NRCC News

New River Community College student named Firefighter of the Year in Radford

Feb 07 2020

This is an archived article!

This article was published on Feb 07 2020 and was archived on Feb 08 2021. The information below may be outdated or inaccurate.

Keagan Henegar, New River Community College student, was recently honored as Radford City Fire Department’s 2019 Firefighter of the Year.

Henegar is part of the Access to Community College Education (ACCE) program at NRCC, which is a public/private partnership that makes college available debt-free to high school and home schooled graduates by funding NRCC tuition for two years.

He will graduate in May with a general studies associate degree and plans to transfer to Radford University Carilion and obtain a bachelor’s degree in emergency services with the goal of being a paramedic.

Henegar began at the Radford City Fire Department in August 2018 as part of his volunteer hours needed for the ACCE program. He always wanted to be a firefighter like his dad, and the ACCE volunteer service with the fire department provided him with the perfect opportunity to begin following in his father’s footsteps. While Henegar needs 80 hours as part of the ACCE program, he easily completed well over that. During his time with the fire department, he has completed firefighter I, firefighter II and hazardous materials operations trainings that total 249 hours. Henegar is currently going through an emergency medical technician (EMT) training that is 160 hours.

He liked the idea of ACCE and wanted to be a part of the program because it would help him save money before he transferred to Radford University Carilion. When asked about his biggest takeaway from the program, Henegar said it was being able to get involved with the fire department.

“ACCE gives students the chance to get a degree and get out in their community to give back,” Henegar said.