Academy Trains Firefighters

SATELLITE CAMPUS INSTRUCTS CANDIDATES IN 11 OTHER COUNTIES

LINCOLN — The purpose of the Arkansas Fire Training Academy is to provide quality training to firefighters using the latest techniques and technology. The main academy is located in Camden, but Lincoln has a satellite campus that uses the same teaching methods.

David Myers, instructor at the Lincoln campus, said the academy offers training to all paid and volunteer fire departments in northwest Arkansas. The campus provides instruction, not only in Benton and Washington counties, but nine other counties in the area.

“We offer just about anything firefighters need as far as training,” Myers said. “We offer structural, rescue and specialized training.”

Myers said once a fire department hires someone, that person has one year to become certified as a firefighter.

“Many volunteers go through our program and a lot of them are certified,” Myers said. “They want training to better themselves and their departments. Some will try to go to work for full time departments.”

Once one has made Firefighter II, Myers said that person could become a certified instructor for volunteer departments.

Rookie courses can be taken at the Lincoln campus, Myers said. Community colleges like NorthWest Arkansas Community College also work with the campus so students can receive a Firefighter I and II degree, although other courses are required if one wants to receive an associates degree.

“We’re the testing agency in the state,” Myers said. “Working with the colleges like NWACC has been very effective, but we’re responsible for the firefighter testing.”

The Arkansas training academy is accredited through the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress. The book used to teach courses meets the requirements of the National Fire Protection Association.

“Firefighters go through the entire book,” Myers said. “They get lots of classroom and practical experience.”

Myers and several adjunct instructors teach classes at the Lincoln campus. Not only can firefighters benefit from classroom instruction, but the campus has a burn building made of concrete that meets all national requirements and can withstand very high heat.

“Temperatures in that building can reach 1000 degrees Fahrenheit,” he said. Hay is used on racks to start a fire in the concrete building. All training on structure fires in the 11-county area Myers is over, is done in Lincoln.

Myers said some of the things firefighters are taught are to be careful when they first go into a building, so no damage is done to clues on how a fire is started.

He said clues are often left after a fire.

“If a fire is started due to wiring in a wall receptacle, a pattern can be visible on a wall, carpet can show trails, especially if an accelerant is used,” Myers said.

Arson cases are turned over to fire marshals and most of the time clues are left behind, Myers said.

He said a lot of firefighter training has changed due to changes in material used in homes and buildings.

“You used to have materials like wood and cotton, so that was not a problem,” he said. “Today there are all those synthetics, petroleum-base products and they produce toxic fumes.”

Myers said methamphetamine labs have become another part of the training due to the explosive danger of them.

“Even if firefighters are called to a car fire, we train them to be careful because there might be a meth lab in the trunk.”

Firefighters face more hazards today, but good thing are out there to help like thermo-image scanners.

“This is the best piece of equipment to come along,” Myers said. “This helps to find victims better. There can be total smoke, and firefighters can’t see if there’s victims inside. That makes it hard. We teach them a process to use and that is one thing that can help, but the image scanner can find any heat source and help in locating victims that need to be rescued. It’s a really good piece of equipment.”

Myers said quite a few fire departments in northwest Arkansas have the scanners.

“Firefighters get more training now than ever before,” he said. “The toxic fumes and other dangers have fire departments making sure their people are well prepared when they go in and we help them be better prepared.”

Myers worked for the Pine Bluff Fire Department for 18 years before becoming an adjunct instructor with the Arkansas Fire Training Academy in Camden. He spent 12 years there before transferring to the Lincoln campus. He has been here for eight years.

“Most of us who teach with the academy have worked with fire departments and had all the courses,” he said.

Myers is getting ready to visit each of the 11 satellite campuses to introduce a new updated manual for instruction.

“This is a big change,” Myers said. “Standards are updated about our five or six years around the U.S. The new training manual will go into effect after July next year.”