While working together at an Orange County Fire Authority station in Buena Park, Andrew Robles and Gabriel Flores talked often over coffee about how they wanted to give back to community members like them who dreamed of careers in the fire service but also faced financial barriers to get there.
As a part-time instructor at the fire academies at Mt. San Antonio College and Rio Hondo College, Flores, who is also a firefighter and paramedic, noticed students falling asleep in classes because they were balancing jobs and caretaking roles with the full-time program. Flores also understood those challenges, as he worked in Santa Fe Springs while attending a fire academy part time in Inglewood at night before becoming a firefighter.
Flores and Robles felt inspired to create a program that would help those interested in a career as a firefighter, EMT or paramedic focus on their education without worrying about paying for tuition or supporting their loved ones financially.
In 2020, they created the OC Bomberos, after the Spanish word for firefighters, and have provided more than 40 scholarships to help community members afford college fire academy courses and paramedic or EMT training. The value of the scholarship has varied each year, but in 2025 nine candidates were awarded $1,000 scholarships.
Recipients can put the scholarship money towards whatever they need while they’re in these full-time programs, Robles said, whether that’s tuition, rent, books or other necessities.
Paramedic school programs can total as much as $13,000, EMT school is around $2,500 and a basic college fire academy can cost about $6,000, said Robles, a fire apparatus engineer.
“You can see how someone who wants to be a firefighter, who has the desire to be a firefighter, but has financial obligations at home,” Robles said, “might not have the opportunity to pursue their dream career because of the financial burden.”
Robles was five or six years old when he marveled at the fire engines and the courage of the new recruits at his uncle’s fire academy graduation as they showed off their skills by running a drill to extinguish a car fire. He also remembers his mom’s face, wondering how she would afford a uniform that cost several hundred dollars, so that he could join the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s explorer program for young people interested in fire service.
“She wrote the check and figured it out later, and I still don’t know how she paid for it,” Robles said. “She didn’t put that burden on me, she just handled it, but I knew how difficult it was and I was very appreciative.”
In 2022, several hundred people attended the OC Bomberos’ inaugural cornhole tournament to raise money for scholarships. From there, OC Bomberos continued to grow, becoming a nonprofit, bringing on two other Orange County firefighters to help run the operation alongside their full-time jobs and raising $15,000 at the 2025 cornhole tournament.
Scholarship recipients have gone on to work for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Cal Fire, Faulk Ambulance, the Los Angeles City Fire Department and the U.S. Forest Service.
In 2025, Kekoa Lau became the first scholarship recipient to be hired as a firefighter with the OCFA. Until then, Robles and Flores imagined what it would be like when the program grew to the point that someone they mentored would eventually work alongside them.
“It’s really cool to see that full circle,” Robles said, “of them interested in the fire service but not sure how to get involved to now riding on the fire engine with us.”
The scholarship helped Lau attend the Rio Hondo College Fire Academy while handling outside expenses. Students attend the fire academy Monday through Friday from about 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., so Lau had to leave his full-time job as an ambulance officer, he said.
Before moving to Southern California, Lau juggled jobs in construction, restaurants and a local pharmacy in Hawaii while taking his sister to and from preschool. He didn’t see himself moving forward in any of those paths, but a mentor helped him realize that he needed to find his passion. A family friend who is a firefighter advised him to become an EMT and work in an ambulance to gain experience before joining the fire service.
He moved in with his mom in Southern California, started an EMT program and became an ambulance officer, which helped him meet firefighters in Orange County and get connected with the OC Bomberos. The scholarship he was awarded helped him attend the Rio Hondo College Fire Academy at least a semester earlier than he would’ve been able to afford otherwise, he said.
As the fire academy finished up, the OC Bomberos were there to help Lau navigate the hiring process. They held mock panel interviews to prepare Lau and other future firefighters to present themselves, their qualifications and their passion for fire service in 30 minutes. Lau took their feedback and recorded his interviews to work on his responses and cut out filler words.
The program goes beyond scholarships, matching teens and young adults with mentors and providing them with more information on opportunities like the OCFA fire cadet program, where they can learn more about careers in fire service. Once members are old enough to apply for academies and jobs, the OC Bomberos help them with test prep and scheduling ride-alongs and meetings with local departments.
Since Lau joined OCFA, the OC Bomberos continue to reach out. They’ve encouraged him to talk with them if he needs help or advice, and checked in on him as he starts his firefighting career.
When Lau learned he’d been accepted into OCFA’s fire academy, he broke down and called his family friend, his mom and all of his mentors in OC Bomberos to share the news. It was serendipitous, he said, to learn he’d be joining the fire authority whose members inspired him and helped him become a firefighter in the first place.
“Everyone grows up wanting to be a superhero and having that superhero they wish they were,” Lau said. “When you get told that the Avengers are recruiting you and those are your superheroes, … it was a feeling unlike any other.”
Since he’s been on the job, Lau said he feels trust from community members and sees their relief when firefighters arrive at a scene. It inspires him to build on the work of firefighters who came before him and continue to serve the community.
“That’s what our job is,” he said. “We’ve got to bring peace to the chaos.”
Once he finishes his first year, Lau said he hopes to get involved with OC Bomberos and help more people find their passion in firefighting.
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