Teton Interagency fire managers announce that with a busy fire season expected, wildland firefighters from across the area are receiving important preseason training next week in Kemmerer, Wyoming. The community of Kemmerer can expect to see an increase in firefighters at hotels, restaurants, grocery stores and fire vehicles along roadways for the next week.
The class is being held June 6-10, 2022, at the Kemmerer Events Center, and the field portion will be held at Nugent Park located on the Kemmerer Ranger District of the Bridger-Teton National Forest. This event is a cooperative effort between Teton Interagency fire managers.
The basic fire school, or Guard School, is an intense 60-hour course, which exposes wildland firefighter trainees to all aspects of wildland fire operations. Students in the wildland firefighting class focus on three main areas: fire behavior, safety, and operational tactics. The school emphasizes practical applications for use during wildfire response situations. Participants learn about navigating wildland settings such as responding on mountain roads, fire weather, behavior, communications, and get to test their skills out during simulated incidents.
This wildland firefighting school is required training to teach new wildland firefighters the basics of fire behavior and suppression techniques necessary for fighting wildland fires. Guard School is designed to mimic a real wildland fire including experiencing fire camp meals, sleeping in tents, crew cohesion and field exercises that simulates wildland fire behavior. The four-day course begins with a classroom portion to familiarize participants with wildland firefighting procedures, communications and tools followed by two days of field exercises. Over 30 participants from the Bridger-Teton National Forest and Grand Teton National Park will be in attendance.
The field portions of the course will be held Thursday and Friday on the Kemmerer Ranger District in Lincoln County, Wyoming. The field exercises planned for the week give participants the opportunity to respond to a wildfire scenario while practicing dispatch protocol, fireline construction, hose lay implementation and interagency communication. Progressive hose lays, critical to effective initial response on wildfires near roads, are covered during the training, as well as techniques for using hand tools for fire suppression activities. While no road or trail closures are anticipated, forest users travelling in the area should use caution and watch out for firefighters and firefighting equipment.
Visit the Teton Interagency Fire web site at TetonFires.com to learn more about fire safety. To report a fire or smoke in the immediate area, call the Teton Interagency Fire Dispatch Center at 307.739.3630.
