The National Fire Academy is Open, Please Register for Classes
Now that Congress has funded the National Fire Academy, it has immediate openings for classes starting on May 24.
Please apply by Wednesday, May 13 for the following classes:
-Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Incident Management
-Special Operations Program Management and Leadership
-Command and Control Decision-Making at Multiple Alarm Incidents
-Command and Control of Incident Operations
-Hazardous Materials Code Enforcement
-Leadership in Supervision
-New Executive Chief Officer
-Fire Investigation: Forensic Evidence Collection and Documentation
Here is more information and how to register for these classes.
NFA resident classes are free of charge, lodging provided free of charge, transportation to and from BWI, travels stipends available.
Apply now as classes will be filled on a first come / first serve basis.
If you need help completing your application, don't hesitate to contact NFA’s Admissions office by email at
netcadmissions@fema.dhs.gov.
(Courtesy of the National Fire Academy)
Federal FEMA Review Council Approves Report
On May 7, the federal FEMA Review Council voted to approve and send
its report to President Trump. While the report discussed making changes to FEMA, it also highlights the success of programs like the U.S. Fire Administration and National Urban Search and Rescue System.
The report focuses on equipping state, local, and tribal, and territorial governments (SLTT) to lead disaster response with the federal government playing a supporting role. To effect this goal, the report discusses the need to adopt national capability standards and build scalable training resources. It also discusses the need to revitalize and promote the use of a Unified Catalog of all federal and SLTT resources. It also calls for SLTT grant investment into mission-ready teams, capabilities, and infrastructure that meet national standards (like state search-and-rescue and swift water rescue teams) in lieu of funding specialty equipment. The report also calls for enhancing and improving the existing credentialing framework through the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the National Qualification System.
The report also highlights FEMA’s critical role in disaster response. The report says that
“the federal government should retain the responsibility to support these [SLTT] efforts when required. FEMA’s current mission exists at the intersection of emergency management and national security. An essential component of this is FEMA’s authority to coordinate other federal agencies in support of SLTT partners. These include federal capabilities and programs such as Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces, National Disaster Medical System, Radiological Emergency Preparedness, and public communication tools like the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System and the National Alert and Warning System. Additionally, the agency maintains an arsenal of dual-use capabilities, regional offices, incident management teams, prepositioned logistic systems or programs, and the Disaster Relief Fund to ensure the American people are resilient in the face of any threat….”
The report also proposes reforming hazard mitigation assistance programs into a two-phase funding structure. In addition, it recommends establishing common criteria for disaster assistance to determine when SLTT capacity and capability are exceeded. The report also recommends streamlining the Individual Assistance program into a single direct payment program. The Public Assistance program also would be changed to promote the release of funding to the states within 30 days of a disaster declaration. In addition, the report recommends reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program. It also calls for reducing the administrative costs of recovery programs.
Finally, the report calls for transforming the national response framework and FEMA. The report recommends that FEMA “should promote a "Whole Community" approach to national preparedness” by addressing “the existing gap in the emergency management landscape by returning to a network that enables government, private industry, faith based, and non-profit partners to build toward shared capabilities and integrated resources.” FEMA is directed to shift from a “District of Columbia-centric bureaucracy and regulatory bottleneck” by conducting a two-to-three-year strategic review “to determine appropriate staffing levels and address a recent surge in headquarters-based personnel by rebalancing their headquarters vs. field personnel ratio to reduce the agency’s bureaucratic bloat.”
The IAFC created a task force to make recommendations to the federal FEMA Review Council. It released its
report in October.