Kilgore College On-Site Fire Academy
General Info

2012-13 On-Site Academy Dates:

*Dates subject to change.

On-Site Course Fee:

In-state: $1,150

Out-of-state: $1,700

Out of Country Only: $1,715

On-Site Class Schedule:

Monday thru Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Possibility of evening and/or weekend classes.

No excused absences

12-Week Minimum, 13-Week Maximum (Depends on various holidays)

The Basic Structural Firefighter program is physically demanding as well as academically challenging. The Texas Commission on Fire Protection (TCFP) strongly recommends that all students be able to read and comprehend with at least a 10 th grade reading level in order to complete this fast-paced program.

Upon acceptance into the Fire Academy, a student with any documented learning disability must advise and present documentation to Ronnie Gothard, Kilgore College Fire Academy Director, for consultation. The student must understand that the TCFP does not allow the use of open book testing or oral testing methods on the State Certification Exam.

Please note: Admission to the Fire Academy is based upon a highly competitive process. Preference will be given to an applicant’s level of education, experience and their affiliation with a career, volunteer department, or rescue unit. Please return your application on or before the application deadline so that your application can be reviewed. Students applying to attend our Academy that reside in the Kilgore College district will be considered first in the review process.

For further assistance, please feel free to call (903) 983-8662 or email at nferguson@kilgore.edu.

Again, thank you for your interest in Kilgore College.

RETURN APPLICATION TO:

Kilgore College Fire Academy
ATTN: Nelda Ferguson
1100 Broadway
Kilgore, Texas 75662
nferguson@kilgore.edu
FAX: (903) 988-3741 or (888) 817-3108
Office: (903) 983-8662 or (888) 347-3789 Extension 1

Additional Requirements for Canadian Students:

The Commission now has a rule in place that will allow any Canadian student with documented proof of successful completion of the British Columbia Occupational First Aid Level 3 or Alberta documentation of the First Responder Level III to have met the Texas medical equivalency of the E.C.A. or the Red Cross Emergency Response course required to fulfill the Commission’s medical requirements. You must meet the Commission’s medical requirement in order to obtain your IFSAC seals. For questions regarding if your medical certification is acceptable, you must contact Mollie Clakley at the Texas Commission on Fire Protection (512) 936-3815.

All students MUST process through the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) counter at their point of exit from Canada or at their point of entry into the U.S. If the Student I-20M form is not properly processed by Immigrations personnel, the student may be sent home.

Payment must be made by credit card, cashier’s check, certified check, or money order ONLY (in U.S. dollars only). An additional $15.00 should be added to each of the above to cover international bank processing charges.

IFSAC Seals:

Examinees that pass the Commission’s Basic Structural Fire Suppression certification exam are eligible f or four International Fire Service Accreditation Congress seals (IFSAC Seals): Fire Fighter I, Fire Fighter II, First Responder Awareness and First Responder Operations as long as they achieve a sc ore of 70% or higher on each of the four (4) exa m sections. If a student fails a particular exa m section, they would not be eligible f or the seal in that area that he or she failed. The Fire Commission has broken the written exam into the following four (4) sections:

1. Fire Fighter I 70 questions 70% minimum pass rate

2. Fire Fighter II 45 questions 70% minimum pass rate

3. Haz-mat Awareness 15 questions 70% minimum pass rate

4. Haz-mat Operations 20 questions 70% minimum pass rate

(The student must pass each of the four sections with a minimum of 70% on each section to qualify f or the four (4) IFSAC seals.)

Effective FEBRUARY 29, 2008, the Texas Commission on Fire Protection will NO longer be sending certification tests out-of-state or out-of-country. All initial and make up tests will be administered in Texas at an approved test site. For further information regarding this ruling, contact Mollie Clakley at the Texas Commission on Fire Protection (512) 936-3815.

Bacterial Meningitis vaccination is required.

Click here for Meningitis Vaccination information

ON-SITE ADDITIONAL FEES:

Uniform: Approximately $50 per set + .0825 tax. This includes: navy pants, light blue shirt, 1 name tag, and a Fire Academy patch for each shirt. Student must provide their own black footwear and black belt. Uniforms are ordered through Nardis, Inc. (2 Sets Required) (Nardis is located in Kilgore, Texas)

Housing: For those students who live a great distance from the campus, Kilgore College offers dorm rooms at reasonable rates on a first come, first serve basis.

Meals: Students wishing to eat at the Kilgore College Cafeteria may purchase meal tickets. There are also several restaurants in the Kilgore area in which students may dine.

VA BENEFITS/HAZELWOOD EXEMPTION:

Qualified Veterans may be eligible for Veterans’ benefits. Kilgore College VA Representative is Jackie Kelley and she may be reached at (903) 983-8171 or at jkelley@kilgore.edu for further details.

FINANCIAL AID:

The Basic Fire Academy falls under Continuing Education and therefore is not eligible for Academic scholarships, grants, or payment plans (FASFA). If you are a member of a Volunteer Fire Department with less than 20 paid members, there are federal funds available for reimbursement for up to $595 towards eligible training. Contact (979) 458-6505 or Kathy Davis at (979) 458-7355. Further information on the House Bill 2604 can be found at: http://txforestservice.tamu.edu.

REQUIRED EQUIPMENT (NFPA approved):

Full set of required personal protective equipment (PPE) is comprised of: bunker coat, helmet, bunker pants, gloves, suspenders, Nomex hood and bunker boots.

If the on-site student does not have access to approved compliant PPE, the on-site student may lease/rent the PPEfrom Texas Fire Gear, rental company from Houston, Texas. This company will rent the full set of gear to the student for the entire length of the fire academy for a total cost of $400. A representative from this company will be present on the first day of the academy to take measurements of the individual students and will have the gear to our academy within the first seven days of the academy.

You may use your own personal protective equipment if it is NFPA 1851 (Selection, Care, and Maintenance of Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting) approved and inspected by Kilgore College Fire Academy Staff members. YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE DOCUMENTATION THAT VERIFIES YOUR PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT DOES MEETS THE NEW ADVANCED NFPA 1851 INSPECTION.

You MUST have either and approved ISP verify through proper documentation from the ISP that all of the PPE is fully compliant with NFPA 1851. Your local Fire Chief may completely fill out the Kilgore College Fire Academy verification form and have their signature verified by a Notary, that the PPE is fully NFPA 1851 compliant. If the proper documentation is NOT received, the student will be required to rent the PPE from Texas Fire Gear from Houston, Texas.

Required Textbooks:

ESSENTIALS OF FIRE FIGHTING and Fire Department Operations, 5 th Ed.

#36765; ISBN 978-0-13-515111-2

Each student is required to provide their textbooks for reference and assignments.

This textbook may be obtained at our Kilgore College Bookstore, or may be ordered directly from IFSTA at www.ifsta.org or by calling them at 1-800-654-4055.

Textbooks may also be ordered through www.sffma.org.

Recommended Textbooks:

Hazardous Materials Reference Textbooks:

The students are not required to purchase the following textbooks, however, if the student would prefer to have these textbooks for their personal libraries the following are our recommendations:

• NFPA Publication: Hazardous Materials Response Handbook (4th ed.) (2002). This reference text lists the objectives that the First Responder should be capable of performing.
• NFPA Standard 472: Standard for Professional Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials Incidents (2002 ed). This reference text lists the objectives that the First Responder should be capable of performing
• DOT Publication, Emergency Response Guidebook. This publication is the little orange book that is required to be in every fire truck, ambulance, and police car in the nation. Much of the power point presentations during Haz/Mat Awareness will be spent in explaining the basic concepts behind how to properly locate the information that you are looking for during an actual Haz/Mat incident. If you are associated with a local fire department or if you know anyone working at a fire department, we would recommend that you ask one of the firefighters working there to give you a brief orientation to the Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG). That brief orientation will make your power point presentation over Haz/Mat Awareness precede much smoother. If you would like to purchase a copy of the ERG check out www.jjkeller.com or call 1-800-327-6868
• IFSTA Publication, Hazardous Materials Managing the Incident, 3 rd edition. Authors: Gregory Noll, Michael Hildebrand, James Yvorra. This is an excellent reference book to assist the student in locating the objectives established in the items listed here as item 1 & 2.
• IFSTA Publication, Hazardous Materials for First Responders, 3 rd edition. This is also an excellent reference book to assist the student in locating the objectives established in the items listed here as items 1 & 2.

Kilgore College Fire Academy Application

Download Fire Academy Application (PDF Acrobat Reader Required)

RETURN APPLICATION TO:

Kilgore College Fire Academy
ATTN: Nelda Ferguson
Kilgore College Fire Academy
220 N. Henderson Blvd. (Across from Sonic)
Kilgore, TX 75662

Phone: (903) 983-8662 or Toll Free (888) 347-3789
Fax: (903) 988-3741 or TOLL FREE (888) 817-3108
nferguson@kilgore.edu

Location: Bert E. Woodruff Adult Education Center (AEC)

 

2-6-2013