LT. BRAD HUTCHERSON MEMORIAL FIRE SCHOOL INC.

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The 3rd annual
Lt. Brad Hutcherson Memorial
Fire School is in the books and what an event it was.


Several elements came together to make this the best fire school to date. The year long planning, organization, and follow through of our Advisory Board gave us a firm foundation to build on as we put the 2010 program together.  

We had the most diverse instructor staff to date, bringing in some of the fire service's best from FDNY, Cincinnati,   Florence, KY., Wichita, KS., Pennsylvania, and Nashville. These classes offered some of the best classroom and hands on opportunities around in a variety of classes. A special thanks to these true professionals for their donation of time, knowledge, and brotherhood to our school and the fire service in general.    

We would not be anywhere without our sponsors and volunteers. If it was door prizes, food, equipment, props, and apparatus for the training, facilities, sound, cash donations to the folks that provided rehab, took pictures, served food, picked up trash, set up chairs and tables, etc.....you made a difference. We can never thank you enough for your contributions to the LTBHMFS. The things I listed just scratch the surface.

The logistical issues to operate this school could be a HUGE hurdle, but our supporters, sponsors, volunteers, and board members always step up to meet the challenge. Great job to each of you!      Our new T-shirts were a home run this year. With a great new design featuring Lt. Hutcherson on the back, we have the coolest shirt around. If you didn't get to pick one up at the fire school, you'll have another opportunity. Check our website for information regarding online orders. We also have shirts available from the first 2 years as well. Get them while you can.      

The opening and closing ceremonies were great this year too. From the presentation of the colors by the Springfield FD Color Guard to the raffle by Mr. Steve and Dean, there was something for us all. We felt very honored to have Sharon Oakes Willis from FOOLS International with us to share in the brotherhood, comradery, and pride of this event. We had several FOOLS chapters represented this year and look forward to their involvement in the future.      

We were also pleased to call Greenbrier home again this year. A big thanks to the GFD for the use or their training facility, chairs, tables, and props. The Greenbrier High School has been great to us and has opened their doors to let us host our event for the second year. Thanks to the GHS Principal and staff for the facilities (parking area, classrooms, cafeteria, auditorium, etc.). We hope to be back next year.      

We were also pleased to showcase some of our continuing education assistance (CEA) winners. We enjoyed having some of our brothers from the Dayton, TN. FD with us to share their CEA experience and how it is making a difference. They brought a letter from their Chief that detailed how the 20 IFSTA books purchased and donated by the LTBHMFS has allowed them to have a regional class for new fire fighters. The Greenbrier FD received a CEA award during the closing ceremonies that will provide a low angle rope rescue class to four (4) of their members. The LTBHMFS is honored to award these CEA in Lt. Hutcherson's name and we hope to continue these acts in the future. Giving back is one of our founding principles and something that would have made Brad proud.     

 As I close, I am filled with so many emotions from this years school. We doubled our attendance from last year, which means we are providing something of worth. You keep coming, we'll keep growing. We again provided the best training around for the best price, ANYWHERE. You just can't do what we do....it's almost unheard of. The brotherhood of the Fire Service again shows why this is the best job in the world. I again can't say enough about our Instructors. Many of them have requested to come back in 2011, and we'd love to have them. We took in funds that will ensure there will be continuing education assistance awards in 2011, so be checking the website. We gave you training, door prizes, food, drink, merchandise, etc..........but last but certainly not least, we honored Lt. Brad Hutcherson. His love for the fire service, mentorship to younger members, service to the community, and love for his family and friends will always through his fire school. It has been a privilege to share some of my thoughts with you and I look forward to doing it bigger and better in 2011. We'll see you then. Thanks to all of you for what you do and stay safe.            

William K. Nelms III (Trey)     Director, LTBHMFS
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The Lt. Brad Hutcherson Memorial Fire School
(LTBHMFS) is proud to announce a continuing education assistance award to the city of Dayton Fire Department.


 
Thanks to a generous donation from the International Fire Service Training Association (IFSTA), LTBHMFS delivered twenty IFSTA Essentials of Fire Fighting 5th Edition Deluxe version manuals to the DFD. 

The delivery method was not without a few emergencies! Senior Advisory Board Member, Steve Hutcherson, along with   some biker friends set off from the Nashville area Saturday October 2, 2010 to hand deliver the text books to the Dayton Fire Department in Rhea County, Tennessee. Within minutes of leaving, one of the members suffered a tire blow out while on I-24 and then backed up traffic from a fatal wreck separated some of the motorcycle riders. Despite the hard ride, none of the members would allow any hardships from delivering the IFSTA manuals.
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The Training Officer for Dayton Fire, Adam McRorie, expressed his thankfulness to the LTBHMFS for the Continuing Education Assistance award. He explained that the Essential of Fire Fighting textbooks would be used over and over by firefighters not only from Dayton Fire, but  from the surrounding counties as well as they complete the new State of Tennessee required 64 hour Basic Firefighter course.

Proceeds from the annual Lt. Brad Hutcherson Memorial Fire School are used in part to fund Continuing Education   Assistance requests. The ability to help emergency service members improve their knowledge and skills to help their communities is a core principal that the LTBHMFS was founded on.

 If you have a continuing education need, please check out our web site at www.LTBHMFS.org in early 2011 when we will  be taking requests for assistance.
  
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School Director speaks at White House Community Volunteer Fire Dept.
annual ceremony


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On June 28th, 2010, Lt. Brad Hutcherson Memorial Fire School Director Trey Nelms was asked to speak at the promotion and pinning ceremony of the White House Community Volunteer Fire Dept. Director Nelms was asked to speak about the Fire School, it's growth, and future. Trey reinforced the founding principles of the LTBHMFS   and encouraged all emergency   responders that were present to participate in the Fire School. He also reminded the WHCVFD members that their agency was the first to receive Continuing Education Assistance from the LTBHMFS. 10 IFSTA Essentials manuals were purchased for the WHCVFD in Brad's memory in 2009. Director Nelms also made it known that the LTBHMFS would begin taking applications for Continuing Education Assistance on July 1st, 2010. The date, time, and location of the 2010 Fire School was also passed along to the ceremony attendees along with some topics and instructor information. All those present were encouraged to check out the LTBHMFS website for continuing education assistance, Fire School updates, pictures, and many other additions.
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The Lt. Brad Hutcherson Memorial Fire School presents it's first continuing education assiatance award

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On October 26th, 2009 members of the Lt. Brad Hutcherson Memorial Fire School (LTBHMFS) Advisory Board presented the first ever gift from its continuing education assistance program. The program was     designed to help emergency service providers receive training to better prepare them to serve their communities in a time of need.

The first ever recipient of LTBHMFS continuing education assistance was the White House Community      Volunteer Fire Department (WHCVFD). This was the department were Brad was an active member of at the time of his death.

A request for assistance had been received by the LTBHMFS to help the WHCVFD in purchasing 10 new IFSTA Essentials manuals. These manuals would be used by all their members for training purposes      and to prepare for state firefighter certification exams.

The request was received, voted on, and the training manuals were purchased by funds generated from an annual fire school named in Lt. Hutcherson’s memory. The manuals were delivered in person and each book had an inscription on the inside cover noting they had been donated in Brad’s memory by his fire school. The LTBHMFS staff hopes these manuals fullfill the training need of the WHCVFD members while honoring Brad.

The LTBHMFS will continue to provide continuing education assistance to Fire, EMS, and Law       Enforcement responders in the future. We are proud to keep Lt. Hutcherson’s service and pride alive through his fire school and continuing education assistance program. Please contact us if you have assistance needs or would like to donate to the fund.

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Thanks for the Memories

Monday, November 17th, 2008 The First Annual Lt. Brad Hutcherson Memorial Fire School is complete and what an event! Brad's family, the Fire School Board of Directors, the course Instructors, and the event staff would like to thank everyone for participating and making the event a huge success. It was a special day for many as we upheld the four guiding principles that are the foundation of Lt. Brad Hutcherson Memorial Fire School.

We honored Brad with an event of which he would be proud and honored. We had some of the best training around at the most affordable price and raised money for the Lt. Brad Hutcherson Memorial Fund. This money will be used to benefit emergency service providers through other training opportunities.

We presented an event that would help heal the void that Brad left through training, fellowship, brotherhood, and love for others.

Every aspect of the event was special! The heartfelt words and hard work from Brad's father, Steve, the involvement and participation by Brad's family, the enthusiasm of the students, the professionalism of the Instructors and staff, the fantastic food and service, the support of our sponsors, the hard work and investment of the LTBHMFS Board of Directors, and the list goes on and on. Seeing everything come together for this wonderful cause was something special and we were glad you could be a part of it.

Brad's family and the Board of Directors have decided this will be an annual event. The Fire School was beneficial to several people, so it's only right for it to continue. We plan on expanding the class topics to draw more emergency personnel in need of various training. EMS training, Arson Investigation for the First Responder, plus many more are just some of our thoughts.

We encourage you to check the website often as we will provide updates throughout the year. Things such as photos, class listings, instructors, dates, times, and other event related materials will be posted as they come available.

We also encourage you to support our event sponsors. You can find this list on the website menu with the sponsor tab. These sponsors provided food, door prizes, raffle items, training equipment, t-shirts, and all the other things you saw that made the event successful.

We hope to make next years event bigger and better, so we need your help. We want your opinion and honest feedback. On the website menu, you'll see a contacts tab; this is the contact information for the Fire School Committee. Please take a moment to call, email, or write to us with your thoughts, good or bad, on the 2008 Fire School. This will help ensure we bring back what you liked while improving the event for the future.

In closing, we again want to thank you for being a part of the 2008 Lt. Brad Hutcherson Memorial Fire School. We hope the event was a learning experience that will help you increase your ability to help others in a time of need. Please spread the word about the website, the Memorial Fund, the Fire School, and the life Lt. Brad Hutcherson lived that impacted so many. We hope to hear from you soon and see you again next year at Brad's annual Fire School event.

Stay safe,

 Captain (Trey) Nelms, Fire School Director




Lt. Brad Hutcherson Memorial Fire School is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.