COLLEGE STATION – The 2015 Fire Schools have come and gone, drawing nearly 3,800 students and guest instructors for weeklong training sessions at Brayton Fire Training Field, a facility operated by the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX).
The final school, the 86th Annual Municipal Fire School, drew 1,676 students and 531 guest instructors and safety officers in July. Participants represented more than 550 municipal and volunteer fire departments and traveled to Brayton Fire Training Field from 183 Texas counties, as well as from 16 other states. The school was hosted by TEEX in conjunction with the State Firefighters’ & Fire Marshals’ Association of Texas.
The 2015 Municipal Fire School vendor show, which is held at Reed Arena on the Texas A&M campus, was the largest yet, with 128 vendors participating.
On the evening of July 22, hundreds of area citizens and families of Fire School participants watched as TEEX staff and guest instructors demonstrated firefighting skills and rescue techniques through dramatic scenarios on some of the largest firefighting props.
The 53rd Industrial Fire School, held July 12-17, attracted nearly 620 members of industrial emergency response brigades and safety officers from some of the world’s largest oil & gas and chemical companies from 26 states and 7 countries. TEEX staff members were assisted by 231 guest instructors.
The 49ª Escuela para Bomberos en Español on July 5-10 drew 526 firefighters from 19 countries for a week of challenging training in firefighting, rescue and hazardous materials as well as instructor training — all conducted in the Spanish language. Seventeen courses were offered with the assistance of more than 188 guest instructors.
During each school, a solemn ceremony honored 16 tenured guest instructors at the Fire Schools who died during the previous year, including two TEEX employees, Mark Jackson and Rosendo Garcia. Each name is engraved on the Guest Instructors Memorial Wall at Brayton Fire Training Field.
More information about 2016 Fire Training Schools,