Letter from Director Graves

The winter, so far, has been kind to us, but this instills fear of snow in the early spring which can have an impact on training events. With the fire training season fast approaching, we have a large list of tasks ahead of us. The organization is headed in many positive directions. Impressive work is being done internally and externally. Great gains have been made in equipment maintenance, train-the-trainers, documentation and increased program deliveries.

Now, we begin to focus on instructor development, raising the bar to meet the demand for training techniques and best practices for today’s fire service. To that end, we plan to increase the frequency of Fire Instructor I & II and Fire Officer I deliveries around the state. Additionally, we plan to hold one Live Fire Instructor program per year to improve safety during high-risk fire training events.

A focus group met in early February to assess how well MFSI is meeting the mission and if our mission is headed in the right direction. It is overwhelming to see what has been accomplished with only 10 full-time staff and a cadre of part-time, dedicated instructors.

So, what’s next? Well, we have many items to address to make MFSI the best it can be, but I believe we can rise to meet these challenges. My end goal is to turn MFSI over to the next generation better than it has ever been. Watch for our training announcements. There are many currently in the works.

Stay safe out there, we need you all.

Inside the Issue

• Words from Deputy Director Roy
• As the World Burns by TPM Frank Hammond, Jr.
• Record Scanning Project Updates
• Reaccreditation Process with Pro Board
• Fire Training Certification Programs
• Basic Fire and Wildland Fire Training Questions (link to blog post)
• Upcoming National Fire Academy & Continuing Ed
• Instructor Spotlight: Eric Watson

Click to download PDF version.