A top firefighter training program based in Frederick County remains shuttered despite firefighters’ repeated warnings to Trump officials that its shutdown leaves first responders less prepared.
The National Fire Academy trains 100,000 firefighters a year, many at its 107-acre hub in rural Emmitsburg. Classes were abruptly canceled in early March amid the Trump administration’s review of federal spending. At the time, the Department of Homeland Security deemed the academy nonessential.
The freeze sparked immediate pushback from prominent fire service organizations. Over the last two months, the groups have organized letter-writing campaigns and met with public officials to spotlight what they see as the academy’s vital role in preparing for emergencies, developing leaders and sharing best practices.
But even firefighters, a widely respected constituency that President Donald Trump has courted, say they are having a tough time lobbying to undo the administration’s steep cuts — or even getting administration officials to respond to them.
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“It is very frustrating because every day lost is a day that puts us a little bit behind in terms of preparing for the next type of event that might hit this country,” said Bill Webb, executive director of the Congressional Fire Services Institute, a nonprofit policy group that aims to educate federal lawmakers about fire and emergency services.
In March, Webb’s group wrote a letter, signed by eight former U.S. fire administrators, urging Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to restore in-person classes. It never received a reply, Webb said. Efforts to pressure the Trump administration through members of Congress have also been unsuccessful, he added.
“We’re just kind of sitting impatiently and waiting to hear what direction they’re going to go with this,” Webb said.
An online course catalog shows some in-person classes are accepting applications, though it’s unclear whether they’ll take place. Courses on topics including fire investigations, hazardous materials management and preventing firefighter fatalities appear to be canceled through July.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which oversees the academy, “is evaluating the effectiveness of all trainings and courses to better support our local and state partners before, during and after emergencies.”
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Acting FEMA Chief Cameron Hamilton, who traveled to Emmitsburg on Sunday for an annual memorial service for fallen firefighters, said the agency intends to reopen the academy but offered no timeline.
“We greatly value the training that goes on here, as well as the service of those that come and attend,” Hamilton told The Baltimore Banner. “That’s our goal — to restart it as soon as possible.”
Firefighters in Prince George’s County, Maryland’s largest department, were scheduled to take spring and summer classes in incident command and high-rise fire response that were canceled by the shutdown, Chief Tiffany Green said.
Green, the county’s first female fire chief, planned to attend a Women in Fire weekend in Emmitsburg later this month. That, too, was scrapped.
“It’s been a pivotal part of my career and an experience that I think every firefighter and fire chief should have,” Green said of the academy. “I’m sad to see that it’s been paused and kind of dismissed as something that’s not viable for our fire service.”
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Trump has pointedly appealed to emergency workers in his presidential campaigns and claimed to have the backing of rank-and-file firefighters.
The International Association of Fire Fighters, a union representing over 350,000 first responders, broke with a long tradition of backing Democrats by declining to endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election, a decision seen as a tacit victory for Trump.
Now, many firefighter leaders and elected officials say Trump’s sweeping cuts to the federal government are hitting the fire service on multiple fronts.
Beyond the fire academy, advocacy groups have expressed outrage about mass layoffs at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which halted key programs focused on firefighter health and safety. One studied the causes of cancer in firefighters.
Ed Kelly, head of the International Association of Fire Fighters, announced he met with the White House and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to discuss those cuts. Some of the layoffs have since been reversed.
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Trump’s federal spending freeze also stalled FEMA grant programs that fire departments rely on to buy equipment and hire personnel. After setbacks in court, the agency announced in April it would restore the funding.
Green, the Prince George’s fire chief, said she is preparing for more uncertainty.
“We are hoping we don’t see the impact of those cuts, but we’re also being proactive and are planning for that just in case,” she said.
Pat Thompson, the National Volunteer Fire Council‘s legislative chairman, said the fire academy shutdown especially hurts rural departments, many of which are volunteer-based. The federally funded training is often the best option for leadership development and networking that rural departments can afford.
The National Volunteer Fire Council mobilized its members to contact elected officials about reopening the academy, Thompson said. It was also one of three dozen fire and emergency services organizations that signed a letter urging key congressional committees to press the administration on the issue.
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“It’s a shame,” Thompson said of the shutdown. “I’m certain that there is waste in government, but the fire academy is not where the waste is.”
Democratic Congresswoman April McClain Delaney, whose district includes Emmitsburg, also wrote to Noem and Hamilton expressing “serious concern” about the canceled classes.
The congresswoman’s office was notified that the letter, cosigned by 63 Democratic senators and representatives, one Republican and one independent, was received, but it has not received a formal reply.
McClain Delaney “is disappointed in FEMA’s lack of urgency to reinstate training to secure our communities’ public safety and support our first responders,” said Sonny Holding, her chief of staff.
During a Senate hearing Thursday, one of the signatories to the letter, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, pressed Noem on the academy’s future.
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The Homeland Security chief pledged to fund the training program.
“Those grants and programs are being facilitated, and those dollars will be forwarded,” she said.
Emmitsburg, a small, rural town that prides itself on its ties to the fire service, briefly returned to normal last weekend as it hosted an annual memorial to fallen firefighters.
Thousands of fire personnel, wearing patches from departments across the country, gathered on the campus the memorial shares with the fire academy. A ceremony honored 140 firefighters who died in the line of duty. Bagpipes played, and surviving family members received folded American flags.
Hamilton, the acting FEMA chief, read a letter from Trump and led a moment of silence.
“We see you. We stand by you. And we are here to support you,” he said.
Days later, news outlets reported on Thursday, Hamilton was fired.
This story was updated after the acting FEMA chief was terminated and the Homeland Security Secretary testified at a Senate hearing.
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