CARSON CITY, Nev. – The state's university regents, trying to cope with budget woes, will consider a proposal at their August meeting in Reno to shut down a debt-laden firefighting academy in eastern Nevada.

An alternative to closing the Fire Science Academy near Carlin, also up for discussion by regents at their Aug. 7-8 meeting, would be to partner with industries that are major clients of the school to get adequate funding.

The plans will be detailed by University of Nevada, Reno president Milton Glick, who got a report on the academy's grim status from a special panel chaired by former Gov. Kenny Guinn. That panel is recommending a shutdown of the school.

The report notes that the fire academy has a long-term capital debt of $27.1 million, which is being paid off through student fees; and also faces operating and construction repair deficits totaling $12 million. Costs of closing the school after this season could run another $3.5 million.

The panel's report to Glick says the academy is well run and recognized internationally for its firefighting training, but has a business plan that was “fatally flawed from the outset with unrealistic cost, enrollment and revenue projections.”

“While we wish our recommendation to close the FSA could be otherwise, we believe it to be in the best long-term interests of the university, the Nevada System of Higher Education, present and future students and the taxpayers of Nevada,” the report states.

The document also says panel members were “especially disappointed” with a decision to generate funding for the academy with a $6.50 per-credit fee on university students – or nearly $200 a year “for a facility they will probably never even see, much less utilize.”

After the advisory panel's report came out, it was shared with major companies that utilize the academy for training industrial firefighters. That led to the alternative of asking those companies to help provide funding over the next five years to keep the school running.

The academy has had numerous problems since opening in March 1999. Design and construction problems led to groundwater contamination and other malfunctions and in November 2000 the school closed for 18 months.

The 426-acre academy also suffered financially because of problems in getting students to the remote site about 270 miles east of Reno.

The facility has offered training to professional rescue workers, and municipal and industrial firefighters from all 50 states and dozens of countries.

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