Across the fire service, leaders consistently describe training as a top priority. Mission statements emphasize readiness, conference presentations focus on operational excellence, and departments routinely communicate the importance of continuous professional development. Yet despite this messaging, many firefighters continue to describe their department’s training culture as compliance-driven rather than performance-driven. The contradiction is difficult to ignore.
If training is truly the backbone of operational readiness, why do so many departments still rely heavily on checkbox completion, annual requirements and repetitive mandatory modules instead of deliberate skill development, decision-making and realistic scenario-based learning? The findings from the What Firefighters Want in 2026 survey highlight this growing disconnect.
Checkbox-based training
The survey clearly shows that firefighters are dedicating substantial time to training each month:
These numbers demonstrate that departments are investing time in workforce development, which is encouraging. But the more important question is not simply how much training occurs — it is what kind of training receives priority and how that training is delivered.
Mandatory digital and online training remains one of the most frequently completed forms of instruction across the fire service at 35% noted for monthly training. These programs are often easy to assign, easy to document and easy to verify for compliance purposes. In many ways, this simplicity in training may be the foundation of compliance-driven training systems. By comparison, higher-value operational learning experiences — particularly scenario-based decision-making exercises — occur less frequently with a 30% monthly response rate noted.
That means a firefighter can complete every required annual online module and still be underprepared for the cognitive demands of a rapidly evolving incident. Fireground success depends heavily on decision-making under stress, communication, tactical adaptability, crew coordination and risk assessment — competencies that are difficult to build through passive training delivery alone.
The survey findings suggest that many departments continue prioritizing what is easiest to track administratively rather than what most effectively improves operational performance.
Firefighters want more from their training
When firefighters were asked what change would most improve the quality of instruction within their department’s training program, several consistent themes emerged:
- More qualified and certified instructors
- Dedicated training officers
- Greater investment in instructor development
- Standardized lesson plans and expectations
- Increased hands-on and scenario-based training.
Firefighters repeatedly expressed frustration with training environments that relied too heavily on classroom lectures, anecdotal “war stories” or repetitive compliance-based instruction with little connection to real-world operational demands:
- “Stop talking. Give me reps.”
- “Realistic scenarios that simulate actual calls.”
Others pointed to inconsistent instruction between shifts, insufficient feedback and evaluation processes, and limited opportunities to practice realistic decision-making under stress:
- “Stop doing things differently from shift to shift.”
- “Consistency with standards.”
Resource limitations also surfaced as a concern. Respondents frequently cited inadequate staffing, lack of available training time due to call volume, limited funding, and insufficient access to props, facilities and realistic training environments.
- “We need a dedicated training officer.”
- “Being able to train without interruption by calls.”
- “Have an onsite training tower and better props to train with.”
Collectively, the responses reveal a broader cultural issue within departments: Firefighters are not asking for less training — they are asking for more meaningful training.
Operational skills over strategic thinking
The survey also revealed a noticeable imbalance in what departments train on most often.
Operational task repetition — including apparatus operations, PPE and SCBA use (29% monthly), hose evolutions and fire attack (with a 32%) — continue to dominate company-level training schedules. These are essential skills and should absolutely remain core components of firefighter development.
Monthly training frequency drops when examining higher-level competencies:
- Tactical decision-making and strategy (incident command): 27%
- Leadership development: 20%
- Mayday, firefighter survival or rapid intervention: 17%
- Active shooter, civil unrest: 4%
This creates an important distinction between task competency and operational competency. Many firefighters become highly proficient at performing isolated technical tasks while receiving far fewer opportunities to develop the judgment necessary to integrate those tasks effectively during complex incidents.
The modern fireground is increasingly dynamic. Fires develop faster. Building construction continues to evolve. Staffing shortages impact tactical flexibility. Maritime, industrial, technical rescue and wildland-urban interface incidents demand broader decision-making capabilities than traditional structural firefighting alone. Yet leadership and strategic thinking remain among the less frequently practiced training areas.
That reality strongly suggests a compliance-centered training model: Departments naturally focus on measurable operational basics because they are easier to document, standardize and defend administratively. Strategic thinking, however, is far more difficult to quantify — and as a result, often receives less organizational attention.
Completion vs. performance metrics
One of the most revealing findings from the survey involves how departments evaluate training success.
While many respondents agreed that instructors stay current (82% agree) and provide actionable feedback (81% agree), only 58% agree that departments actively evaluate whether training improves operational performance rather than simply verifying participation and completion.
In some organizations, training success is defined by whether training occurred, training was documented, training policy requirements were met, and whether annual training hours were complete. It is more difficult to systematically evaluate operational performance questions such as:
- Did crews perform better?
- Did communication improve?
- Were tactical errors reduced?
- Did decision-making improve under stress?
- Did training translate into safer outcomes?
- Did incident command performance improve?
A department can report outstanding training participation numbers while still producing inconsistent fireground performance. Compliance systems measure exposure to training. Performance systems measure operational improvement. Those are not the same thing.
The survey responses point to a clear training hierarchy of needs:
- People problem — not enough qualified instructors or dedicated training leadership
- Process problem — lack of structure, consistency and evaluation
- Delivery problem — too much classroom, not enough hands-on realism
- Resource problem — limited time, facilities and funding
Taken together, departments are not just asking for more training — they are asking for more professionalized training systems.
Final thoughts
The survey data reveals an important truth: The fire service genuinely believes that training matters. But belief alone does not define organizational culture. Culture is revealed through what departments measure, what they reward, what they prioritize operationally, what they fund and what they protect administratively.
Right now, many firefighters continue to perceive a gap between the stated importance of training and the actual structure of departmental training systems. If completion metrics outweigh performance metrics, training will continue to feel compliance-driven. The departments that will lead the future of the fire service will be the ones willing to move beyond minimum standards and build cultures centered on operational competence, adaptability and continuous improvement. Because in emergency response, checking the box is never the same thing as being truly prepared.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lisa Burton serves as Manager of Fire Training for Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) where she oversees training for both MMA undergraduates as well as industry professionals through the Center for Professional Mariner Development. Burton also serves as a captain with the Castine (Maine) Fire Rescue Department and volunteers as the Everyone Goes Home Advocate Region 1 Advocate Manager for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. A credentialed Chief Training Officer, Burton works as an instructor for Hancock County Fire Academy as well as a state fire instructor with Maine Fire Service Institute. She has presented at FDIC, the Women In Fire Leadership Conference and Women In Fire International, as well as regional and state level events. Burton holds a master’s degree in emergency management with a concentration in management of fire and emergency services from Eastern Kentucky University.
