329 firefighters attend Spring Fire Training School

COLLEGE STATION – Firefighters from four countries have been in College Station this week for the 23rd Annual Spring Fire Training School. The school, held March 6-11, drew 329 firefighters to Brayton Fire Training Field from as far away as Colombia, Chile and Canada, as well as Texas and at least 10 other states.

The students have been attending weeklong courses, such as Aircraft Rescue & Firefighting (ARFF), structural firefighting and NIMS Incident Command System. The most popular courses this year were NFPA 1081 Exterior Firefighting, Firefighting 1 and Emergency Care Attendant. The courses were conducted with the assistance of 60 guest instructors who donated their time to the school.

“We are pleased that the enrollment was higher than last year, despite the economic challenges,” said Harvie Cheshire, Training Manager with TEEX’s Emergency Services Training Institute. “This speaks volumes on TEEX’s reputation for excellence in training for the fire service. Even when training and travel budgets are tight, departments still depend on the Texas Fire Training School.”