Midwest emergency personnel converge on Kirkwood for annual fire school

This weekend Kirkwood Community College hosts the 25th annual Central Iowa Training Association (CITA) –Kirkwood Fire School. A consortium of area volunteer and paid firefighters and emergency medical service providers work together to learn new techniques in Basic/Advanced Auto Extrication, Combine/Auger/Tractor, Basic Firefighting, Live Mobile Flashover and Class “A”, Big Rig Rescue Extrication, Propane Emergencies, Rope Rescue Class and many other content areas.

This year's programs will be held on the Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, September 24 and Sunday, September 25. Photo and interview opportunities abound during this weekend of training and demonstrations.

Current registrations for the school stand at close to 750 volunteer and paid firefighters and emergency medical service providers from Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. Dozens of fire, ambulance and other emergency vehicles will be stationed in the Johnson Hall parking lot alone, serving as demonstrations for the dozens of service and commercial vendors on hand for the event.

“Prime times” for interviewing presenters and visiting professionals would be from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday. For more information, contact John Zlabek , chairman, CITA-Kirkwood Fire School: (319) 361-4691 or Kim Fensterman, program manager, CITA-Kirkwood Fire School: (319) 398-5678.