Fire Department Wildland Training for Cooperative Areas

Wisconsin DNR - Division of Forestry now has instructors available to teach wildland fire training to fire departments in cooperative fire protection areas of Wisconsin. Recent surveys of cooperative area Fire Departments found that 56% had not received wildland fire training in the last three years and that 33% had never received any wildland fire training. Those same surveys indicated that fire departments in cooperative areas of the state respond to an average of 3,430 wildland fires burning 24,550 acres every year in Wisconsin. This training effort is focused on assisting fire departments to safely and efficiently suppress those 3,500 wildland fires that occur every year in the cooperative areas of Wisconsin. The Division of Forestry is funding this initiative.

If your fire department is interested in this free wildland fire training, please contact Chris Klahn, Cooperative Fire Specialist, at (608) 297-2214 to be scheduled for this valuable training.

Introduction to Wildland Fire Suppression for Wisconsin Fire Departments

This eight hour training class is designed to give a Wisconsin fire department a background in wildland fire suppression and improve the efficiency and safety of fire department personnel operating on wildland fires.

Unit 1 - Introduction - describes the background and rationale for this training for fire departments.

Unit 2 - Wisconsin Forest Fire Laws - describes and explains the WI State Statutes that apply to wildland fires.

Unit 3 - Fire Behavior - describes how and why wildland fires burn given weather and fuel conditions.

Unit 4 - Wildland Fire Size Up - describes the initial size up procedure and radio communications.

Unit 5 - Wildland Fire Suppression Tactics - describe suppression tactics and techniques used in Wisconsin.

Unit 6 - Mop Up - describes tactics and techniques to secure a wildland fire from escaping after control.

Unit 7 - Incident Command System - describes an overview of the Incident Command System used by WI fire departments.

Unit 8 - Wildland Fire Safety - describes safe operating guidelines on wildland fires and includes a case study of a WI firefighter fatality.

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