lc;e»cier-ship» of the fir-o school, where
he served until his death.
Chief Henry D. Smith took over
for Brayton in 1957 and served
until his retirement in 1986.
During Smith’s tenure the
school, like the fire service itself,
underwent many changes. The
school experienced many ups and
suffered some downs.
The fire service became more
professional. Sayings such as “high
tech” and “state of the art” started
becoming synonymous with fire
service equipment. Training
became very technical, with strict
guidelines and procedures.
The school kept growing and
expanded to include overseas
programs and in-house training of
foreign firefighters. As attendance
grew, so did revenue, providing
more money for advanced
equipment, upkeep, and
personnel training.
The school became more
polished and it didn’t take long to
acquire a reputation for turning out
first-rate firefighters. The word got
around and subsequently the
school began to become known
worldwide as the fire school to
attend.
But for as good as its ups have
been, its downs have been pretty
rough. There was trouble with the
Environmental Protection Agency,
various water groups and a
faltering Texas economy.
But through smart
management, sincere concern and
effort, and maybe even a little luck,
the school has overcome its major
problems.
The EPA has given the Brayton
facility a clean bill of health, and
the water problems, or potential
problems, have been solved. The
school has even managed to
weather the state’s economic ill
health quite well. There was
concern that several programs,
especially the industrial programs,
would buckle under the weight of
the economic stress, but it didn’t
happen.
Current division head, Charles
L. Page, said despite problems the
economy may throw the school’s
way, the staff is dedicated to
maintaining its training level of
excellence. And, Page says, the
school will keep with its goal of
establishing more extension
courses and fire schools in other
areas where interest is indicated.
Although the crunch was felt, it
wasn’t as painful as feared. Part of
what makes A&M’s fire school
work where others have failed is
the grass-roots support.
Tom Foster, assistant division
head with Fire Protection Training,
says the instructors are a key to the
school’s fiery success.
Most state programs are paid for
by the state they are in and most
are measured by the number of
people that state can afford to hire
to do the training. Instructors for
the summer programs at the
Brayton field volunteer their time
out of dedication to the fire service.
Foster says that if the school had
to hire someone every time it
needed a course taught or
something done, the cost of
training would go up. The
relatively low tuition costs are one
reason attendance has remained
high.
Many participants who attend
the College Station programs,
either as students or instructors,
use their vacation time. Many,
no one hurts it.
Along with instruction, many of
the fire school’s alumni donate
supplies and services from their
profession to help with the upkeep
of the school. When firefighters
rolled into town this summer, they
found the fire school was sporting
a $200,000 face lift Equipment
had been repaired, new supplies
bought, and a rather extensive
cosmetic job done.
Although the instructors provide
a strong foundation, the firefighters
themselves are the most popular,
or unpopular with the local
community.
In working with its students, one
problem the school has been faced
with is a language barrier. Since
the fire school trains students from
many different countries, the staff s
linguistic abilities are sometimes
stretched.
of the fire school. Whether or not
they really deserve it depends on
who one asks.
The students get frustrated with
the firefighters because they must
compete with them for what
precious little parking space there
is. Aggies are forced to ease up on
the gas pedal due to the high
visibility of the firefighters’ vehicles,
which for the most part bear a
striking resemblence to local police
cars. Students also have to share
their entertainment and favorite
resturants with the visitors.
On the face of it, the University
students really don’t mind sharing
their fun with the firefighters. And
bar and bookstore owners mind
them even less because the visiting
firemen add a hefty extra treat to
the College Station economy.
Above: Two Industrial firefighters call It
quits after a long day on the line.
left: Complete with breathing
apparatus, firefighters prepare to enter a
smoke-filled building.
Below: industrial firefighter Joe Simon
of Illinois takes a breather between classes.
Thomas