Firefighter completes national training

Capt. Jeff May is the most recent of several personnel with the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District (RFPD) to complete training at the National Fire Academy at Emmitsburg, Maryland.

May, a nine-year volunteer firefighter with the district and the district’s 2005 volunteer of the year, completed a one-week course on Management Strategies for Success earlier this month.

The U.S. Fire Administration manages the National Fire Academy south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and offers specialized courses for fire and emergency services professionals. Courses are presented at the Maryland facility and throughout the nation in cooperation with state and local agencies in cooperation with educational institutions.

“It was a great experience,” May said. “The course focused on how to work with firefighters of various ages and with different backgrounds in education and experience. The course involved a lot of networking with fire career people and volunteers from throughout the country discussing how they responded to some of the same situations you have faced.”

May was impressed with the location of the academy.

“It was a former girls school dating back before the Civil War and each building had historic ties,” he explained.

“Security was very tight at the academy since this is where the helicopter lands carrying the President of the United States on his way to nearby Camp David.”

May’s travel expenses and training costs in attending the training are paid by the federal government from federal taxes and not by the local fire district. The district does pay for trainees’ meals.