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Permalink Reply by Jim Atkins on February 18, 2011 at 10:09pm

Ryan-in state try the fire academy in Fayetteville or in SC the South Carolina Fire Academy is very highly regarded. I send my guys to the SC FA for their initial certification and the Fayetteville academy for their annual FAR 139 burn. TEEX in Texas has a good program though it is expensive. Wherever you go make sure that your IFSAC/Proboard cert says Airport firefighter and not aircraft rescue firefighter-NC only recognizes Airport Firefighter the 40 hour course for state certification.

Jim

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Permalink Reply by Richard Armstrong on February 19, 2011 at 10:51am

Ryan the Guru in here on that would be FETC.message him if he doesn't pop in here to answer you.This guy knows his stuff he can point you in the right direction!

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Permalink Reply by FETC on February 19, 2011 at 7:20pm

Ryan,

I am not from NC so I would suggest contacting your State Fire Academy. I know Charlotte has their own ARFF Operational and Training Division, to include Training Academy, but I am not sure if they accept outside students. If you are looking for certified ARFF class and are willing to travel than you have many options like, Salt Lake City, DFW, Texas A&M, Pittsburgh, Massport, NH Fire Academy.

The FAA accepts their FAR 139; 40 hr BARFF, IFSAC and Pro-Board 40 hour ARFF Training as well. The 8-hour recertification you speak of is for the hands-on ANNUAL live fire evolution only. The truth about ARFF recertification, is actually a minimum of 40 hours of training in firefighting, and if you work at an actual FAA certified ARFF department, the FAA requires each firefighter have hands-on familiarization on every commercial aircraft that services your specific airport.

My ARFF firefighters have 68 continuing education training subjects related to Firefighting and ARFF specifically, for which they must complete every year to maintain said ARFF certification. That doesn't account for any additional Hazmat Tech, CPR, Basic EMT or Paramedicine CEU's.

Bill
www.fetcservices.com

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Permalink Reply by Jim Atkins on February 19, 2011 at 8:45pm

ok-Let me try this again--Hi Ryan, I am an ARFF Chief of an Airport in North Carolina as well as a Level II Instructor. To get certified in North Carolina you may go to any school or academy that offers the Airport Firefighter 40 hour course (NFPA 1003) that results in an IFSAC/NPQS Proboard certification for "Airport Firefighter". If it says anything else on the certification, NCOSFM will not accept it for reciprocity.

To get a list of all the schools just go to www.faa.gov and search for Advisory Circular AC 150/5210-17B. At the end of this circular is the list of schools that perform this training. In our state talk to Ernie at the Fayetteville Fire Academy:

North Carolina:
Fayetteville Regional Airport
Fayetteville/Fire Emergency Management Division
3065 Radar Road
Fayetteville, NC 28306
Telephone: (910) 433-1580
Fax: (910) 433-2586
Contact: Training Coordinator Ernest Ward
Telephone: (910) 433-1566
Email: warde@faytech.edu

Also you could go to South Carolina's Fire Academy, the program is excellent:

South Carolina:
South Carolina Fire Academy
141 Monticello Trail
Columbia, SC 29203
Fax: (803) 896-9856
Contact: Phillip Russell
Telephone: 803-896-9893
Email: russellp@llr.sc.gov
www.scfa.state.sc.us
IFAC Certified Course Code 3400 6 days
Refresher – 4 hr wheel, engine & interior
Truck ops 4 hrs
Index: E

Either will work--I just sent 2 of my Firefighters to the Academy for thier Initial training and I myself will be at the Fayetteville Academy for my recurrent training (the single day 8 hour FAR 139 Burn).

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Permalink Reply by Jim Atkins on February 19, 2011 at 8:56pm

oh and just in case you did not know--a prerequisite to Airport Firefighter is Firefighter 1 and 2 (IFSAC and Proboard).

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Permalink Reply by FETC on February 19, 2011 at 9:25pm

Ryan,

I am also an ARFF Chief in the industry. Just curious are you a structural firefighter looking to get into an ARFF department? We have bee lucky to recently hire military guys getting out lately. From an academy standpoint, most attendees in an ARFF program are from within the industry already. In the Northeast, very few attend the program on their own. Most ARFF departments send their recruits after being hired.

I suggested the state fire academy in your area because most have the program and if they didn't they usually can steer you to another agency that does. Traveling to DFW or Salt Lake or up here is expensive. We teach the IFSTA Pro-Board NFPA 1003 program that is acceptable to the FAA and other pro-board states. And Chief Atkins is correct, FF2 is a pre-requisite to apply for a pro-board certified 1003.

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Chinn on February 20, 2011 at 8:27am

I am a structural firefighter, and the reason i started this post was because there are a number of job oppertunities out there that would like for me to already have that certification. At this point in my career i just finished firefighter 1&2 and I am looking to further my knowledge and skills. thank you all for your input and information. It means alot to rookies like me when you all share what you can.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on February 22, 2011 at 3:31am

Kellogg colege offers a course...it requires annual refreshers....per FAA guidelines

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