What We Teach
The Zion Fire Academy curriculum covers code, equipment, field practice, and the soft skills that separate a technician from a credentialed professional.
Code
- NFPA 72 — National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code (2022 and 2025 editions)
- NFPA 13 — Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems (2022)
- NFPA 25 — Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems (2023)
- NFPA 10 — Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers (2022)
- NFPA 80 — Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives (2022)
- NFPA 96 — Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations (2024)
- NFPA 2001 — Standard on Clean Agent Fire Extinguishing Systems (2022)
- NFPA 20 — Standard for the Installation of Stationary Pumps for Fire Protection (2025)
- NFPA 1225 — Standard for Emergency Services Communications (2025) — ERCES
- NFPA 101 — Life Safety Code
- IFC — International Fire Code (2024 Texas adoption)
- IBC — International Building Code (occupancy classification, construction type)
- Texas Administrative Code Title 28 — Texas SFM adoption of NFPA standards
Equipment
- Addressable fire alarm panels — Notifier, EST/Edwards, Honeywell, Silent Knight, Fire-Lite
- Conventional fire alarm panels and integration
- Initiating device types — photo/ion/heat/duct/beam/aspirating
- Sprinkler valve types — wet, dry, preaction, deluge, antifreeze loops
- Backflow preventers — RPZ, double-check, PVB
- Clean agent agents — FM-200, Novec 1230 / FK-5-1-12, IG-541
- Kitchen suppression — Ansul, Amerex KP, PYRO-Chem
- Central station monitoring transmitters and IP communication paths
Field practice
- Reading a riser and identifying every valve, gauge, and connection
- Performing a main drain test and recording the residual pressure correctly
- Sensitivity testing of smoke detectors with calibrated equipment
- Trip-testing dry-pipe valves and recording trip time
- Verifying battery capacity calculations against panel load
- Documenting deficiencies in a way the AHJ will accept on first read
- Pulling and documenting a fire pump churn test
- Conducting NFPA 96 hood suppression annual inspection with AHJ witness
Soft skills
The skills that separate a tech who can pass the exam from a tech who can win the AHJ argument:
- AHJ etiquette — how to disagree without losing the inspection
- Code research — finding the exact section that backs your position
- Customer communication — explaining a deficiency to a non-technical property manager without panic
- Deficiency negotiation — what to push back on, what to concede
- Documentation discipline — the inspection report your future self will thank you for