When Dave McFadden came to Fox Valley Technical College in 1974, he did not know he was about to spend the next 50-plus years helping shape one of the most respected fire protection programs in the Midwest.
At the time, FVTC’s fire protection training was just getting started, “We had almost nothing,” Dave explains. “We had two or three courses, a handful of equipment and that was it.”
Dave had been working as a senior fire instructor at West Virginia University when FVTC called and asked him to come to Wisconsin to start fire protection field training. He thought he would give it a try for a couple of years.
“I fell in love with the people here right away,” he explains. “They were friendly, supportive and just good people. Wisconsin felt like home.”
In those early days, the Fire Protection Technician program had only a few students, most of them were veterans using the G.I. Bill. To keep the associate degree alive, Dave and his colleagues started reaching out to high schools and built the state’s first fire service internship program, placing students directly in fire departments.
“That was unheard of back then,” he says. “Students lived at the station, pulled shifts and did everything a firefighter did except collect a paycheck. It was a game changer.”
The program kept growing. In 1987, FVTC was named one of four regional fire training centers in Wisconsin. Dave also led fundraising efforts to build a training center in Neenah in partnership with the city. “We didn’t have a training facility at the time, just a van with equipment in it,” he explains. Raising money for a training center was a big deal and gave the program the boost it needed.
Another turning point came with a partnership between FVTC and Pierce Manufacturing. Students and Pierce employees trained side by side, strengthening a relationship that continues today.
“That partnership started small and turned into something incredible,” Dave explains. “It really showed the value of connecting education with industry.”
The program reached another milestone in 2015 with the opening of the Public Safety Training Center, located on the south side of the Outagamie County Regional Airport. The $35 million facility sits on 75 acres and offers high-tech, hands-on training for law enforcement, firefighters, emergency medical services, forensic science and more.
The PSTC has all kinds of impressive training scenarios. There is a six-story burn tower, a mock village called River City, a water rescue pond and even a retired Boeing 727 that FedEx donated.
“Compared to where we started, it’s like Disneyland for fire and public safety training,” Dave explains. “The opportunities students have now are incredible.”
Today, FVTC’s fire protection program is considered one of the top programs in the Midwest. Students train alongside current public safety professionals, gaining real-world experience in the same facilities used by working first responders.
Even after retiring from full-time teaching in 2000, Dave never fully stepped away. At 81, he still serves as an adjunct instructor.
“I had the greatest job in the world. It was like family.”
Looking back, Dave can hardly believe how far things have come.
“When I started, we had one air mask,” he says. “Today, we have everything. To see this program grow the way it has, and to know I was part of it, that’s been an amazing ride.”
