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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 1989)
2 STATE & LOCAL Thursday, August 3,1989 Playing with fire ■an i Bremen tame flames at training school By Richard Tijerina STAFF WRITER fromlt ding Gratj nsibiliit > exeiufi: rovisioai t even stuff d to e\i •e just | Stopitlf: only I® :s to par d that r Bush a ivorse. They come to Bryan-College Sta- :ion from over 775 cities, 25 states nd several countries. And they stay n the Texas A&M campus to play ith Fire for three weeks, leaving heir families behind. They are the close to 3,000 partic ipants in this year’s 60th Annual ^exas Firemen’s Training School, icing held at A&M. This year’s three-week school, [sponsored by the State Firemen’s and Fire Marshals’ Association, ends Ang. 4. Training is done through opera- Itional classes, student participation, [class discussion and Field exercises. Instructors and fireFighters par- |ticipating in the school stay in the iCommons and in local hotels. Charles Page, director of the A&M Fire Protection Division and Firemen’s Training School said the IfireFighters and instructors who take ■ part in the school must give up part ■ of their everyday lives. “They are dedicated,” Page said. ■ “Many of these volunteers are bar- Ibers, dentists, etc., from small towns ■ who give up a week’s income to be ■ here and learn. ( “Instructors often give up a week ■ of their vacation to come here and I train these volunteers. They volun teer their expertise.” The school is separated into ses sions for hazardous materials con trol, municipal firefighters and in dustrial firefighters. Page, who lias been at A&M since erge lanideil shaft.' I: solve t rite tail ix me. I e. The! is the in ftigiss aersoi ipplic viant fowl silt this? W ADS. u BUT REAL RE 4UY COUNT. —j W v mat,erwh at Ba ttali 0lv [Classified 845-2611 1971 and the fire protection division head for about five years, said this year’s school is one of the largest A&M has had. Page also said the school, one of only 10 others nationwide, is the largest. “We are the acknowledged leader in hydrocarbon, or petroleum, fire fighting,” he said. “The other schools are good, but there are no others in the country of this magni tude.” Class discussions at the school in clude rescue training, firefighter re cruit training for volunteer fire de partments, air crash firefighting, fire protection, arson, dispatcher training and emergency rescue training. Guest instructors at the school find it easier to teach classes here than at other schools. Page said. “The instructors and fire marshals like teaching classes in Rudder Tower because of its univer sity atmosphere,” he said. “It’s a learning environment. They appre ciate that.” Field exercises for the Firemen’s Training School are held at Bray ton Field, the 62-acre site near A&M. Classes are held in Rudder Tower, the Memorial Student Center, the Military Sciences Building and Har rington Classroom Building. However, this year’s school has had its share of problems. Some fire fighters have complained about parking tickets they received and confronted Director of Parking, Transit and Traffic Services Tom Williams July 27 to waive the tickets. Lannie Hatton, fire chief for the Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack Firefighters attempt to extinguish a fire burning on make shift boat at Brayton Firemen Training Field Wednesday. Gramm holds $4 million in campaign warchest jpc and a guest instructor at the school, died Monday from a heart attack while attending a fire-training class. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was administered but Hatton was pronounced dead on arrival at Hu mana Hospital. Hatton’s death wasn’t the first fa tality in the school’s history. Page said heart problems were the cause in all previous deaths at the school. About 12 years ago, an assistant at the school died in his dormitory room. A retiree died from a heart at tack about seven years ago while watching a fire-fighting exercise during a company-sponsored class. About five years ago, a firefighter died from a heart attack in a class room after fighting a simulated house fire earlier in the day. Page stressed that qualified in structors are with the students con stantly to ensure and maintain safety procedures, and emergency para medics and vehicles are present in case they are needed. Page said A&M has the best in structors and state-of-the-art equip ment for firefighting. He said the school is successful in honing the skills of firefighters because, like ev erything else, practice makes per fect. “It’s kind of like the football team here at A&M — they have to scrim mage and practice in order to be good,” he said. “That’s a lot like us. “We’re scrimmaging under cer tain situations, but (the training and simulated fires here) are real and it will burn you if you don’t do what you’re supposed to do to put that fire out correctly.” FROM STAFF & WIRE REPORTS Republican Sen. Phil Gramm of Bryan has nearly $4 million in his campaign treasury for a 1990 re-election race, while his only an nounced opponent, Democratic state Sen. Hugh Parmer, had $175,043 in the bank at the end of June. In campaign spending reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Gramm said he raised just over $2 million and spent $684,410 in the first six months of 1989. The first-term senator listed no debts and cash on hand totaling $3,725,060. Parmer said he has raised $218,316 and spent $158,465 during the reporting period, and has borrowed $64,900 from Landmark Bank of Fort Worth for his campaign. Parmer also transferred $50,100 from his state Senate account into his U.S. Senate campaign fund. “Unless we see a dramatic change in the fortunes of the op- postion here, Gramm ought to coast,” said Norman Ornstein, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Ornstein said both of Texas’ senators, Gramm and Democrat Lloyd Bentsen, “have the ability to raise awesome sums of money,” which has an “enormous chilling affect for any serious or significant opposition.” But Parmer, in a statement re leased Tuesday, said that even though he started from scratch in March, he has met all his fund raising goals. “Phil Gramm will obviously outspend us, but his Gramm- standing and our fund-raising will be enough to overcome his at tempts to buy the election,” Parmer said. Countered Gramm spokesman Larry Neal of Parmer’s efforts: “It doesn’t sound like a very suc cessful fund-raising operation.” According to Gramm’s 428- “ u ■ « .rl is Gramm- standing and our fund raising will be enough to overcome his attempts to buy the election” — Hugh Parmer, State senator page filing with the FEC, the sen ator raised $138,275 from politi cal action committees and almost $1.9 million from individual con tributors. Parmer raised $7,000 from PACs and $211,316 from individuals. Gramm’s fund-raisers ranged from spending $1,815 at Stacy’s Deli in Nacogdoches to events at the Waldorf Astoria on Park Ave nue in New York and a $10,609 fund raiser at Loews L’Enfant Plaza in Washington. 1 BACK fashion T O SCHOOL COME SEE WHAT’S NEW IN FRAGRANCES New at Foley’s, an exciting fragrance for men! Ours exclu sively from Christian Dior, Fahrenheit, a woody fragrance enlivened with balsamic notes. Available after August 15, but come in now for a sample. In Men’s Fragrances. Ladies, receive a bar rette for your hair with any pur chase of Loulou by Cacheral, while supplies last. Or, try Red, the distinc tively different fragrance from Giorgio Beverly Hills. Nothing so soft was ever so exciting. In Fragrances. TEENS, PICK UP AN APPLICATION TO BE A MODEL Foley’s is sponsoring this exciting model search for young men and women ages 15-20. Two final Competi tions, to be held in Dallas and Houston, Tfexas in con junction with our Back to School Fhsliion Shows in late August, will determine 4 lucky winners (2 boys/2 girls). Prizes: a trip to New York for an interview with a top New York agency, a photo in a Foley’s newspaper ad, a 500.00 back-to-school wardrobe, and an appoint ment with the Kim Dawson Agency for the Dallas competition or Intermedia Models for the Houston competition. Finalists (1 boy/1 girl) will be selected from each store’s applications. Details on entry in Juniors and Young Men’s. Post Oak Mall: Now through Saturday, August 12. SPECIAL EVENTS: Call toll-free 1-800-472-6437 for informa tion, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p. m. No purchase necessary to register for contests, prizes or giveaways; all contest winners are notified by mail. Foley’s gift certificates are redeemable for merchan dise only. FOLEY’S ¥ COURSE