The Coral Springs Fire Academy is on its way to becoming a world-renowned facility.

Last year, six members of the Jamaica Fire Brigade trained at the facility. They plan to come back next year. Another batch of six brigade instructors will participate in a weeklong training in January 2010.

Deputy Commissioner of the Jamaica Fire Brigade Errol Mowatt met with Fire Chief Mark Curran, City Manager Michael S. Levinson and Vice Mayor Vince Boccard recently to explore a partnership in the near future.

Since last year, the brigade instructors who trained at the Coral Springs facility have worked toward implementing some of the academy’s best practices, and Mowatt was excited about the positive attitude his instructors brought back to the island.

North Lauderdale Firefighter/Paramedic Owen Wallace, who graduated from the Coral Springs Fire Academy, wanted to bring some of the skills he learned back to Jamaica and was instrumental in creating this partnership. North Lauderdale and Margate have also provided training to the members of the brigade.

Coral Springs officials are excited to explore the possibility of a partnership. “The brigade is fairly young and it has reached a stage where they want to move the next level,” Chief Robert Bertone said. “Fire services traditionally help one another and it’s our responsibility to share our knowledge and learn from each other.”