Well, Sarah is 27 and she's been out of high school for around a decade, and in the Army for most of that. So, if someone had a good memory(Or knew her father, whom was a community figure, or follows the girls lacross team at RHS) they'd know Sarah relatively well. I don't know about English high schools, but American high schools can have bomb scares and small fires, and since the fire department is so close to the high school, its not hard to assume there would be some kind of interaction. Also note, that most fire departments in the US operate a large portion of ambulances in smaller cities, as most fire fighters are trained paramedics as well. I think its on level to believe that yes, there'd be cross interaction between the high school and the FD.<br/><br/>I don't know the standard age, but I graduated from HS at 17 and I transitioned from junior high at 14(I was a year ahead, but fell back a year in high school). Most states have high school starting around the 9th or 10th grade, 13-15 in range of age, and most graduates move on from high school around 17-18, give or take for failure to advance year by year basis.<br/><br/>I honestly viewed Rockford as a 15,000 or less small city, more like a big community in comparison to a standard city. Only one high school, only one police station and one fire department... can't be more than 20 thousand people, I'd say.