FEMA Cancels Classes at National Fire Training Academy Due to Federal Funding Cuts

CHICAGO – The cancellation of classes at the country’s leading federal fire training academy came suddenly on Saturday. This move was in response to the series of funding freezes and staff reductions initiated by President Donald Trump’s administration.

The decision to halt National Fire Academy courses was confirmed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This action is part of a broader review process aimed at aligning agency programs and expenses with the priorities set by the current Administration. In a notice circulated to instructors, students, and fire departments, it was conveyed that all travel arrangements should be canceled until further notice.

The National Fire Academy in Maryland is usually frequented by firefighters, EMS personnel, and various other first responders from around the nation. These individuals attend the institution’s free training programs, which are federally funded.

“The NFA is a powerhouse for the fire service,” said Marc Bashoor, a former West Virginia fire chief with 44 years of fire safety experience. “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.

“People had made their plane and travel reservations. And all of a sudden, they get an email that ‘Sorry, it’s been canceled,'” he said. “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 on the heels of the deadly California 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.