The town of Maryland wanted Trump to cut waste. Now it's the target: NPR

Emitburgh, Maryland – Frank Davis saw a lot of waste in the federal government over decades. In November he voted for Donald Trump to get rid of it. So far, Davis has liked many of what he's seen.

“I'm probably going to get shot for this, but he's doing what he said he's trying to do,” says Davis, who is the mayor of about 3,000 Maryland, just south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

In March, the Trump administration suddenly trains the nation's firefighters at the National Academy of Firefighters here. The Academy is not only a big part of Emmitberg's identity, but it also helps to drive the local economy.

Davis says the administration is considering the academy's business and hopes to restore the classes. If not, he says he will see the administration a little differently.

“To say they're not fair changes my perspective,” says Davis, who also captains emergency medical services at a local fire department known as the Warning Horse Company. “They're just trying to cut and don't care what they cut.”

Emmitburg voted for President Trump in November. NPR interviewed about 20 people here. Almost all of them voted for Trump, and many said his plan to cut federal spending was a key attraction. Now they say they are confused as to why the administration is canceling national training for firefighters.

Dennis O'Neill is also confused. He said he worked as an academy supervisor for 20 years and trained between 8,000 and 10,000 firefighters on campus each year. The academy is often referred to as the National War College for Firefighters and offers everything from firefighters' leadership and administrators to how to investigate fires, arsons and explosions.

“National firefighters drive men and women out of their comfort zones, … expose them to truly serious tragedy and force them to work… they force them to do what decisions they make,” says O'Neill, who lives on the Pennsylvania border.

If the course is not restored, O'Neill says Americans will pay.

“We are on a very long and slow road to self-destruction,” he says. “The unavailability of this training for local people is one day approaching a disaster that cannot be addressed or doesn't know how to handle it.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency oversees the academy where firefighters pay to come to Emmitburg. When NPR asked why the class was cancelled, FEMA did not respond directly, but in a statement suggested that it had something to do with the cost of travel.

“The bottom line is that we are no longer paying for non-employee travel,” the statement read. “We only allow mission-critical program trips. This is not one. Some of these classes are still available online.”

The Fire Academy website will show you future in-person courses. They are left for now in case the administration changes their minds.

John Beck, the fire chief for the Waynesboro Volunteer Fire Station near Pennsylvania, applied for a weekend leadership and development course at the Academy in July. It's his first, but he doesn't think it will happen now. He also says that the online courses won't cut it.

Beck, who runs a landscaping company, works as a fire chief for free. He voted for Trump, supporting waste reduction and government reduction. But Beck doesn't understand how the first responder of training is wasted.

“We're only 100 days,” Beck said of Trump's current term. “I wish things were different.”

Beck doesn't regret his vote – yet.

“I'm not 100% yet, but I might not take any more,” he says.

Back in Emmitburg, the dinner crowd arrives at Ott House, a family-run pub and a remote home for firefighters training at the academy. For decades, firefighters have left thousands of patches from the department. It includes patches for the Taiwanese government fire department and Juneau divisions in Bath, Maine and Alaska.

Firefighters make up more than 30% of pub businesses. Co-owner Susan Glass is worried about the long-term impact.

“I've already told a lot of employees that there might not be work in the summer, but I hope things are open,” Glass says.

In fact, many of the town's residents hope that the administration will see the value of the academy and start classes again. Glass also voted for Trump, but I feel the administration is moving too quickly.

“I agree with a lot of things they do, but sometimes I don't agree with how they do them,” says Glass, who thinks the administration shouldn't try to do that much at once. “Maybe… spread it a little. It just looks like it's just one hammer after another.”

Some members of the Maryland Legislature delegation have pushed the administration the answers about cancelling academy classes, but they say they have not heard anything.

“I don't know why they're doing this,” says April McClain Delaney, a district representative who includes Emmitburg. “That's absolutely pointless.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a fellow Democrat, says he is equally confused.

“Cutting this program is very short-sighted and dangerous,” he says.