All of the 3 Fires' staff are unpaid volunteers as being a part of the not-for-profit corporation.  The fees collected go toward paying the rent, utilities, equipment and repairs.

The exception is private lessons.  Each instructor can collect a fee for teaching a student privately - a small fee is paid to the academy for the rental of the space.

Lead instructors are compensated for their efforts by having free black level lessons.  A lead instructor is a person who is responsible for teaching an entire class each week.