Citizens Fire Academy (CFA)

The Citizens Fire Academy is a ten-week program designed to give Orlando residents an inside view in the life of an Orlando Firefighter. Each week students meet for three hours and interact with our firefighters in the following areas: 

Course Contents
Basic Course: 10 weeks, 3 hours per week

Week 1
Location:  Firehouse #1
Welcome!  Tour the firehouse, see an apparatus display,  learn about the personal protective gear a firefighter wears and receive your CFA T-shirt!.

Week 2
Location:  Orlando City Hall, 9th Floor
What fire hazards should you look for in your home?  What is your best chance to survive a fire in the workplace?  Also, learn how to use a fire extinguisher.

Week 3
Location:  Executive Airport
Meet the Orlando Fire Department Accelerant Detection K-9, Maxine and her handler. And if you see the Arson and Bomb Squad running, run too!  See why. 

Week 4
Location:  Orlando Fire Museum
Learn the history of the Orlando Fire Department and it's Fire Museum!  Tour the Fire Museum and see much of the department's original apparatus as well as memorabilia.  Also, take a ride 100 feet high in the bucket of the Tower Truck! 

Week 5
Location:  Emergency Operations Center
Learn how the 9-1-1 system works from one of the Emergency Communications experts.  Also, take a tour of our state of the art Emergency Operations Center.   

Week 6
Location:  Orlando City Hall, 9th Floor
Phase one of bystander care training begins with this session - you will become American Heart Association certified in Basic First Aid. .   

Week 7
Location: Firehouse #1
What does it mean to "flap a roof"?  And why do firefighters do that?  Not only will the firefighters demonstrate a vehicle extraction, they will let you do it too! 

Week 8
Location:  Orlando City Hall, 9th Floor
Learn CPR and get your certification from the American Heart Association.

Week 9
Location:  Central Florida Fire Academy
Find your way out of a room totally by touch.  Feel the heat from a LP tanker fire and walk down the side of a building supported by nothing but a rope!

Week 10
Location:  Firehouse #12
Graduation Night! Receive your certificates presented by Fire Chief James Reynolds.  But first, enjoy a firehouse dinner prepared by the firefighters themselves...just for you!