BY EDDIE BUCHANAN and SETH DALE
With the volunteer firefighter finding it harder to meet increasing demands on his time, the training officer’s ability to train new recruits is becoming more vital to the survival of the volunteer service. Training officers often find it difficult to blend the necessary lecture with much needed hands-on applications within the constraints of the volunteer’s schedule. The volunteer fire academy applies what are commonly thought of as “career-oriented” training philosophies to the volunteer setting. The emphasis is on creating “professional firefighters”: There is no separation between firefighters who are paid and those who are not; the focus is on creating professionals capable of serving their community safely.
 Discipline plays a major role at the volunteer fire academy. Here, students line up for morning inspection. |
This training approach allows smaller departments to combine resources and create a more efficient training environment. The end result is a more disciplined and responsible firefighter, capable not only of doing the job but also of doing it with the respect and dedication it deserves.
ACADEMY COMPONENTS
The Chief Shabbona Fire Academy in Grundy County, Illinois, and the Hanover Fire Academy in Hanover County, Virginia, have implemented volunteer academies with much success. The academy format is broken into three basic components: the plan, the process, and the product.
PLAN COMPONENTS
 Hands-on skills are emphasized, giving volunteers maximum time to become proficient and confident. (Photo by author) |
Effective planning is the key to any successful program. First, evaluate your current training situation. If your department is small, contact surrounding departments to discuss training options. Many depart-ments that have limited resources find that they can become a powerful force when their resources are combined with those of other departments. Building a core group of instructors within your department and from the surrounding area creates a solid foundation for future success. These dedicated few will become key players in the future administration of the program.
Personnel
- Chief sponsor. This is the first (and most important) position in the academy. This chief provides the political clout needed to overcome those inevitable naysayers and provides support within the system by ex-plaining budgetary needs and safety concerns and communicating with other area chiefs and government officials. The primary goal is to keep politics out of the academy by promoting the end product.
- Academy director. The director handles administration and finance and answers directly to the chief sponsor.
- Assistant director. This individual serves as a student liaison, addressing recruit and personnel concerns.
- Class coordinator. The functions of this position are to create lesson plans and arrange for classroom resources.
- Instructor coordinator. This coordinator’s responsibilities are to schedule instructors and manage live burn evolutions and other practical activities.
The class and instructor coordinators report to the assistant director, who reports to the academy director, who reports to the chief sponsor. Depending on available personnel, more than one job responsibility may be assigned to each person.
 In the academy format, students learn how to operate as a “company” or small group. Here, an instructor critiques a company’s performance during a live fire evolution. (Photo by Ben Ward) |
Once this group of personnel is assembled, short- and long-term goals can be established.
Facility
Use a facility that is centrally located and has classroom facilities; space for most of the basic practical evolutions; and storage space for student records, instructional materials, and a limited supply of teaching aids. A centrally located training room at the fire station or local school works well.
Funding
Funding sources must be identified early in the planning process. Depending on the situation, student tuition and funding through the jurisdiction are likely sources. Establish a cost per student that includes instructor costs, textbooks, uniforms, and other resources that may be needed. Add an additional 10 to 20 percent for growth and replacement of supplies.
One way to reduce overhead is to use volunteer instructors. Many dedicated in-structors are happy to help out and work for an academy baseball cap or coffee mug. Check with the jurisdiction having authority to ensure that adequate insurance is in place to cover the volunteer instructors.
Some alternative funding may be obtained through local, state, and federal grants. Local businesses, such as insurance companies, have built-in programs to provide education for volunteer organizations. Fund-raisers and donated materials can also provide additional resources. Local hardware stores or fire service vendors may sponsor the academy, providing equipment and tools in exchange for the advertisement and use of their products. Different levels of sponsorships based on donation amounts can be established.
Scheduling
 |
The program schedule must be volunteer friendly in that it will allow students to meet personal responsibilities at home and work. Responsibility for maintaining the integrity of the academy must fall on both the students and the instructors, who must work together to ensure that the students meet the required training objectives. Providing alternative scheduling for makeup time and one-on-one counseling is vital to volunteer recruitment and retention efforts. Most lectures are scheduled for weeknights, limiting the “fluff” and allowing for maximum hands-on training time. Schedule large evolutions, such as tower drills and live fire scenarios on Saturdays (see Figure 1).
THE PROCESS
Three basic concepts are integral to the academy format.
- Discipline. This is a fading quality in the younger generation of firefighters. The academy format introduces the students to the traditional work ethic of the fire service and holds them accountable for their actions. Class rules outlining the expected behaviors are provided prior to the class. Failure to comply with or meet the required objectives results in some form of discipline for the entire company. Such discipline is outlined in the rules handed out at the beginning of class.
- Responsibility. Responsibility goes hand-in-hand with discipline. Students are expected to be on time and have with them the appropriate uniform, PPE, and class materials. Each company reports for roll call and is held accountable for each member; this ensures that each member makes up any missed material and performs successfully and develops the “brotherhood” relationship and a focus on teamwork. Requiring that each recruit is prepared and understands the material scheduled for lectures and practicals, prior to class time, enhances individual responsibility.
- Hands-on application of skills. This type of learning experience has been a fading trend in the volunteer fire service. It is vital that every recruit firefighter, volunteer or paid, get the necessary life-saving, hands-on training. The heaviest burden for administering practical knowledge falls on the instructor. Competent and well-versed instructors are the most important part of ensuring that the information gets from “head to hand” in the least amount of time. Repetition is the key to success in any practical evolution, and each student must participate with equal enthusiasm to guarantee a positive result. Outside instructors are used during many of the practical exercises, to expand the message that has been put before the recruits and provide educational diversity.
FAMILY DAY
Incorporating a “family day” into the academy format has proven successful. This event is scheduled for a routine burn day and allows each recruit to invite immediate family members to the academy to watch them in action. Hamburgers and hot dogs are served while the family watches the recruits stretch hoselines, attack fires, and make rescues. Generally, recruitment and retention efforts are focused on the firefighter; the family is not considered in the recruitment equation. Allowing family members to see their spouse, son, or daughter in action develops in them a respect for the fire service, which is vital to the recruits’ long-term success. This new appreciation for the job may make them more tolerant of the long hours the firefighters have to spend away from home to meet the ever growing number of calls for increased services and training requirements.1
GRADUATION CEREMONY
The graduation ceremony is often overlooked in the volunteer fire service. Volunteer recruits work for months to achieve the title of firefighter, only to quietly receive their certificate in the mail. As part of the academy format, much is done to make the most of their achievements, instilling a sense of pride they will carry for the rest of their fire service career.
The graduation ceremony is a formal event. Fire department officials, local government representatives, graduates’ family members, and local media are invited to help the graduates celebrate their achievements. A keynote speaker provides a motivational speech as a send-off to the class. A summary of the events of the previous months is made by the “president,” elected by the class, and the accomplishments and challenges overcome by the class are shown in a video presentation created by the class. Students are awarded their academy certificate by the fire chief, who welcomes the new recruits to the service. After the ceremony, refreshments are served. At this time, the recruits’ families meet members of the class, instructors, and department officials. This simple process builds pride in the recruit and allows the family to meet the recruits’ “new family.”
THE PRODUCT
The end result of the academy program is a firefighter who has the necessary practical knowledge, skills, and abilities as well as a sense of responsibility and pride in the firefighting profession. Recruits receive the appropriate hands-on training time mixed with discipline and accountability. The progression of teamwork on the fireground is evident almost immediately and improves after each graduating class.
This program requires very few resources to implement. It is a different approach to volunteer training-not a new process. At first, there were concerns that this new approach might drive away new volunteers, but the exact opposite has happened. Dropout rates have decreased by nearly 50 percent, and each class entering the program appears to be more energetic than the last one. Volunteers have enjoyed the new challenges and especially appreciate that the opportunities are obtainable within their schedules.
Currently, the Hanover Fire Academy and the Chief Shabbona Fire Academy run schools back-to-back and have recruits on a waiting list. The volunteer training officer is the key to the survival of the volunteer fire service. It’s our responsibility to find alternative ways to train the latest endangered species-the volunteer firefighter.2
Endnotes
- Thanks to Senior Captain Perry Hornbarger of the Chesterfield (VA) Fire Department for this training idea.
- For additional information, contact Eddie Buchanan at
or (804) 798-7784, or Seth Dale at @co.hanover.va.us>or (815) 941-2011. You can visit the Chief Shabbona Fire Academy Web site at www.Shabbona.com. @uti.com>
EDDIE BUCHANAN is an 18-year veteran of the fire service and is currently program coordinator for the Hanover Fire Academy, Hanover County, Virginia, serving a department of 500 volunteers, and an instructor for the Virginia Department of Fire Programs. He formerly was a district chief for the Henry (VA) Volunteer Fire Department.
SETH DALE, a 12-year veteran of the fire service, is a career firefighter with the Darien-Woodridge (IL) Fire District and a volunteer with the Morris Fire and Ambulance Protection District. He is the instructor coordinator for the Chief Shabbona Fire Academy, Grundy County, Illinois, and an instructor with the Illinois Fire Service Institute.
