Fire In Texas

The following are frequently asked questions pertaining to our training courses. 

Upon successful completion of any of these training courses, the student will be eligible to take the State of Texas State Certificaton Examination.  Upon successful completion of the state examination the student will be certifiable as either a Basic Fire Inspector, Basic Fire Investigator, Driver/Operator, Fire Officer I, Fire Officer II, Instructor Level I, Instructor Level II, or Instructor Level III, in the State of Texas.

Fire in Texas is a certified Training Facility through the Texas Commission on Fire Protection and authorized to conduct Fire Inspector, Fire Investigator, Driver/Operator, Fire Officer I, Fire Officer II, Instructor Level I, Instructor Level II, and Instructor Level III training in the State of Texas in both the on-site and on-line formats.

On-Site Classes: The scheduling of the courses are very flexible depending upon the needs of the students interested in receiving this training.  In order to cover the required materials in the on-site format, it is necessary to have a total of four weeks training with each week consisting of Monday through Friday.

Option 1:  Offer the training in four separate weeks spread over a four-month period.  Basically in this option one week is designated in each of four consecutive months.

Option 2:  Offer the training in two separate blocks with each block consisting of two weeks of training.  This would allow the student to be in the classroom for two weeks, back home or in the office for a designated period of time and then back in the classroom for another two-week period to complete the training.

Option 3:  Offer the training in one continuous block of training consisting of four weeks back-to-back training.

Option 4:  Offer the training course custom designed to meet your Fire Departments needs.

Classes will run Monday through Friday with classes beginning at 8:00 a.m.

On-Line Classes:  Fire In Texas offers a course each and every month.  A student may enroll and begin work on the course at any time.  Due to the self paced nature of the course, when the student completes the course work they are then ready to attend the skill session if one is required or to take the state examination if there are no skill sessions associated with that particular course.

Where will this course be held?

Fire In Texas will travel to any location in the State of Texas to conduct this training as long as enough students are interested in receiving this valuable training.

Who will be instructing the course?

Ronnie Gothard will be the primary instructor during this course.  I hold Master Firefighter, Master Inspector, and Master Investigator, Master Instructor, and Fire Officer I certification with the Commission on Fire Protection.  I have instructed fire courses for many years including the Associate Degree program for Kilgore College, Fire Inspector training and Fire Investigator training for Kilgore Fire Academy, Fire In Texas, and Training Division.com

My career has included being Fire Chief / Fire Marshal for both the City of Gladewater and the City of The Colony, owner of Fire In Texas training facility, and was  employed as the Academic Dean of Training Division.com which is an approved on-line Fire Training Facility.

I also was employed by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection as a Regional Compliance Officer in charge of the Ft Worth region.  I retired from the Commission to again be eligible to administer training to students in the classroom atmosphere.

Fire In Texas' phone number is 817-573-6893 .  Please leave a voice mail and I will return your call as soon as possible.  My email address is Ronnie@fireintexas.com   Please direct all email correspondence to that address.

Recently the Texas Commission on Fire Protection removed the required hours and now have recommended hours.  Fire In Texas conducts quality training and verifies that all course objectives and standards in each course regardless of the number of hours it takes.           

Each course has its own course requirements, numbers of recommended hours,

If you or your agency wishes to pay it at one time that will be fine.  If the course dates are established and the course is offered in either one week each month, two weeks back to back or the entire four weeks consecutively,  it will be allowed for the students to pay $250 before each weekly session begins.

All registration fees must be received at the Fire In Texas office a minimum of seven (7) days prior to the beginning day of class.

There must be a minimum of 10 students to justify any of the on-site courses being conducted.  (Contact Fire In Texas for details on minimum number of students dependant upon where in the State of Texas the training is requested)

Fire Inspector:  Each student will be required to provide his/her own textbook.  The only required text for this course will be, IFSTA, Fire Inspection and Code Enforcement, 6^th ed.  Usually firefighters can locate a copy of this text around their fire stations for use.  If however they need to purchase one, fire departments usually have a source for their IFSTA manuals.  However, if not you can always locate IFSTA manuals through the State Firemen and Fire Marshals Association web site.  Their site is www.sffma.org and this text is listed as item number 36051 with a price of $30 for non members and $26 for members.

Fire Investigator:  Each student will be required to provide his/her own textbook.  The only required text for this course will be NFPA 921, 2001 edition.  It is important that the 2001 edition of this text be obtained. 

There will be additional textbooks referenced during this course, however they will be presented in the power point presentations and it will not be necessary for the students to purchase these books.

Upon successful completion of the Fire In Texas portion of your training, you will receive from Fire In Texas a certificate for your files to verify that you have successfully completed the course requirements.  In addition you will receive a Certificate of Completion, which will be included in your application for testing with the Texas Commission on Fire Protection.

Upon successful completion of the State examination, the student will be eligible to receive three separate IFSAC seals as long as a minimum of 70% is maintained on each of the three sections.  This Fire Inspector course meets the requirements of Fire Inspector I, Fire Inspector II, and Plans Examiner I.  The Fire Investigator course meets the requirements for the Fire Inspector IFSAC seal.

IFSAC stands for International Fire Service Accreditation Congress and their web site is www.ifsac.org.   IFSAC is a voluntary organization in which various training courses are analyzed and if verified are eligible for receipt of the IFSAC seal.

If the student passes the state exam with a minimum of 70%, that individual may be a Fire Inspector/Fire Investigator in the State of Texas for the rest of their life.  If however at a later date that individual wishes to relocate to another state or country, upon arriving at that state or country, they would not accept State of Texas certification, and you would be forced to take their state approved course, test and apply for certification at the new location.

However, if that sate or country that you have moved to is also an IFSAC organization, then upon your arrival there you possibly would only have to provide documentation that you were issued these seals and you would be eligible to be certified in that state with no additional training or testing required.

Each state however, has their own requirements and should be verified prior to any move being planned or made.

The Texas Commission on Fire Protection has established Regional Testing Centers around the state.  The only course that the Commission will send a representative to administer the State Examination is the Basic Fire Academy.  All other courses, upon successful completion, will be the responsbility of the student to apply and establish their own testing site and time. 

The Texas Commission on Fire Protection may be contacted and a Testing Packet can be requested.  This packet will include an application for testing along with a list of testing locations across the state. 

Fire Inspector: There are 100 questions on the state examination and a minimum of 70% is required for passing.  There is two (2) hours allotted for taking the test.

Fire Investigator:There are 75 questions on the state examination and a minimum of 70% is required for passing.  There is one and one half (1 1/2) hours allotted for taking the test.

The Texas Commission on Fire Protection charges $15 for each student to take a written examination.

Are there any skills associated with this course and are we tested on skills on the state test day?

In the Fire Inspector I section there are 22 skills.  In the Fire Inspector II section there are also 22 skills and the Plans Examiner I section has 14 skills.  However, these skills will be conducted during the normal classroom activities. 

When the state comes in for testing, they will only be administering the written portion of the test.  All skills will be completed prior to the conclusion of the classroom activities.

What happens if I fail the State Examination?

Each student is allowed two opportunities to pass the state examination.  If in the event that a student failed to make a 70% on their initial state testing attempt they would be offered an opportunity to retest at a later date.  The retest would have to be taken within 180 days from the original test date.

What are the prerequisites for taking this Fire Inspector course?

There are no prerequisites for taking either the Fire Inspector or Fire Investigator course.  There is certain course content that any prior knowledge would certainly make it easier for the Fire Inspector student to progress though the course however, it is not required in order to take the course.

For example, there is a section over Fire Behavior.  As a certified firefighter, the student would have prior knowledge in this area and therefore the class activities over this topic would be more of a review and exposure to new material.  However, if a student in the Fire Inspector course did not have any prior fire certification or knowledge it would be new material and therefore would be additional material for acquisition.

Yes, all individuals must receive 20 CE hours per year in the area that they are certified.  However, IF the individual holds multiple certifications from the Commission, 20 hours of CE in any one of the disciplines will recertify all certificates.

Please fill out the available registration form (located at the bottom of this page) indicating which class you are interested in, enclose payment, and send it to:

                        Ronnie Gothard

                        P.O. Box 1515

                        Granbury, Tx     76048