Becoming a career fire fighter in the state of Idaho requires specialized knowledge and training. Fire science education at Idaho colleges and universities is available only to people who are affiliated with a fire department. Law enforcement curriculum, on the other hand, is available to any interested persons. A student in law enforcement can attend the Police Officers Standards and Training (POST) academy or participate in classes in one of Idaho's institutions for higher education. There are no fire academies in Idaho. Applicants wanting to become professional fire fighters in Idaho are required to compete with applicants from other states; many of whom have had prior fire education and training. Resident Idaho fire fighter applicants are at a disadvantage when applying for Idaho fire fighting positions. Because of this apparent need, I surveyed the Idaho fire chiefs, using a research instrument I developed in a graduate field research class. I wrote the research instrument to determine the educational needs of the Idaho fire service. The College of Southern Idaho (CSI) and the Idaho Fire Chiefs Association (IFCA) were the recipients of this survey. This report, Analysis of Idaho Fire Service Education, describes that research process from beginning to end.

Date Published: 7 January 1999
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 3577, Sensors, C3I, Information, and Training Technologies for Law Enforcement, (7 January 1999); doi: 10.1117/12.336984

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3577:
Sensors, C3I, Information, and Training Technologies for Law Enforcement
Edward M. Carapezza; David B. Law, Editor(s)