Cody Fire School – Back with a Burning Passion in 2023

After a year’s hiatus, the Cody Fire School returns from May 5-7, 2023. For three days, firefighters will cut up cars and brave burning buildings to hone their skills and become the kind of firefighters Wyoming needs.

Hank Avery, volunteer firefighter and member of the Cody Fire School committee, says there are similar training programs throughout Wyoming. However, the goals of the Cody Fire School are to produce well-rounded firefighters in a short amount of time.

“We try to cover different things. So throughout a year, you can train a new person to be a firefighter by the end of the year,” Avery said.

An important regional event for over thirty years, the Cody Fire School was canceled in 2020 and 2022. During the last session in 2021, over 350 regional firefighters participated, in addition to instructors from Denver and California.

Avery says around 275 firefighters have registered for 2023’s session, most from the State of Wyoming. With instructors from Billings and California, there will be over 300 people participating (registration closed on May 1.)

Historically, the program is an important off-season revenue event for Cody. Firefighters and their families spend their money at the community’s hotels and restaurants before the flood the summer tourism arrives.

Many in Cody are happy this off-season event is back on track, but nobody more than the firefighters. Avery says the Cody Fire School is an important way to get the kind of experience that may – and likely will – be needed to combat wildland fires.

“It’s a big deal,” Avery says, “and offers a lot of training (the firefighters) don’t get throughout the year.”

The intended classes consist of (subject to change):