Firefighters from across the state are in Sweet Home this week for the 20th annual interagency fire school hosted by the U.S. Forest Service, Oregon Department of Forestry and Bureau of Land Management.
Classes started Monday and continue through Friday. Students and classes are based at Sweet Home High School.
The fire school prepares new firefighters for the rigors of fighting fire, both in Oregon’s forests and in rural-urban interface areas. Students learn both tactical skills and safety.
“Fire School provides crucial education and training in wildland fire to new firefighters and gives career firefighters a chance to refresh their skills, explore leadership opportunities, and come together as a team working towards a common goal.” said Co-Incident Commander Shawn Sheldon, deputy fire staff for the U.S. Forest Service and BLM, Willamette National Forest.
Cascade Timber Consulting, Inc. provides a new field site each year, for which organizers are “very grateful,” he said.
“Field exercises greatly enhance the students’ training experience – working in smoke, hiking through uneven terrain, and working closely with crew members to dig fireline are all things they’ll experience this season as wildland firefighters.”
More than 200 trainees from a variety of agencies across the state, including the Willamette and Siuslaw national forests, Bureau of Land Management and Oregon Department of Forestry, will attend.
Trainees spend the first part of the week in a classroom setting. This year’s classes include basic fire behavior, map and compass use, teamwork, safety, use of engines, tools and hose lays, fighting fire in the rural-urban interface and fire investigation. Students sleep in tents at the school and eat their meals communally, giving them a taste of a real fire camp.
The five-day course culminates in a live fire exercise. The Friday exercise provides trainees with the final challenge: applying their newly acquired skills to suppress and mop-up a real fire.
“Safety is paramount in every aspect of wildland firefighting, and it begins with our training exercises,” said Pettinger. “Working together in a training setting improves communications and builds effective relationships for the agencies to draw on during fire season.”