Fire protection in rural Alaskan communities depends on individual home fire prevention and protection rather than on the services offered by a centralized fire department. Even when help is summoned to extinguish a blaze, aid does not come in the form of a cadre of highly trained firefighters; it comes instead from whomever happens to be in the…

This is a description of the Maryland system which was created to evaluate local fire-rescue education and training needs and capabilities and to assist local authorities with fire-rescue education and training. In the first of four parts, an historical presentation is used to identify and describe in general terms the state fire, rescue, and…