Vermont-based firefighter training school sees decline in Canadian sign-ups [Video]

This weekend is the North Country International Fire Training School in Alburgh. It is a time for departments from Vermont, northern New York and Canada to come together to train and share experiences. But this year, it is happening without some of our neighbors to the north.Bill Gett has been fighting fires with the Alburgh Volunteer Fire Department for nearly 20 years. Now, he is training the next generation of first responders.”You make them belong,” Gett said. “The harder you work them, the harder they succeed, and the more they look at you like, ‘This is the place for me.'”The North Country International Fire Training School is a two-day crash course for firefighters who answer the call for departments on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border.Mike Johnston is the director of the Clarenceville Firemen’s Association in Quebec, but that is not where he got his start. Thirty years ago, he …