Fire Officer Academy Recap

This week was a fabulous week for the Texas fire service. Over 121 students from around the state gathered in Grapevine to learn from industry leading professionals on various issues that are facing our departments. The TFCA Fire Chief Academy welcomed new students as well as those completing the program for Year 2. Topics included FLSA, legal issues, state agencies overviews, combating complacency and ways to protect against line-of-duty deaths. Honest conversations and discussions on EMS, strategic planning, building effective officer training and various leadership challenges were undertaken to better understand our challenges and to find ways to tackle them.

Instructors included TFCA President Donnie Norman, Past President Les Stephens, TEEX Director David Coatney, TCFP Director Mike Wisko and various chief officers.

“The goal of our curriculum is to prepare our members for the challenges and rigors of being a Chief Officer or Head of Department within their respective agency,” stated Ken Prillaman, Fire Chief for the City of Wichita Falls Fire Rescue, who also serves as Commandant of the Academy.

The Year 2 cohort is required to submit a well-researched and properly cited paper on a fire service topic to be presented in a formal setting to a panel of fire professionals. At the end of this two-year program, students receive their diploma and the official Chief Fire Executive credential and designation. The program will be available again on Sept. 25-30 in San Marcos and back in Grapevine June 2023.