A stretch of blacktop shimmers in the midsummer LA sun as ten hopeful recruits scramble with paramilitary precision to don their turnout gear, a heavy set of protective equipment, while their instructor looks on with a stopwatch. Another group of geared up recruits, students of Glendale’s Verdugo Fire Academy (VFA), haul massive ladders toward a four-story training structure as they learn to work safely as a team. Two more groups wield chainsaws and the Jaws of Life, imagining the day when the tools in their hands will be used to save a life. It is training day at VFA’s Joint Training Center, and around 50 students dedicated to a career in the fire service are honing the skills they will need as the first and last lines of defense for communities in dire need of protection.
In wake of a devastating series of off-season fires, which underscored how essential a force of skilled firefighters has become, LA County faces a new reality. “Fire season is now year-round,” said Chief Sam DiGiovanna, Co-Director of VFA. As climate change shifts conditions, fire frequency increases and severity intensifies; the demand for trained firefighters far outpaces supply. A growing national trend shows waning interest in firefighting, leading to fewer boots in the field and department shutdowns. As a generation of career fire service professionals nears retirement, the prospect of losing a wealth of invaluable knowledge and experience before it can be passed on is possible. Programs like Verdugo Fire Academy, which draws instructors and staff from fire departments across Southern California, could be key to closing this gap—if they can attract and educate the next generation.
Verdugo Fire Academy is unique in many ways. Both Chief DiGiovanna and Chief Jeff Brooks of the Glendale Fire Department (GFD) stressed the significance of the collaborative partnership between their agencies. “Without a doubt, VFA graduates some of the most talented and qualified candidates in the county, maybe even the state, and its the strength of collaboration that benefits everybody,” said Chief DiGiovanna. The collaborative approach to education truly flourishes on the GFD/VFA Joint Training Center grounds, where students have the opportunity to learn alongside sworn firefighters in their continued education training scenarios. Students can distinguish themselves in front of potential colleagues and fire chiefs before their careers even begin.
The Training Center has become Glendale’s interface between the past, present, and future of the LA County fire service. Instructors from various departments, ranks, and specialties join 20-30 year veteran officers who have moved from the field to the classroom. Thanks to GCC and departments like Glendale Fire, VFA is where hundreds of years of collective history and expertise become instruction for the next generation. “I’d venture to say about 20 percent or better of our organization has gone through that program” said Chief Brooks—including himself, who was one of the first cadet classes to graduate from VFA over 20 years ago, when it was called Arroyo Seco Fire Academy.
The VFA’s year-long format is set up so that students or people with full-time jobs and commitments can pursue their dreams of becoming firefighters. VFA offers an expanded academic foundation, with specialized certifications and over 800 hours of classroom and drill instruction, resulting in highly competitive candidates. Every weekend and Thursday night throughout the year the future of the fire service is hard at work, and the job prospects from this type of education go beyond firefighting.
Many who enroll in programs like VFA aspire to join municipal departments or wildland fire crews, but Chief DiGiovanna mentioned some of the less obvious job opportunities. Public sector firefighting careers offer competitive salaries and benefits that appeal to the civic-minded while specialized private sector jobs, ranging from film and television production to private fire prevention and insurance-related arson investigation, are also options. There is not yet clear evidence to explain the apparent reduction of interest and workforce in firefighting, but Chief Brooks and DiGiovanna discussed a possible generational shift in career interest, as well as the stark realities that firefighters face in the field, as possible explanations. As the next generation contends with rising tuition costs and student loan debt, VFA becomes a meaningful and viable alternative. Fire academies, like trade and vocational schools, represent a path to both employment and civic contribution.
However, for students at GCC, a degree may be just the thing for career advancement. “Depending on the rank you want to be in the fire department, it may require an [associate’s degree], a bachelor’s degree, or even a master’s” explained GCC President Dr. Ryan Cornner. To reach the rank of an administrative director like Chief DiGiovanna or the head of a major department like Chief Brooks, a degree may not only be beneficial, but required. Which is another reason why VFA is structured as a part-time year-long program, to be inclusive of students, workers, and people with families from all walks of life.
In fact, particularly for municipal fire houses, distinct crew cultures tend to develop that are often taken into account when agencies are looking to hire. In these situations, hiring firefighters is like adding members to a family. “We’re looking for a workforce that’s reflective of the community we serve” said Chief Brooks. Everything from demographics and disposition to work ethic and moral character can be taken into account. This is another opportunity for cadets at VFA to make lasting personal connections that could one day open doors.
GCC and VFA are answering Los Angeles’ growing demand for firefighters by working together to expand these crucial programs. “The training of the future might not be the training we have now, and we need to have a center that can continually upgrade our ability to fight fires that may be fundamentally different than we’ve experienced in the past” said President Cornner. Both Dr. Cornner and VFA Chief DiGiovanna alluded to exciting changes in the near future for VFA at a time when LA communities recover from one of the worst natural disasters in recent memory. “We know that with climate change, these types of events are going to become more frequent, and we have to be prepared” said President Cornner.
The scars that the January fires left on this community are apparent in the over 20,000 damaged or destroyed structures—in the churches, schools, and homes devoured by the blazes—but the invisible and lasting impacts are almost beyond comprehension. The scars can also be seen in what’s missing; in the foundations, the ashes, the empty space. The psychological effects alone can be vast and formidable. Effects from physical displacement, interruptions to school and work, the altering of so many lives will be dealt with for decades to come. However unprecedented the Eaton and Palisades fires felt, this is not the first time that the Glendale community and GCC have been threatened by formidable flames. In fact, Glendale suffered a similar wildfire in 1964, with gale-force winds feeding a destructive set of fires that licked the edge of campus and gave rise to an unlikely team of volunteer heroes.
The Verdugo Mountains and San Rafael Hills fires of March 1964 destroyed 35 homes, threatening Glendale, the GCC campus, and surrounding communities when wind gusts up to 100 mph spread the firestorm to over 9,100 acres overnight. More than 1,000 firefighters responded to the emergency, working tirelessly through the night to contain the blazes and defend properties from further destruction, but the overpowering winds sustained and grew the fires well into the next morning. “‘We threw up to 40 companies on it, but we couldn’t have stopped it with a hundred,’ said Deputy Chief Don Hibbard of the Los Angeles Fire Department” in a historic edition of the Los Angeles Times. Similar to the Palisades and Eaton fires, the 1964 blazes erupted in close succession, forcing crews to defend multiple fronts at once, with unrelenting winds that postponed much needed air support.
Chief Brooks referenced an apt analogy made by one of his colleagues at LA County Fire Department, Chief Anthony Merrone. In a residential fire it is not a stretch to find up to three fire engines and crews for a single building, but its unrealistic to think that a wildfire encompassing several square miles and thousands of acres will get the same response. Under the same conditions, a 9,000 acre wildfire would theoretically require a firefighting response of up to 27,000 engines with crews to operate them. Unfortunately, there are not that many engines and crews in the entire state of California. So for Chief Brooks, it comes down to effective distribution of resources and balancing the immense value that local fire departments have for their own communities with that of their neighbors who also need help.
As the blazes tore through the foothills of the Glendale area, the GCC campus was threatened. “It swung south behind Glendale College and skirted residential districts along both the north and south sides of Chevy Chase Dr…” wrote the LA Times staff writers Richard West and Paul Weeks. The college’s dean at the time, J. Walter Smith, called on a large group of student volunteers to rally together in defense of our beloved campus. “Students at Glendale College turned out to save their campus from flames and classes were virtually cancelled” the article reported. They cut fire breaks and drenched the compromised areas with borrowed tools and hoses against flames which bore down so close that some students were treated for burns. The brave team of unconventional heroes was successful, and though times have changed and this type of bravery is neither safe nor condoned, the students of today may have the students of yesterday to thank for their courage.
VFA is a rigorous program that tests the physical and mental fortitude of its cadets, according to President Cornner. Not every cadet on the drill grounds of the Joint Training Center will have what it takes, but the Academy is full of supportive leaders and instructors who have every interest in the success of its students. Chief DiGiovanna has seen the personal growth and discipline of some younger students who developed through VFA into responsible and respectable young adults, so much so that he has had parents express admiration for the drastic changes they witnessed in their children. “I could not be more proud of the students in the Academy, our alumni, and of all the faculty who work so hard to make the best firefighters possible” expressed Chief DiGiovanna. There is no denying that firefighters often face workplace challenges that few others do, but the prestige of public service can be its own reward.
“I look back and think if God were to ask me, Sam, if you could be anything in the world—an athlete, a rockstar, anything—what would you be? I would choose firefighter because it is the most rewarding job in the world,” said Chief Sam DiGiovanna.
Verdugo Fire Academy is part of Glendale Community College and partners closely with Glendale Fire Department. Applications are accepted year-round until classes are full, however programs begin and end in early January. The next tentative start date is Jan. 8, 2026 with an orientation for class XXIX scheduled for Nov. 13. Recruiting seminars are held throughout the year, usually on the first Saturday of each month.
Taylor Wiegand can be reached at [email protected].