Local volunteers attend fire school
By Kathy Thomson
Five members of the Albany Volunteer Fire Department attended the 90th Annual Municipal Fire Training School held at Brayton Training Field in College Station last week, July 21-26.
Clay and Mel Deatherage completed their seventh year as invited guest instructors.
They taught Building Construction for the Fire Service in the Phase II part of the program.
New local volunteer Cyrena Viertel successfully completed Firefighting Phase I, while veteran firefighters Casey Kimbrough and Joel Viertel both earned credit for Firefighting Phase II.
The 36-hour Phase I course is designed for firefighters that are beginning their career as firefighters.
Course topics include Orientation and Fire Service History, Firefighter Safety and Health, Fire Behavior, Personal Protective Equipment, Portable Fire Extinguishers, Fire Hose, Fire Streams, and Fire Control. The course culminates with the students battling vehicle fires.
Phase II is also a 36-hour course and is designed for firefighters that have previously completed training in all of the courses in Phase I.
Course topics include Building Construction, Search and Rescue, Forcible Entry, Ground Ladders, Tactical Ventilation, Fire Control: Classroom, and Fire Control: Live Burns.
“Phase II Fire Control includes instruction in how to protect adjacent structures, methods of fire attack, and wildfire and ground cover fires,” said Albany fire chief Kyle Tischler. “Although ground cover fires and wildfires are similar in how you battle them, the rural and urban departments often have different types of equipment available.”
The course culminates with the students battling structural fires and ground fires.
The annual firefighting school was created in 1929 as a joint project between the State Firemen’s and Fire Marshals’ Association of Texas (SFFMA) and the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX).
Since its first annual school in 1930, TEEX has been providing firefighters with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience through realistic, live-fire and rescue scenarios.
The Municipal Fire Training School is the last of the three fire training schools held each summer at Brayton Fire Training Field, and this year it included nearly 1,500 participants and over 450 guest instructors and safety officers.
“It is the largest school of its kind in the world,” added the local fire chief.
Volunteer fire departments are eligible for tuition reimbursement, lodging, and meal plan assistance via a grant program administered by the Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS), and Tischler has applied for funding to reimburse the City of Albany.v
