Illinois Fire Service Institute to Host National Conference
The University of Illinois Fire Service Institute (IFSI) has been chosen to host the 2007 National Fire & Emergency Services Exploring Conference at its Champaign training campus. Between 500 and 800 youth participants are expected to travel to Champaign on June 18, 2007 for the five-day event.
The National Fire & Emergency Services Exploring Conference is organized by Learning for Life of Irving, Texas. The Conference, held bi-annually since 2001, combines hands-on seminars with individual and team competitive events. IFSI was chosen in part because of the extent of hands-on training facilities available at the Champaign campus. IFSI has also served as host for the Explorer-Cadet Fire School for the last four years. That event will be displaced by the National Conference in 2007.
Fire Service Exploring is a worksite-based program for young men and women who have completed the eighth grade and are 14 years of age, or 15 years of age but have not yet reached their 21st birthday. Fire Service Exploring offers experiential learning for those young men and women who are interested in careers in the field of fire services.
Volunteers are being sought to help with evaluation and judging individual and team events on June 19 and 20, 2007. Additional mentoring is needed for “hands-on” live fire, technical rescue, hazardous materials, investigation, EMS and other short sessions. Additional volunteers are requested to perform large visual demonstrations, such as LPG burns, rope rescue and live line demo. To volunteer, contact Greg Fisher at .
For more information on the program, visit the IFSI web site at www.fsi.uiuc.edu and follow the links to Explorer Conference.
The Illinois Fire Service Institute is the statutory fire academy for the state of Illinois. In addition to training provided at the Champaign campus, the Institute offers online classes and conducts training throughout the state at Regional Training Centers and local fire stations. The mission of the Illinois Fire Service Institute is to help firefighters do their work through training, education, information and research.
For more information about the Institute, call 217-333-8921.
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