$750 scholarships to be gifted to volunteer, rural area firefighters
Contributed Article
PHOENIX – The Arizona State Fire Training Committee is proud to announce that registration is open for the 53rd Annual Arizona Fire School, to be hosted September 9-13 in Mesa, with training sites across Metro Phoenix. The annual school provides rural- and metro-area firefighters with crucial training they may not otherwise receive.
Thanks to generous donations from APS, The Kemper and Ethel Marley Foundation, Arizona Financial, and others to the Arizona Firefighters Fund, the committee is now accepting requests for the Arizona Fire School – Redmond Family Scholarships, which provide funding to rural-area firefighters to attend the school.
Each year, nearly 1,000 firefighters take part in the annual school where rural and volunteer firefighters throughout the state undergo comprehensive training, with both in-class and live training to enhance skills and learn the latest firefighting techniques, thanks to Metro Phoenix departments. Roughly 400 of the firefighters attending each year are on scholarships through the philanthropy arm of the committee, the Arizona Firefighters Fund. This year, $750 scholarships will be awarded on a prioritized basis to volunteer departments, departments with fewer than 6 paid firefighters, and other departments that have experienced cuts to their training budgets or have a specified need.
“Our top priority is ensuring firefighters across Arizona have access to the high-quality training they need to serve their communities safely and effectively,” said John Feddema, Board Chair of the Arizona State Fire Training Committee. “For more than 50 years, Arizona Fire School has provided hands-on and classroom instruction that strengthens our fire service and improves firefighter safety. We are especially grateful to our donors and partners whose support helps make scholarships available, ensuring cost is not a barrier to professional development and training.”
Since 2012, more than $1.2 million in scholarships have been gifted to 4,200 firefighters across the state. Over 52 years of fire school, more than 150 fire departments across the southwest have benefited from the life-saving training provided there.
Funding for scholarships is generously supported by APS, The Kemper and Ethel Marley Foundation, Youth Angels Foundation, Arizona Financial Credit Union, Turnout Beverage Co., Southwest Gas, and Pioneer Title Company.
Departments or fire service agencies interested in registering for Fire School or requesting scholarships can email arizonafirefightersfund@gmail.com for more information. For registration information, visit www.azfirefightersfund.org.
About the Arizona State Fire Training Committee
Since 1972, the Arizona State Fire Training Committee has been training rural firefighters through continuing education, drills, and skills training to equip them with the latest firefighting techniques. Each year, Arizona Fire School conducts 30-35 classes at over 10 locations throughout the Valley, educating nearly 1,000 firefighters and fire prevention professionals, with many of those individuals receiving scholarships thanks to funding from the Arizona Firefighters Fund. The need remains for the community to get involved to help send more rural and volunteer firefighters to get the training they need to protect people and structures in rural Arizona. For more information, please visit azfirefightersfund.org.
