By Sherry Greenfield
Baltimore Sun
WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday that her office is working on restoring funding to the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg.
Noem appeared before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, where she was questioned by Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen on the funding stripped away from the academy in March.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) ordered the academy to cancel all in-person classes, with instructors later receiving additional orders to cancel virtual classes. Though some virtual classes have been restored, in-person training has been shut down since March 7 as a result of a wider effort by the Trump Administration to reduce federal spending and align agency programs with its priorities.
Van Hollen questioned Noem on a letter that he, along with Maryland Del. April McClain Delaney, sent to FEMA in March asking for an explanation as to why the agency decided to cancel the academy’s in-person and virtual training for firefighters and paramedics.
“I would just ask, could you commit today to responding to our letter?” Van Hollen states in the hearing transcript.
Noem said she believes her office did respond to the March 14 letter.
“… Those grants and programs are being facilitated, and those dollars will be forwarded,” she said. “So, that is something that if I didn’t get that back to you, we will get it to you within 24 hours.”
Van Hollen continued to press Noem for any reassurance that funding will be restored.
“Well, that would be some good news to come out of the hearing, because we really have not heard a thing,” he said. “So, you’re bringing good news today that we’re going to renew funding for the National Fire Academy ?”
Noem said that was the direction her office was taking, and that information would be provided to him.
Meanwhile, training has continued for firefighters and paramedics in Carroll County despite the federal government’s abrupt decision to cancel classes at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg.
“We were happy to see the limited capacity of online training restored,” Michael Karolenko, president of the Carroll County Professional Fire Fighters & Paramedics and the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 5184, stated in an email Friday. “We fervently advocate that in-person courses are restored as soon as possible, returning not only their specialized education, but certainly the networking opportunities that truly add the crucial mechanism of sharing ideas and contacts to advance the fire service.”
Karolenko said the shutdown has not affected the everyday training of firefighters and Emergency Medical Service personnel.
“Position-specific required certification and more general training is done locally and through the University of Maryland, Maryland Fire Rescue Institute,” he said. “The cancellation of in-person courses at the NFA does limit our opportunity to access courses that benefit our career and volunteer fire officers, and the professional development of our members. Aspects that, absolutely, positively affect our service to Carroll County.”
Meanwhile, the closing is having a direct impact on Emmitsburg, a small town on the tip of northern Frederick County.
Emmitsburg Mayor Frank Davis said in an interview Friday that if the shutdown continues, it will harm local businesses, employment and money coming into the town’s water fund.
“It will have a great impact on our economy,” Davis said. “Businesses will lose 20% of their income. There are employees from the town who live in Emmitsburg who work there, and the academy is the largest contributor to our water budget.
“We have great hope they open it back up,” she said.
Funding for the U.S. Fire Administration, which is controlled by FEMA and is the agency responsible for the National Fire Academy, was secured through 2028 by the Fire Grants and Safety Act, which was signed by former President Joe Biden in July.
President Donald Trump has made cuts to the federal government a priority since he took office in January. The Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has slashed programs and spending across multiple federal agencies.
“The NFA has long been a bastion of professional development for the fire service. It is a melting pot of best practices from across the nation, built to advance our service to the community and safety of our members,” Karolenko said. “It is a nationally recognized point of convergence for fire service leaders, and developing leaders, to network and interweave their knowledge to benefit each of their communities more locally.”
Karolenko is hopeful the programs will be restored.
“We hope to see this long-valued resource, that we have had as a close-by neighbor, restored to its full capacity of enhancing public safety nationally, as soon as possible,” he said. “The leadership of our Union, the IAFF, has worked positively with the president’s administration to restore programs and problem solve other pauses or shutdowns that negatively affect firefighters.
“We hope that they are able to work through this issue, as well. There is no doubt that the NFA has swung far out of its weight class in terms of proportionate benefit to the United States, as a whole.”
©2025 Baltimore Sun.
Visit baltimoresun.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.