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Release Date: 06/26/03 00:00:00
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 26, 2003
The National Emergency Training Center (NETC) in Emmitsburg, Md., which includes the National Fire Academy (NFS) and the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) promotes the professional development of the fire and the emergency response community and its allied professionals. The U. S. Fire Administration (USFA), as an entity of the Department of Homeland Security and the Emergency Preparedness and Response directorate (EP&R), strives to reduce the loss of life and property due to fire and related emergencies, through leadership, advocacy, coordination and support.
Classes are conducted approximately 47 weeks a year and the student body includes representatives of federal, state, and local government, volunteer organizations, private industry and educational institutions. Classes last from two days to two weeks and students come from all over the United States and around the world.
There are no tuition or lodging costs and students are generally reimbursed for transportation to and from the campus. The only costs to students are their meal ticket and local transportation at their point of departure. Approximately 16,000 students attend the on-campus resident courses each year, with another 86,000 students attending off-campus courses in other states and some 195,000 students accessing the distance learning offered by USFA through the Web site. Course topics range from all hazards planning for schools to the Integrated Emergency Management Course, which uses realistic exercises to practice emergency response activities for the total community.
The National Emergency Training Center campus was acquired from Saint Joseph College by the federal government in March 1979. The first National Fire Academy classes were offered on January 21, 1980. Also that year, the former Defense Civil Preparedness Staff College was relocated from Battle Creek, Michigan. It reopened in January 1981 as EMI. Today the campus is the home of USFA, which administers both the National Fire Academy and the Emergency Management Institute. The center includes:
21 buildings that contain the student center, dormitories, guest quarters, classrooms, a gymnasium, a pool, and various facilities performing administrative functions.
107 acres and approximately 500,000 square feet of building space.
170 federal employees and 200 contractor employees.
The Emergency Education NETwork, broadcast from NETC, is EP&R's satellite-based distance learning system. This network can bring a wide variety of interactive training programs into virtually any community nationwide, enhancing the nation’s public safety community. All programming is open and in the public domain so that any community with access to a C-band or Ku-band satellite dish, or a community cablevision provider, can receive broadcasts and participate in the training programs.
The campus includes a Learning Resource Center (LRC) that provides current information and resources on fire and emergency management subjects through its collection of more than 100,000 books, reports, periodicals and audiovisual materials. The facility supports student and faculty research and supplements classroom lectures and course materials. While only EP&R personnel and NETC students may use the facility or borrow materials, an interlibrary loan program allows the general public to access the LRC collection of books and research reports.
Conceived as a tribute to America's fire service, the National Fallen Firefighters' Memorial is located on the NETC campus. Constructed in 1981, the memorial was officially designated by Congress as the national memorial to career and volunteer fallen firefighters in 1990. It is a symbol of honor for those who carry on the tradition of service to their communities.
A plaza in the shape of a Maltese cross surrounds the memorial. Plaques listing the names of firefighters killed in service to their communities since 1981 encircle the plaza. The memorial is open to the public throughout the year. Thousands of students attending classes at NFA and EMI visit the memorial each year. When a firefighter dies on duty, local fire officials notify the USFA. A notice of the death is immediately posted on the memorial grounds and the flags over the memorial are flown at half staff in honor of the fallen firefighter.
Ground was broken in March 2001 for the first National Civil Defense/Emergency Management Monument, on the grounds of the NETC. The monument, completed the following year, was funded entirely by donations, overseen by the nonprofit National Civil Defense Commission. Standing 12 feet, the monument features a sculpted bronze eagle atop a pyramid of Vermont granite. State flags encircle the site.
This page was last modified on 06/26/03 00:00:00