Columbia Southern University (CSU), a leading online educator of first responders, recently launched a new fire leadership degree program with four concentrations.

The Master of Science in fire executive leadership degree program offers an opportunity for those in the fire service to gain academic training in leadership at the graduate level. The degree was designed to help students acquire a competitive edge in the fire service and related fields while emphasizing the development of an innovative leader. Students in the degree program choose one of four concentrations: emergency services management, human resource management, occupational safety and health, or public administration.

“This is an enormous opportunity for leaders to expand and grow to their full potential as trailblazers in the fire service industry,” said Keith Padgett, fire and EMS academic director for CSU. He added that the program is suited for “every progressive fire service member that has the desire to be the very best in order to serve their community.”

The 36-hour degree program’s emergency services management concentration focuses on addressing and minimizing risks to responders, the public and the environment through ethical, management-level decision making. The human resource management concentration provides students with the knowledge to lead, grow and assess the personnel needs of fire service organizations. The occupational safety and health concentration examines various strategies such as controlling hazards, conducting risk assessments and applying preventative measures to ensure safety within fire service organizations. The concentration in public administration equips students with the knowledge to be an effective leader in areas of planning, budgeting and developing public policies for their community.

To learn more about the degree program and its four concentrations, visit Columbiasouthern.edu or call 800-977-8449.

The Cayman Islands Fire Service (CIFS) recently delivered one of the new Oshkosh Striker aviation fire trucks to Cayman Brac Fire Station to provide fire and rescue aviation support at Charles Kirkconnell International Airport (CKIA). The delivery of the new truck to the Sister Islands joins the 1st Oshkosh Aviation Striker delivered last year as part of CIFS’s ongoing fleet modernization plan to further build its international airport operations support and resilience across the service.

Brac CIFS Station Manager Mr. Witney Tatum commented on the importance of the new truck to Cayman Brac: “The new truck and accompanying equipment, we now have two Aviation fire trucks which significantly improves our aviation operational support and efficiency for Charles Kirkconnell Airport (CKIA),”

District Commissioner for Cayman Brac & Little Cayman Mark Tibbetts said: “This new truck investment facilitates the Sister Islands airport operation to accommodate larger planes and, by extension, support having more visitors to our islands. We are very grateful for the investment in the new trucks. I thank my colleagues at the Ministry of Homes Affairs for their support in ensuring the Sister Islands achieved this goal.”

Speaking about the aviation capabilities of the new trucks, Deputy Chief Fire Officer (Aviation) Mr. Brevan Elliott explained: “Like on Grand Cayman, this new truck will equip the Sister Islands with state-of-the-art fire and rescue equipment and technology to provide a more efficient and effective rapid response service to airport operations. The industry standard is two minutes total to reach each end of the runway. This new truck will also improve operations and ensure our Sister Islands crew can provide the time-sensitive support required to ensure passenger and public safety in the event of a major incident.”

Designate Chief Fire Officer Mr. Dwight Randy Rankin added: “Our fleet modernization plan will ensure CIFS officers are equipped and technically trained at an international industry level to utilize the equipment, technology, and provide the necessary level of professionalism across all three islands for over 10 years. This investment of a unified fleet of Oshkosh Strikers delivers a crucial component to further building on our existing infrastructure while building the resiliency of our emergency response support into the future and completes the replacement of all of our aviation fire trucks in Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac.”

Athens is looking to secure $9 million in funding for a new fire station after voters approved an income tax increase to pay for it, reports woub.com.

The city plans to issue bonds to fund construction, which will be built along the Hocking River just past the Stimson Avenue roundabout, the report says.

Cutting through the red tape of issuing the bonds will take until mid-June, at the earliest.

The new facility is necessary as the current Columbus Road digs isn’t safe, officials say. Below, see Athens Chief Robert Rymer discuss the Headquarters Replacement Plan:

Round Rock City Council approved architectural and engineering contracts Thursday to move forward with the design of a new Fire Station 1.

The station will be located at 1730 E. Old Settlers Blvd. and house one battalion chief and a fire crew comprised of three to four firefighters. The new location will move these personnel from the Central Fire Station located at 203 Commerce Blvd., which will continue to house administration functions for the Round Rock Fire Department. The new location is expected to better distribute response times across the City, with improved response to the growing eastern portion of the community.

A previously designed prototype fire station will be used as a blueprint for the project. The contract for architectural services with McKinney York Architects will include updating the current prototype Fire Station plans to new building codes, adding a fourth vehicle bay for apparatus and redesigning the HVAC system and roof. The engineering services contract with 2P Consultants, LLC will include site layout, grading and drainage design, utility design, erosion control, permitting and platting.