Attempting to cover the past 50 years of fire training in a single column is a difficult task; so much has transpired. The foundation of many of our training approaches and methods were birthed during this time period. Civil defense training, the forerunner of homeland security training, was introduced into the fire service, as well. The methods used to deliver training have changed, too. In the 1950s, the most common fire training was a short stint at an academy that taught basic skills and then passed the recruits off to the fire station for continuous on-the-job training. This model mirrored that of military basic training followed by on-the-job training at the first duty station.

“Drillmasters” or department training officers began being hired in the 1960s at many departments, although community colleges and state fire schools shouldered most of the firefighter training in the country through the 1970s. In the 1980s, OnGuard, American Heat, FDTV and FETN made distance learning a reality by incorporating video tapes and satellite television in fire training. Today, digital training delivered via CD-ROM, DVD and the Internet is available from many sources.

The formalization of the profession of firefighter as an occupation is credited to Los Angeles City Fire Chief Ralph Scott, who advocated for the development of an occupational analysis of firefighting, which defined all the tasks a firefighter performs and broke them down in instructional order. The four-step method of instruction outlined in all firefighter instructor training of the time had been developed during the 1940s to train military recruits and then adapted to train recruits in many civilian technical/vocational professions.

Throughout the 1950s, firefighter training was predominantly based on the drill of “firemanship” and included basic skills, rope use, knots, ladders, hose streams and various activities using pumping apparatus. Interpretation of these skills, however, varied widely throughout the American fire service. After one large city fire agency was assessed by the National Board of Fire Underwriters in 1953 for a “failure to utilize all modern methods of firefighting and failure to provide a productive training program to strengthen discipline,” efforts to standardize the wide range of competencies found throughout the country gained momentum.

Throughout the 1950s, veterans from World War II and later Korea were a ready pool of applicants for the growing fire service in newly developing communities. The GI Bill and other educational programs for returning veterans also created opportunities for to form firefighter training programs, and land grant colleges and community college systems rose to the occasion to meet the training and education demand.

The Cuban Missile Crisis gave rise to a new focus on civil defense. Auxiliary fire departments were established, and the need for nuclear emergency preparedness began to grow. Community shelters and emergency operations centers were formed and maintained throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

A national effort to establish formalized and standardized fire service training programs using an approved curriculum gained followers in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1966, the Wingspread I Conference outlined professional standards and concepts for a continuum of professional development training that would lead to national fire training program. The call for executive development for fire chiefs was well-defined at this conference.

Fire service leaders contributing to this process were William E. Clark, supervisor, Fire Service Training, Madison, Wis., and chairman, Institution of Fire Engineers, USA Branch; David Gratz, fire chief, Silver Spring (Md.) Fire Department, and chairman, Board of Trustees, International Fire Administration Institute; John O'Hagan, chief of department, Fire Department of the City of New York; Keith Royer, supervisor, Fire Service Extension, Iowa State University, president, International Society of Fire Service Instructors, and chairman, Training and Education Committee, International Association of Fire Chiefs; Lester Schick, fire chief, Davenport (Iowa) Fire Department, and first vice president, IAFC; Henry Smith, chief, Firemen's Training, Texas A&M University; Curtis Volkhamer, chief fire marshal, Chicago Fire Department; Robert Byrus, director, Fire Service Training, University of Maryland; and Keith E. Klinger, chief engineer, Los Angeles County Fire Department.

In response to the deafening call from throughout fire service leadership, two separate series of fire service training curricula rose to the top using the newly developed federal occupational analysis for firefighters. Oklahoma State University — the current home of Fire Protection Publications — and the International Fire Service Training Association marshaled subject-matter experts and created the first set of “Red Books” for firefighter training. The State of California also created a series of red-cover manuals that were used throughout the western United States.

As technology changes and is incorporated into the fire service, changes in training always follow. Many of our current training programs are based on changes in technology. As we look back over 50 years it is easy to see examples of those changes and how the trends of the past five decades have shaped the American fire service and its focus.

Military technology influenced the fire service with the advent of two-way radio technology in the early 1950s. Prior to that, many departments used an AM radio broadcast with “receive-only” capability on some fire apparatus. The development of FM radio was a major advance in firefighting technology.

That same decade also ushered in the first self-contained breathing apparatus. One would think that the ability to breathe clean, fresh air in the hostile fire environment would have been welcomed. In many departments, the opposite was true. Training was sporadic, and many departments would not use the new equipment in training because refilling bottles was difficult. Some firefighters would not use SCBA at incidents because of the criticism and hazing from their peers who bestowed a “leather lung” badge of honor to those firefighters who managed to find air despite the worst fire and smoke conditions. “Safety” and “wellness” weren't watch words of the era and would not be commonplace for another two decades.

It should be noted, too, that this same period of change in the fire service also would witness the development of the emergency medical services system. Advances in emergency medical treatment of the era included mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, developed in 1956 by Peter Safar and James Elam, followed by the development of physician-administered CPR in 1960. In 1966, the American Heart Association and American Red Cross created CPR training programs for non-physicians. Many departments embraced these new modalities and conducted first-aid training for their members.

What were the major occurrences that led to changes in how and what we trained on during the past 50 years?

The 1970s brought us Snorkels and elevated platforms, the Incident Command System, and a focused course of study on fire prevention and fire department master planning. Urban arson problems were also on the forefront of training efforts in many communities.

The 1980s saw an emphasis on special operations: hazmat response and heavy rescue. The instructional methodology of awareness, operations, technician and scene commander levels were adopted for hazmat training.

This methodology began being used in many other areas of study as a model set of instructional levels. Many states embraced formal fire officer development and coursework in executive development and fire management skills. NFPA 1500, Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program, was crafted, and a stronger push for firefighter safety and wellness programs began.

The trajectory of the wellness and fitness initiatives continued to climb in the 1990s. Programs like the Firefighter Combat Challenge and other high-visibility initiatives put wellness in the forefront. The fire service continued its movement toward becoming an all-risk, all-hazards response entity. The idea of “community risk reduction” focusing on community health and safety was embraced by many progressive departments. Initiatives such as babysitter certification, drowning prevention and bicycle safety became more common with fire service leadership.

The new millennium ushered in the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, which have changed all of us forever. The focus on homeland security, protection of critical infrastructure, training and exercises, and interoperability are the subjects of headlines. Response to CBRNE events, coordination and strategic-level management at emergency operation centers are on everyone's action lists. Management of natural disasters and large-scale mobilization and deployment of local, state and federal fire resources and management teams are becoming the normal standard of response for wide-scale disasters. The implementation of National Incident Management System training is a major initiative across the nation.

What does the future hold for the next 50 years? We know the pace of change will be more rapid. We also know that lessons learned from military operations and advances in technologies will affect the fire service, as it always has. Will distance learning and teleconferencing using satellite technologies improve the way we coordinate and train multiple crews within a jurisdiction? Will the level of federal support and involvement move us toward regional response systems instead of so many small, independent jurisdictions? Will the basic scope and mission change as dramatically as it has over the past 50 years? What will we stop doing that we do today? What will be added to the menu of services we provide? My best estimate is that regardless of what challenges we face, we will respond with strong visible leadership, a passion to serve our communities and a willingness to embrace new methods, tools and technologies to better tame the threats of the future … just like we've done since 1956 and before.

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John Linstrom is executive director of The Linco Group, an emergency services consultancy. He's an adjunct faculty member for Texas A&M University and the National Fire Academy. Linstrom currently serves as a battalion chief/paramedic in Apple Valley, Calif. He also serves as commander of the DHS/FEMA DMORT for Region IX and has been involved in the national USAR program since 1996.