WALLINGFORD - Ever since he graduated from Sheehan High School in 2006, Fred Giannelli has flung himself into the world of fighting fires and responding to emergencies. Now that passion is taking him on a once-in-a-lifetime journey to the coldest and windiest place on earth.

Persistence paid off for the 22-year-old, who spends his days at Goodwin College learning about emergency management and national security, evenings keeping watch as a lieutenant with the Yalesville Volunteer Fire Department and nights transporting Record-Journal newspapers on the graveyard shift.

Ever since the summer after graduation, while working in Maryland's Prince George's County, Giannelli has been itching to work near the South Pole as a firefighter with the U.S. Antarctic Program.

When he met a friend who had attended the program, at first he assumed he was making it up, then Giannelli realized it was a challenge he was determined to take on.

After three years of applying to Raytheon Polar Services, his wish finally came true this year. By the end of January, Giannelli will be off to perform nine months of aircraft rescue firefighting, extreme cold weather search and rescue, and whatever else comes up at McMurdo Station, the continent's main U.S. station, on the volcanic hills of Ross Island - just 850 miles from the South Pole and about 9,050 miles from Yalesville.

"Everyone's first reaction was: 'Why are there firefighters in Antarctica?' " said Giannelli, after response alarms sounded at the Hope Hill Road station Monday morning.

The Antarctic Treaty of 1961 stipulates that the continent be used only for peaceful purposes. These days, countries conduct research at various stations on a range of topics such as global warming, the ozone layer, glaciology and astronomy.

The fire department at McMurdo Station, operated by a branch of the National Science Foundation, does more than respond to issues that may arise on landing strips as airplanes stop for refueling. It functions as the station's only emergency response unit, serving a population that can reach more than 1,000 in the summer and only about 200 during the winter months of 24-hour darkness, with temperatures reaching negative 58 degrees Fahrenheit. The winter lasts from late June to September, but that doesn't intimidate Giannelli one bit.

"It's very unique and it's an opportunity to gain very good experience that I can't get in Wallingford," said Giannelli, who arranged his work schedule to allow for time to take care of his ailing grandmother, Gladys. "It's going to be a challenge."

Apart from hiding stuffed penguins in his locker, fellow firefighters, friends, family and girlfriend are all very supportive of his next endeavor.

"He's an integral part of that station. We're obviously going to miss him," said Wallingford Fire Chief Peter Struble, who also began his career as a volunteer firefighter. "If I were him, and I were his age again, I can see why he would want to do this."

John Garlock, president of Central Connecticut Transportation, where Giannelli works, said he has always been willing to go above and beyond his normal job duties, a quality that will take him far, particularly in the world of emergency response. "It's a demanding kind of job and somebody has to do it," he said. "I'm just glad he was willing to do it."

Giannelli and his mother, Nikki, a local medical assistant, both agree. If it weren't for the volunteer program where Giannelli has worked for the past four years, and received free fire and E.M.T. training and certification, he wouldn't have been eligible for the program.

"Everything I'm doing," Giannelli said, "I owe to the town of Wallingford and the volunteer system here."

shernandez@record-journal.com

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