COLLEGE STATION – This week marks the 83rd Municipal Fire Training School at the Brayton Fire Training Field. More than 2,500 firefighters and guest instructors have gathered from every corner of Texas, as well as many other states and countries. The annual school is hosted by the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) in conjunction with the State Firemen’s and Fire Marshals’ Association of Texas.
Firefighters clamor for the opportunity to attend this intensive, one-week training school, where they can gain hands-on experience through realistic scenarios on full-scale training props. The facilities at Brayton Field include 132 training stations and props that simulate realistic scenarios covering a wide variety of emergencies. Participants come from some of the smallest volunteer fire departments in the state as well as large metropolitan fire departments.
Some of the courses offered include Firefighting Phases I – IV, Emergency Care Attendant, Fire Department Pump Operations, Fire Investigator, Fire Instructor, Fire Service Officer Development, and Rescue III Automobile Extrication.
These classes are delivered through the generous participation of guest instructors and safety officers, who volunteer their time and expertise to make sure every firefighter who attends is well-prepared and ready to respond when the alarm sounds. Some of the state’s most dedicated and experienced firefighters here this week have attended the school as a student or guest instructor for decades.
All of the three annual schools, Spanish, Industrial, and Municipal have experienced a marked increase in enrollment this year.
Wednesday night, July 25th, the public is invited to a free demonstration of firefighting skills and techniques followed by some spectacular firefighting scenarios beginning at 7 p.m. at the Brayton Fire Training Field. Gates open at 6:30.
The Municipal Fire Training School is the largest and oldest of the three summer fire schools held at Brayton each year. The first Municipal Fire School was held in 1930 in College Station with 196 firefighters attending.