TERLINGUA — The Big Bend Regional Fire Academy wrapped up its latest round of training this weekend. The 17 newly-minted cadets — representing Terlingua, Marathon, Alpine, the Davis Mountains Resort and Crockett County — took a crash course on hoses, learning about the surprisingly intricate world of hose maintenance, loading and other skills.
The cooperative academy is the first of its kind in the Big Bend, filling a gap in the chronically underfunded and understaffed departments along the border. Locals know that the trip from Alpine to Terlingua is no joke — but beats repeat trips to College Station, to what Marathon VFD Chief Brad Wilson calls the “Harvard of firefighting.”
His three cadets can now get the same quality of training five hours closer to home. “It’s a game changer,” Wilson said.
Wilson credits Susan Martin, the director of Terlingua Fire and EMS (TFEMS) for coming up with the idea. Martin has served as chief for a little over a year and a half, and splits time between Terlingua and Ozona.
Martin said that the development of the academy was more of a team effort. Chiefs from across West Texas met and discussed their training needs, and convinced TEEX — the Texas A&M extension that runs their fire academy — to host localized offshoots of their nationally-renowned training in Wall, Seminole and Terlingua. “One thing kind of led to another,” she said.
The Terlingua fringe contracted with Squad 58, a firefighter training equipment that provides Big Bend recruits with sophisticated training props. The cadets are just over two-thirds of the way through their training, which will earn them a certification that can be used all over Texas.
Individual departments foot the bill for the training, which is then reimbursed through the state, freeing up time and room in the budget for bigger purchases down the line.
The vast majority of firefighters in the Big Bend serve on a completely volunteer basis. While anyone can sign up, completing training helps them become more effective as first responders and earns individual departments more credibility with outside agencies, paving the way for access to grants and other forms of support.
Chief Wilson was grateful for the opportunity, having seen his department evolve alongside his home community. He said that his squad isn’t the only volunteer fire department to face staffing shortages, thanks to a nationwide decline in volunteerism. Locally speaking, that might be due in part to the rapidly-changing regional economy — it can be tough to justify working for free amid ballooning rents and housing shortages. “It’s a labor of love for our community,” he said.
Both Wilson and Martin expressed that the revolutionary new training arrangement was emblematic of existing cooperation between regional departments — particularly under Brewster County Judge Greg Henington, who was once the TFEMS chief himself.
That close communication — and now skill-sharing, thanks to the new regional academy — allows these tiny remote departments to bring their best to each emergency situation. “It’s our lifeline out here,” Wilson said.