VERMILION COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) — Class was in session in Vermilion County tonight. Almost 100 firefighters from across the Midwest attended an educational forum at Fischer Theatre in Danville.

A fire chief with 35 years of experience from Houston, Texas, spoke at the event. Some department heads emphasized how sharing experiences can improve the jobs — and lives — of firefighters.

“Hopefully they leave here energized and ready to go serve the public,” said retired Houston Fire chief and keynote speaker Clyde Gordon.

Lessons in leadership and failure took center stage at the event. For Gordon, these are two traits that define a firefighter.

“I share those experiences and the successes and failures that occurred to me in hopes that I can make fire departments and firefighters better at what they do,” Gordon said.

The forum welcomed 24 agencies from across Illinois and Indiana with a grand total of around 100 firefighters in attendance.

Danville Fire Captain Ryan Allison said Wednesday marked a great collaboration effort.

“We’ve got to share that common knowledge and thought process,” Allison said. “And really what we’re looking at here with Chief Gordon is, you know, a lot of the transition that’s happened in our departments across the United States, where we have much younger firefighters who don’t have the experience base. And a lot of these older guys are gone, and we’re trying to capture some of that experience that they have before it’s gone forever.”

Through sharing experiences comes a shared understanding of how to save lives and serve the community.

“A lot of what we do, we gain through training,” Gordon said. “But the best training that we can get is experience or experiencing certain scenarios.”

This was the first event of its kind held in Danville. Captain Allison said they hope to make it a yearly tradition, with new voices as keynote speakers in the future.