A thick, billowing cloud of black smoke climbed to the sky Thursday as a group of firefighters-in-training worked to control a towering inferno.
The scene may sound like a blockbuster action movie, but for the LSU Fire and Emergency Training Institute, it’s just an average day.
FETI, located off Nicholson Drive about 6 miles from campus, is a leader in the state for its fire and rescue training courses and has recently become accredited for its Emergency Medical Services Program.
The national accreditation was awarded by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs on Jan. 14.
“The accreditation means the program follows national standards and guidelines for similar educational programs,” said FETI EMS Manager Eddie Pyle.
Pyle said he worked diligently for three years to gain the accreditation, which makes FETI one of four accredited programs in Louisiana.
But medical emergency training is just one aspect of FETI.
“We are a focal point for all fire training in the state,” said FETI Director Jeffrey Gleason. “It’s our mission to train and educate fire and emergency services personnel.”
FETI was created by legislation in 1963 “to equip, operate and maintain an in-service Firemen Training Program,” Gleason said.
“Since then we have grown from a closet in LSU’s Pleasant Hall to the 82-acre facility that we have today,” he said.
The expansive facility encompasses everything from administrative buildings and classrooms to fire training structures and props.
The FETI grounds also offer unique scenery.
Lofty metal structures used for high-angle rescue techniques stand strong as recruits dangle on ropes from their beams, and a pile of rubble sits waiting to be searched by a structural collapse training group.
A line of broken vehicles, an airplane, a model ship for marine firefighting and a hazardous materials training course are a few other sights. More industrial structures reside in the distance, burnt black from daily use.
Gleason said the props are ignited, setting FETI’s fire and rescue experience apart from other facilities.
“We’re unique in that we are the only ones in-state that are able to burn fossil fuels and put the black smoke into the sky,” Gleason said. “There are other institutions similar to us in the United States that do that, but only about half a dozen still burn fossil fuels.”
Gleason said many states have stopped the live burning because of environmental issues, but he believes it is essential.
“We try to expose them to real fire situations,” he said. “Without realism, they aren’t ready to face what they typically would come upon in any emergency situation.”
FETI holds three recruit academies each year, which host a number of cadets from around the nation. The cadets are trained for 14 weeks and are certified firefighters when they graduate. Gleason said a number of specialty courses, such as fire instructor and chief training, are also available.
Gleason said FETI extends past Baton Rouge with the LSU FETI at Pine Country facility located in Minden. He said the 30-acre institute has most of the same equipment as the Baton Rouge campus and reaches the “northern audience.”
FETI also has a regional delivery program, where instructors statewide visit fire departments and teach training courses.
Locally, FETI communicates with the Baton Rouge Fire Department, allowing it to use the facility and employing some of its officers as instructors.
Gleason said the FETI programs collectively train about 29,000 people per year.
Joe Ward, 26, of Fort Polk, is one of the cadets currently enrolled and housed at FETI. He is in his eighth week of firefighter training.
“FETI teaches you everything you need to know,” Ward said.
That is the goal, Gleason said.
Gleason said 87 firefighters in the U.S. died last year in the line of duty, but there have already been 23 this year. He said training plays a huge role in keeping the national mortality rates down.
“Firefighting is one of the most hazardous occupations, so training is vital,” he said.
Gleason said while not many University students participate in the firefighting training programs, students are involved in FETI in different ways.
“There’s an exchange in resources that takes place,” he said.
Gleason said students have designed props for the institute, tested the flammability of materials on site and participated in the paramedic and EMS training.
“LSU A&M is one of the land-grant colleges set up many years ago in the United States, and part of the mission of land grant colleges is to not just address the academic side but also the social aspect,” he said. “We fit into that social realm by serving the community through a fire department.”
 
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Contact Sydni Dunn at [email protected]