Texas Fire Academy Making Global Impact

Choosing a career as a firefighter takes dedication beyond the call of duty. Firefighters are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week and must be ready to risk their lives to save others in times of disaster.

But in order to do this firefighters must complete a rigorous hands-on training program.  With increasing training requirements and exhausting schedules, this can create barriers to certification.

To battle the issue, a unique kind of fire academy which accommodates scheduling challenges is open to those wanting to enter the field. It's called Smart Fire Training Division.

One of the core group founders is Mick Moffitt, a man who faced terrible tragedy as a young boy on Halloween night in 1976.

"From what we understand, our house caught on fire from one those jack-o-laterns in the window," Moffitt said of that night.

As flames spread, the father and two children managed to escape. Sadly their mother, Linda Moffitt, did not make it out that night.

Despite his family's painful loss, young Mick gained something valuable that night he would carry with him for life.

"What I remember are these two men that went up a ladder and brought me to safe place," Moffitt said. "They spent 20 minutes encouraging me and said, 'Hey this is our project right now because we know his life is about to change.'"

The compassion Moffitt witnessed from the firefighters that night sparked a vision to start his own fire academy. That vision has now come to life in Crowley, Texas, where Moffitt serves as CEO of Smart Fire Training Division.

Over the last 13 years, Smart Fire Training Division has grown to be the largest academy of its kind in the United States, attracting recruits from all over the world.

"I wanted to get into a culture where there is a lot of tradition, history, loyalty and respect," recruit Chuck Howie from Ontario, Canada, said.

The academy offers an online portion that culminates with a two-week, hands-on training camp located in Texas, where recruits are supplied housing and food.

It was this type of culture that God began to birth in Moffitt's heart.

"I started to do an exercise: If you could describe what a firefighter is with one word, what would that word be?" Moffitt said.

Moffitt explained recruits would most frequently write out character, honor, respect, integrity, service and teamwork. When Moffitt wrote out the characteristics, he realized the first letters of each word spelled out 'Christ.'

"God just spoke to me so quickly," Moffitt recalled. "[He] said that this is the pillars of wisdom and those are what I want you to incorporate and help these guys understand the importance of."

"Here at the fire training, we have the theme of 'leave no man behind,' which is a lot like in the Christian walk," Brad Loewman, COO of the Training Division, explained.

Major highlights of the school include emergency scenarios recruits may encounter during their career, such as a medevac helicopter routine, live fire drills, jaws of life rescue, and repelling drills.

As Smart Fire continues to grow, Moffitt leans on a lesson learned from one tragic night. The selfless act of two men pulling him from that fire instilled in him the value of saving others.    

Recently, Moffitt was giving a speech on how his vision began at a party marking the academy's 100th bootcamp when two men came walking through the crowd. They said that they remembered that tragic night; they were the ones that saved him.

"I can't even explain to you the emotion. They were so grateful to know their integrity impacted someone's life," he said. "And for me, it really steered the course of my life."