The FLAME Act (Firefighter Learning And Management Education Act) is about protecting firefighter training programs at the National Academy for Fire Prevention and Control in Maryland. Right now, the head of the Fire Administration can cancel training courses without much warning or explanation. This bill changes that by requiring transparency and accountability when large numbers of courses get cancelled.

Here's what the bill does: If the Fire Administration wants to cancel at least 25% of all planned courses in a single year, they must notify Congress at least 60 days in advance and explain why. They also have to tell students and fire departments at least 45 days before the courses were supposed to start. For smaller cancellations, fire departments get 30 days' notice. The bill recognizes that when courses get cancelled, fire departments lose money on travel, hotel rooms, and having to pay overtime to cover shifts while firefighters would have been in training. So if a course is cancelled without good reason (like a facility closing or a national emergency), the federal government will reimburse fire departments for those expenses within 90 days. The bill also requires an independent study to look at how course cancellations affect firefighters' readiness to respond to emergencies.