Lacombe County is congratulating some of their firefighters for completing an intense training program that they've been working on Since February.

14 student firefighters from Lacombe and surrounding area finished up their National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1001 level one course this past weekend, which involved a final exam and dealing with a controlled burn, after a few months of committing a few hours a week to learning theory and practical firefighting techniques.

Lacombe County Fire Chief Drayton Bussiere says not only do they learn helpful skills, but it's a requirement if they want to fight fires here.

“It really covers everything that we think our firefighters need to start their service as a firefighter, and then the rest of the training we do kind of on a weekly basis is the extra stuff, brush up on skills, those types of things. It’s a full NFPA 1001 level 1 course, so basically what that is is our basic firefighting skills, and it’s an internationally accredited program that the members can get a seal for at the end.”