Budgets, disasters knock down numbers at fire school

More than 500 expected at training at LU

Reduced budgets and an unprecedented number of natural disasters is having an impact on attendance for this year's University of Missouri Summer Fire School and Midwest Wildfire Training Academy, which starts Tuesday with classes at Lincoln University.

"We've got over 500 people coming from all over the country," said spokesman Tracy Gray. "However, back in the early 2000s, we had as many as 1,200 or 1,300 come out."

Gray said they will again be doing rappelling and rope-rescue training at the downtown ....