Campus Gives Life to Academy Dream
A dream of the nation’s fire service for over 50 years became a reality on October 8 with the formal dedication of the National Fire Academy (NFA).
Located in Emmitsburg—in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of northern Maryland—the academy offers the fire service a superior educational resource. The 110-acre campus with 14 buildings has 38 fully-equipped classrooms and can accommodate up to 1000 students. Three dormitories can house 300 adult students in single occupancy rooms. Two auditoriums are available—one seating 1000 and the other 200. In addition, a new science building offers a 240-seat lecture hall and contains extensive modern equipment for laboratory exercises.
The campus also contains a modern physical fitness center—indoor pool, running track, tennis courts, basketball court, etc. The student quarters contain lounges and study centers, and the st udent library has a capacity for over 100,000 volumes and a bookstore.
“This is an ideal living/learning environment,” Gordon Vickery, United States fire administrator, explained. “Following the dedication, we will look forward to program delivery the first of next year, with 40 course weeks to be conducted annually.
“We’ve identified the three major types of students expected to attend the academy,” he continued. “Sixty percent of the student body will be comprised of fire service officers, particularly top and mid-level managers. Fire service instructors will make up another 30 percent, and the remaining 10 percent will be from allied professions, such as architects, planners and code enforcement officials.”
In terms of education and experiences, students will come from a wide variety of backgrounds. The USFA will strive for equitable and representative distribution from the total fire service, including special weekend sessions for volunteer fire fighters.
Learning must be used
“Major admissions criteria affecting the selection of students will be the impact the applicant will have on the quality of fire protection in the local community,” Vickery stressed. “We will want a committment from the local department that the student will be used in the field in which he has received training.”
Academy courses will focus on three major program areas: management or executive development (for both mid-level and senior level officers), fire prevention and control techniques, and educational methods.
“At present, 17 courses have been fully developed by the NFA, and a large number of other courses are in the planning and testing stage,” Vickery explained. “Based on several studies of training needs conducted by fire service and educational consulting organizations, the academy has slated additional course development projects for the next several years.
To train trainers
“Most NFA courses are designed to train the trainer—to provide training to fire service individuals who will then train other personnel, creating a multiplier effect. In this way, the impact of the academy can be greatly increased by offering NFA courses to a much larger audience than could be accommodated at the academy itself,” Vickery explained.
In addition to offering the on-site and cluster field program, the academy plans to continue its outreach effort, focusing on distribution of course materials to state training directors, metropolitan fire chiefs and fire marshals around the nation for their use in providing locally sponsored training.
“One of my first official acts after becoming the USFA administrator was to sign the property deed making the academy a reality,” Vickery concluded. “At that time, I remarked the signing represented a milestone in fire service history and I see the dedication ceremony and the forthcoming operation al status as additional milestones. The road to the opening of the academy has certainly not been a smooth ride. However, we’re virtually operational and I feel the trip was very worthwhile.”
