Sedona Red Rock High School senior and Cottonwood resident Nathyn D’Angelo plans to enroll at Yavapai College after graduation to become a firefighter.
D’Angelo said he made the decision because he felt that he was becoming increasingly mature and focused.
“I don’t know what I attribute that to — God, maybe? It’s just been about living life and facing challenges,” D’Angelo said. “Over time, I started to realize that a lot of other kids have both a mom and a dad to guide them. I didn’t have a father to show me what it means to be a man. So I came to understand that I was already starting from a disadvantage. I couldn’t afford to mess around or make reckless choices just for fun. I had to step up, figure things out on my own, and develop the willpower and courage to guide myself forward.”
D’Angelo said that he thought maturity comes with a sense of responsibility for others, whether it’s uplifting someone’s mood or helping them with a minor problem.
“My mom has a master’s degree in teaching, and she taught special needs kids, and she put me around when I was really little,” D’Angelo said of his mother, Kara Eiseler. “I feel like a lot of firefighters [and] police officers don’t really know how to work with somebody that has special needs or sensory issues, per se. So I feel like somebody like me would be a great person to have on a firefighting crew, because I could [see] if that person has a mental disorder, I could go in there and assess it in the proper manner.”
While D’Angelo said he chose to attend SRRHS because of the school’s football program, the program was canceled in May 2020.
“I came here in seventh grade because the football program was amazing — their field, their gear was awesome and I’d been playing football since I was 5,” D’Angelo said. “Then the year I became a freshman, they removed it, and by the time that happened, I already had a bunch of friends. So the inclination to jump back over to Mingus [Union High School] was just so minimal.”
In addition to being a member of the Key Club and Interact Club, D’Angelo participated in Scorpions baseball, basketball and track and field. He is currently competing in the javelin throw, with a personal best of 83 feet, and has set his sights on breaking 120 feet and qualifying for state finals.
D’Angelo said he expected athletics to prepare him physically for fire work.
“I haven’t decided yet on what agency to work for,” D’Angelo said. “It depends on when I get all my certs. The Sedona [Fire District] has a fantastic program, and pretty much straight out of Yavapai. I’m pretty much set up to go into either Verde Valley Fire District or SFD … But if I don’t get my certs for a couple of years after I graduate high school I’ll probably just go to Fort Collins … I would prefer to do wildland like the Hot Shots, because I kind of like the thrill of insanity.”
D’Angelo said that he was also thinking about getting skydiving and mountaineering certifications.
“I’m most excited for the brotherhood, because every fire department you get put into a shift, and then you’re with these guys permanently unless you change departments,” D’Angelo said. “So I’m excited to have some true guys that I can trust to save my life.”
D’Angelo is currently working on earning a captain’s certificate for commercial small craft and is planning to learn to scuba dive as well, with the goal of eventually sailing the Caribbean.
“I’m going to be the first person ever to go to college on my dad’s side of the family,” D’Angelo said. “I love firefighting, and I want to go into it 100%, but I also want to keep my eyes open to everything because the world’s so gigantic. I can’t really guarantee that I’ll stay dedicated to something. There’s so many options, so many cool things.”
“He is a natural firefighter,” Eiseler said. “That kid will stop on the side of the road and help push people out of snow. He’s always had the firefighter spirit, so I was not surprised at all when he told me his plans.”
