Mountain View Fire Rescue is set to host its first citizen’s academy in March, where residents can learn more about the department’s work and its resources.

Participants, who must be 18 or older, will meet weekly from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays from March 25 through April 29 at different stations throughout the district. Each week will be focused on a different aspect of the department, according to Julia Dumond, the community outreach coordinator for MVFR. Topics will include the basics of firefighting, HAZMAT, wildland fire response, EMS and vehicle extrication.

Dumond hopes the academy will help residents in the district learn more about their local fire department.

“One thing I found really striking, is, our name is Mountain View Fire Rescue, but we’ll go to events in Erie or Dacono, these towns we cover, and people will ask us, ‘Oh, Mountain View! Do you guys work in the mountains?’ and I’m like, ‘No, actually, we’re your fire department,‘” Dumond said. “Realizing the knowledge of who we are, where we are, what we do wasn’t out there at all sparked this, ‘We gotta get this information out there.’”

Dumond said participants should expect to spend the first half of each session hearing from an expert, before spending the rest of the evening working with fire department tools.

“The second half is definitely hands-on, utilizing the skills they just learned in the first hour and how that applies to what our department does and getting hands-on training with the Jaws of Life extraction tools, using hoses, practicing how to be a dispatcher, how to take EMS calls and send them out to the crews, taking care of patients, all that kind of thing,” Dumond said.

The academy will be at Mountain View’s buildings in Longmont, Dacono, Superior and Boulder.

“I feel like it would be foolish to host a citizen’s academy if every night people are sitting in a classroom in one building in an entire district,” Dumond said. “You’re not really getting a sense of the areas, the type of calls we run, the crews at those stations unless you’re moving around the district.”

Between 9 a.m. and noon May 3, MVFR representatives will host a field day and graduation ceremony for participants. During the field day, participants will learn a few final skills such as cutting through a roof, breaking down a locked door, and searching for victims in a smoky environment, according to the academy itinerary.Dumond said anyone is encouraged to sign up for the academy, even if they are not be able to participate in all hands-on activities. Residents who live or work in the district will get priority in registration over those outside of the district, according to Dumond. There are currently about 5 spots remaining. Those interested in the academy can sign up at https://www.mvfpd.org/citizens-academy.

The academy is expected to recur annually. Anyone who wants to learn more about MVFR but is unable to attend the academy is encouraged by Dumond to schedule a station tour on the website. Anyone under 18 interested in learning more about MVFR is encouraged by Dumond to sign up for the annual kid’s academy during the summer.