Ulian was on the scene. After the call, he went home, slept for a quick hour and went to all his classes. That evening, he took the exam.

“I should have emailed my professor, ‘Hey look, professor, I was up all night. Can I move the exam?’” Ulian said. “I didn’t.”

Ulian ended up with a 46% on the exam — not the worst score for a class average of 56%, but far lower than what he wanted. Afterwards, he emailed his professor to explain what happened and arrange a way to retake the exam.

“I learned my lesson,” Ulian said.

Outside of exams, Ulian’s friends have gotten used to him excusing himself from the dining hall to head to the fire station. Whenever his pager vibrates in his pocket, he assesses the call.

“I do feel bad for my roommate, though, because I’m a deep sleeper,” Ulian said.

Though during the day he keeps his pager on vibrate, Ulian turns the sound on at night so he can hear the calls. Every time he wakes up to hear what’s happening, his roommate wakes up with him.

Unlike the other students in the program, Ulian rides his bike to the department, which takes just three minutes. The short ride — sometimes at 1 o’clock in the morning — is another reminder that the Middlebury community is just outside his door.