School is in session this weekend at South Central College... but not for their typical students.Fire departments from all over the Midwest have come to this hotspot in North Mankato to expand their knowledge.News 12's Jennifer Hudspeth attended Fire School today but tells us why programs like these could potentially be extinguished.(NATS)This fiery inferno is staged...But Firefighter Scott Haas knows how to deal when the flames are real...Haas says, "About 2 weeks ago we had a house fire and we had quite a few departments that came and helped us out and we did a really good job on it and actually saved the house."Quick thinking and fast action helped...something he says comes with lots of training.Haas says, "It helps out a lot we get to see how fire reacts and what you can do to push it back and try and stop it."This weekend over 850 firefighters from over 180 different departments are at Fire School.It's here they can choose from 63 different classes to prepare them for unpredictable circumstances.From battling blazes(NATS) to accidents and excavations(NATS)...Fire School makes sure they know what to do.Tim says, "Anything that enhances your training or your knowledge is going to benefit not only yourself but your fire department and the area you cover...so having training at your fingertips like we offer here is extremely important."Jennifer Hudspeth says, "Firefighters agree this type of training is definitely necessary but next year this training session could be very different.That's because Governor Pawlenty has proposed a 10 million dollar cut to funds for firefighter training."Tim says, "If we don't have money to train firefighters it's going to put people's lives at risk."If cuts are made this fire school could become much smaller especially if departments can't afford to come...Tim says, "It's not about the number's, it's about how many people we can train how many lives we can save and making firefighters safer during their jobs."Jobs people rely on when situations get too hot to handle....Haas says, "One of the things the homeowners were very impressed with was our overhaul and salvage tactics and there again that's what we learned in schools and we learned in places like this."Jennifer Hudspeth News 12.