Greetings from the 13th Floor
Happy New Year! We are closing out another year here on the thirteenth floor. I’d like to take this opportunity to say, “Thank you,” to my fire safety team for all they do across our state. Their commitment to public safety within their units is second to none. I’m honored to be a part of them and our mission.
Recently I was in a meeting sharing information about the opportunities and funding that is available for FREE fire service training. It was discovered recently in a conversation that we (the Division) have not done a good job informing the fire service about the new revised Introduction to the Fire Service (which is the old Basic (40 hr) Firefighter class). The old class had run its course and needed to be brought up to the 2019 NFPA 1001 standard. The MU Fire and Rescue Training Institute took the old course and refreshed it. Here is what the course offers.
Description
This introductory course for new fire service personnel acquaints participants with the basics of fire-ground duties. Discussions address fire service history, organization, fire-ground safety, and fire behavior. You will discuss and demonstrate basic hose practices, ground ladder practices, and ventilation techniques and introduce proper procedures for using self-contained breathing apparatus and fire service hand tools. Practical evolutions designed to reinforce participants’ skills are included. This class will meet all the prerequisites to participate in live-fire training evolutions.
Course Objectives
After completing this course, the student will have a general introduction to the fire service, will have completed all the skills for the course, and a working knowledge of related sections in the NFPA 1001, 2019 edition, Standard Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications.
Additional Information
This class provides a pathway to Fire Fighter I certification. Additional classes are required to fully meet the NFPA 1001 standard. All prerequisites for Fire Fighter I must be obtained before a student would be eligible to seek certification.
Below I have provided the path to request the Introduction to Fire Service course, or any other course offered by the division.
Begin by going to our division home page: www.dfs.dps.mo.gov
In the popular links column, the top selection (Request for Contracted Training) will open to the Request For Contracted Training form.
“Continuing Education (CE) Course – Introduction to the Fire Service”
Enter the above information on the form and submit it to the following email, dfs.courseregistration@dfs.dps.mo.gov, this should get your request to our training division. If you have any issues, please call me at (573-751-1742). If you want to see the other available classes, click on the red Training and Testing Calendar.
I wanted to share the opportunity we provide to recognize your firefighters. We want to recognize our Missouri Fire Service anytime we can. The Missouri Division of Fire Safety has implemented a program designed to recognize members of the Missouri Fire Service in the following categories:
Senior fire officers and other members hired or promoted to the rank of Fire Chief in the Missouri fire service.
Any Firefighter death or retiree death, regardless of rank
Members retiring from the Missouri fire service regardless of rank (as determined by individual agency retirement guidelines)
The State Fire Marshal will issue a Salute to Service certificate for presentation to the member or member’s family, as appropriate. For a deceased member or retiree, the death does not need to be in the line of duty to receive a certificate.
If you have anyone in your organization who meets the above criteria, please use the link below and submit the information to our office so that a recognition certificate may be issued.
Missouri Fire Service Recognition Program
In closing, I would like to express my appreciation to each of you for all you have accomplished throughout this year. Thanks for answering every call with professionalism, promptness, and being the best boots on the ground, and leaving many things better than you found them. Let’s commit to continuing that level of service to our state. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May God continue to Bless and Protect you!
FFAM
