Neligh Fire Department Sends Members To Fire School

As area schools let out for the summer, it was back to school time for local firefighters.

On May 19th, 20th, and 21st, the 2017 Nebraska Fire School was held at Fonner Park in Grand Island. This is the 80th year the Nebraska State Volunteer Firefighter's Association has held Fire School.

A total of 16 members of the Neligh Volunteer Fire Department participated in this year's school, with 5 of them taking the "Intro to Firefighting" course. Dave Jacobsen, Assistant Chief of the department, is a certified instructor in the State of Nebraska. Jacobsen, however, said his experience with the program didn't change.

"I still learned something new. I learn something new every year. I have been going to fire school since 1996. I have only missed 3 years, maybe, and every year I learned something new."

Firefighters choose a class out of the 31 different classes to participate in over the weekend. The classes covered multiple topics, from officer training and leadership to fire investigation and EMS. The classes contain a mix of both classroom activities and hands on exercises.

The keynote speaker for the weekend was Christopher Naum, the Chief of Training at the Command Institute. Naum gave a presentation titled "Rebooting the American Firefighter."

First responders that attended Fire School also had the chance to watch a Nebraska Danger game vs. the Green Bay Blizzard on Saturday night. Besides a free ticket into the game, a special ceremony to honor first responders was also conducted before the start of the game.

(Photos courtesy of ​Bill Pfeifer)