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Local Level Training Program

The Local Level Fire Training Program is the oldest form of organized fire/rescue training conducted by the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, dating  to the 1930s. 

This training continues to strive toward increasing the emergency responder’s effectiveness by centering training on local needs and using local equipment and apparatus.

Pennsylvania’s Local Level Training program is unique among the 50 state training systems found in the U.S., because the courses are delivered upon request in your station on a schedule that meets your local department’s needs.

The State Fire Academy establishes the curriculum and accredits instructors to deliver the courses. The academy also develops and releases new and revised curricula. Working groups of technical experts, field instructors, end-users, and academy staff are utilized in the curriculum development and revision process.

The Local Level fire training programs are conducted through the academy’s system of educational training agencies (ETAs). This ETA system is comprised of participating community colleges, county/regional fire training academies, and other similar organizations.

The academy issues Minimum Standards for Accreditation (MSA) for each accredited course which defines content and procedural issues for the course. The ETAs must adhere to these minimum standards of accreditation for each course in order to issue State Fire Academy “Certificates of Training” for the course. The Local Level Fire Training curriculum currently includes the Entry Level Firefighter curriculum consisting of 4 courses, plus 130+ separate courses ranging in length from 2 to 60 hours.

Another key role for the Academy is the development and accreditation of Local Level Instructors. This ensures that a qualified cadre of instructors is available for the ETAs to use to deliver these courses. Three full-time Field Education Supervisors, assigned to one of the three regions dividing the Commonwealth – Western/Central/and Eastern, provide customer service, supervisory guidance, quality control, and overall coordination of the program.

Courses are available and may be approved at any time throughout the year by completing an application and sending it to an Educational Training Agency that provides services in your county.

For specific information on the Local Level Training Program, click on the links listed below.