The country’s preeminent federal National Fire Academy canceled classes, effective immediately, amid the ongoing flurry of funding freezes and staffing cuts by President Donald Trump’s administration.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that National Fire Academy (NFA) courses were canceled amid a “process of evaluating agency programs and spending to ensure alignment with Administration priorities,” according to a notice sent to instructors, students and fire departments.
Instructors were told to cancel all future travel until further notice.
Firefighters, EMS providers and other first responders from across the country travel to the NFA’s Maryland campus for the federally funded institution’s free training programs.
Marc Bashoor, a former Maryland Fire Chief and West Virginia Emergency Services Director with 44 years of fire safety experience said: “The NFA is a powerhouse for the fire service.
“It’s not a ‘nice to have.’ It is the one avenue we have to bring people from all over the country to learn from and with each other.
“If we want to continue to have one of the premier fire services in the world, we need to have the National Fire Academy.”
The academy, which also houses the National Fallen Firefighter’s Memorial, opened in 1973 to combat a growing number of fatal fires nationwide.
At the time, the National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control envisioned it to be the “West Point of the Fire Service,” according to a report form the organization.
Bashoor said the NFA was set to welcome a new set of fire safety officers for training next week.
He added: “People had made their plane and travel reservations.
“And all of a sudden, they get an email that ‘Sorry, it’s been canceled. It’s really upsetting.”
For firefighters, including those on the frontlines of deadly fires that ravaged California this year, having an essential training institution “shut down under the presumption that there’s waste, fraud and abuse” has been demoralizing, Bashoor said.
He said losing NFA training could make the coordinated response that prevented additional deaths and destruction in California more difficult.
FEMA and the National Fire Academy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
While surveying disaster zones in California in January, Trump said he was considering “getting rid of” FEMA altogether, previewing sweeping changes to the nation’s central organization of responding to disasters.
Firings at the U.S. Forest Service in the wake of the Californian blazes also sparked outcry among discharged workers and officials who said it would mean fewer people and less resources will be available to help prevent and fight wildfires.
Other members of the fire service community spoke out against the decision.
Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell, former U.S. Fire Administrator shared her opinion: “The NFA is the premier professional training institution for America’s structural, industrial and wildland firefighters (both career and volunteers) from local, state, tribal and federal agencies.
“The longer the NFA is shutdown, the greater the gap in professional development for firefighters and paramedics in the U.S.
“The NFA instructors also train arson investigators for all levels of government, including the ATF. It is a travesty that there is an interruption in these trainings, and no one knows for how long.
“When did firefighter training for the safety and well-being of the public and communities become misaligned with this administration so that it needs evaluation?
“The decision to shut down the NFA is a huge overstep given the clear establishment of the academy and its purpose in the 1974 Fire Prevention and Control Act. It is time for our friends in the House and Senate to step up.”
Eric Linnenburger, the Deputy Fire Chief of Operations for the City of WesTminster in Colorado, shared: “I’m disappointed by this news, as I was looking forward to returning to campus this month to continue learning alongside my peers from across the nation in the Executive Fire Officer Program –but I’ll get over that.
“My real concern is for those whose jobs and livelihoods are at risk and the broader impact on our fire service.
“Federal employees, contractors and private businesses on and off campus now face fear and uncertainty. Anyone who has attended knows the value of the education and relationships built at the NFA – there is nothing frivolous about it.
“In recent years, the USFA has made great strides in unifying the fire service around a shared mission and priorities, and the NFA is central to that success.
“This is a disruptive and unnecessary setback, but I have no doubt our U.S. fire service will remain resilient and emerge stronger than before.”
The National Fire Academy canceled classes, effective immediately, amid the ongoing funding freezes and staffing cuts introduced by Trump’s administration.
This decision has been met with outcry from the wider fire service community, with the NFA being referred to as a powerhouse and the loss of the Academy being called a disruptive and unnecessary setback.
