Conditions Governing Use

Morgantown Fire Department retains ownership of the slides depicting MFD personnel, and Monongalia County Emergency Medical Services retains ownership of slides depicting MCEMS personnel. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Conditions Governing Access

No access restriction applies to the physical copies of these slides.

Much of this collection has been digitized. Researchers may access digitized materials by requesting to view the materials in person by appointment or remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department at https://westvirginia.libanswers.com/wvrhc.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], West Virginia University, Extension Service, Fire Service School, Slides, A&M 4648, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift from Caravasos, Mark on 2023 May 23.

Biographical / Historical

West Virginia University Extension began offering fire school training in 1974. As shown in this collection, Morgantown Fire Department and Monongalia County Emergency Medical Services were involved in the WVU Fire Service School's training exercises, as were fire departments and schools across West Virginia and the nation. The university's Fire Service School programming has since become a part of the West Virginia State Fire Academy (established 2008), a collaboration between WVU and the WV state government. The WV State Fire Academy provides training and certifications to volunteer, career, and junior firefighters.

Scope and Contents

These slides document the West Virginia University Extension Service Fire Service School (now known as the West Virginia State Fire Academy) program's training exercises, equipment, and personnel. The training exercises that are depicted include building fires, car accidents, and medical evacuations. The Morgantown Fire Department and Monongalia County Emergency Medical Services personnel look to have been involved with many of the WVU Fire Service School trainings, some of which took place throughout Morgantown at locations like WVU's Coliseum. The slides also document collaborations with fire departments across WV and the U.S., like the Tri-State Fire School in Huntington, Maysville Volunteer Fire Department, Winfield District Volunteer Fire Department, Ripley Volunteer Fire Department, Anne Arundel County Fire Department, Pennsylvania Fire School, Florida State Fire College, and the National Fire Academy. Similar equipment and training exercises were documented at these various fire stations. Most images do not have captions or additional identifying information, like personnel names, training details, etc. A rough description of the content in each container is listed below:

Metal Slide Keeper: drills and training, some combined with Monongalia County EMS; staged car accidents, building fires, and evacuations; photos of fire personnel; activities at the Pennsylvania Fire School, Florida State Fire School, and Tri-State Fire School

Plastic Slide Keeper: drills and training; activities at the National Fire Academy; photos of fire personnel, office spaces, and seminars; newspaper clippings

Binder 1: drills and training; staged car accidents, winter weather conditions, helicopter evacuations, and outdoor exercises

Binders 2 and 3: drills and training; staged car accidents and building fires; activities at the Winfield District Volunteer Fire Department, Ripley Volunteer Fire Department, and Anne Arundel County Fire Department; photos of fire personnel and engines at the Coliseum in Morgantown

Binder 4: drills and training; activities at the Tri-State Fire School, Maysville Volunteer Fire Department, and Warren District Volunteer Fire Department; photos of personnel and equipment

Small White Box: training presentation slideshow; activities at the National Fire Academy

White Envelope: reel of film negatives taken at a group event of some kind; drills and training including active building fire

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Fire fighters -- Physical training
• West Virginia State Fire Academy