LEHI, Utah — It is the first season for the newly established U. S. Wildland Fire Service, which combines fire teams that were previously divided across multiple federal organizations into one service within the Department of the Interior.
Firefighters with the service have been training at Camp Williams during a one-week course focusing on the general operation of wildland fire engines.
"A lot of people think firefighting is just throw water on a fire, but it's not,” Blake Johnson with BLM Public Affairs said. "There's a lot of technicalities that come into play, a lot of assessment that these firefighters have to make in the moment.”
The training is specifically for second-to-fourth-year firefighters, and collaboration is key in these scenarios.
"We are all coming together to fight these fires," said Johnson. "It's important that all of these agencies are trained and know how to work together, too."
Will recent cool down lessen wildfire danger? Likely not:
The Lead Instructor for the Wildland Fire Engine Academy, John Clay, said the crews are learning different things across several stations.
"We will throw a few monkey wrenches into the scenarios that we're doing today. We plan for things to start going wrong. We introduce those unknown elements into these scenarios, and they will intentionally undergo some stress today to be more prepared for it when that does happen in the real world.” Clay said.
The field stations include an instructional station focused on hands-on maintenance, scenario-based situations, basic hose lay drills, and straightforward mobile attack scenarios.
While the team can’t tell what this wildland fire year will hold, they are prepared.
"We're expecting we could have a higher fire danger year; we're prepared for it, but Mother Nature does what Mother Nature does, so we try to be ready at all times,” Clay said.
Fire behavior can change rapidly, so as we head into the summer, these crews are prepared to deal with the conditions that come their way as they set the tone for a new era of wildland firefighting.
