Since 1972, the Arizona  Fire School has been training firefighters with continuing education, live drills and skills to equip them with the latest techniques in firefighting. Facilitated by the Arizona State Fire Training Committee, each year in September, the Fire School conducts 30-35 different classes at over 10 locations throughout Metro Phoenix, educating nearly 1,000 firefighters and fire prevention professionals. 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.

 

Through generous funding by the business and philanthropic community, scholarships are provided each year to rural firefighters across the state helping those departments receive invaluable resources and training that would not be available to them otherwise. It is estimated that over 2 million of Arizona’s residents are protected by volunteer or combination departments. These departments are mainly in rural or semi-rural areas where residents and structures are spread over a wide range of terrain and territory and salaries for these firefighters are below poverty level.