By Erik Anderson
The Frederick News-Post, Md.
(TNS)
In the past several weeks, U.S. Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-Md.) has introduced two bills that would reimburse local fire departments for costs related to the cancellation of classes at the U.S. Fire Administration’s National Fire Academy (NFA) in Emmitsburg.
On Sept. 11, she introduced the Firefighter Learning and Management Education (FLAME) Act.
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Then, she introduced the National Fire Academy Reimbursement for Emergency Service Course Unavailability and Expenses (RESCUE) Act on Oct. 17.
She told The Frederick News-Post on Friday that the first bill was a response to the nearly three-month closure of NFA earlier this year as part of the government spending cuts led by the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“There were actually firefighters en route to the academy from Hawaii and from very long away places,” she said about when training classes were canceled. “And these [volunteer fire departments] don’t have a lot of resources. They have to fundraise.”
Under current law, she said, the fire departments were responsible for all of the lost travel-related costs, such as canceled flights and hotel rooms.
In-person training was paused — though some online classes continued — in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order that implemented the “Department of Government Efficiency,” the News-Post’s reported at the time.
The executive order called for a review of contracts, policies and practices at federal agencies, in an effort to “ensure Government spending is transparent and Government employees are accountable to the American public.”
The training facilities reopened after a comprehensive review by FEMA and the U.S. Fire Administration determined that in-person courses provided effective training, according to a FEMA press release issued in May.
The sudden cancellation of the NFA classes was “completely nonsensical,” McClain Delaney said, because “we obviously need to train our firefighters and our first responders, particularly in terms of all the climate issues and different things that are happening.”
She said the second bill she introduced, the National Fire Academy RESCUE Act, is “narrowly tailored” to address fire class cancellations resulting from the current federal government shutdown.
While declining to speculate on a timeline for the potential passage of her bills, she said, “I actually do feel there’s a good possibility that they could pass” because she believes they have bipartisan appeal.
“For instance, GT Thompson, who is head of the [agriculture] committee, is a volunteer firefighter himself,” she said referring to a Pennsylvania Republican.
McClain Delaney said her interest in supporting volunteer fire departments arises partly from her upbringing in a part of Idaho with a lot of wildfire activity and partly because the NFA is in her district.
“The National Fire Academy is in Emmitsburg and it is ... an economic driver and also a national jewel in terms of the tens of thousands of firefighters and first responders who come there every year to learn best practices and really improve their skills of response,” she said. “As part of my job, but also part of my heart, that’s what kind of drove me to start vesting in these issues.”
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