450 Firefighters Train to Fight Wildland Fires

Men and women from every corner of Virginia and from seven other states are gathering this week (today through Sunday) at Fort Pickett in Blackstone, Va., to learn how to fight an increasing number of wildland fires.

Of the 16 nationally certified courses offered, several will focus on the initial skills and tactics needed to effectively fight wildland fires either by hand or with fireplows (modified bulldozers). (Note: The two fireplow classes will include actual wildland fires – each approximately 100 acres in size – that the students must extinguish using only these modified bulldozers. Weather permitting, these fire suppression exercises will take place beginning at dusk Wednesday, May 17, and Saturday, May 20. These two night-time fires will make for some excellent visual opportunities.)

" The wildland fire academy is an excellent tool to train people and our closest cooperators in the latest tactics and incident management techniques to assure that the Commonwealth is fully prepared for any wildfire emergency," said John Miller, director of resource protection at the Virginia Department of Forestry. "The academy at Fort Pickett also offers some of the most advanced all-risk emergency incident management training available in the Commonwealth, and this helps to fill a critical need for the increasing threats to national security."

The sixth edition of Virginia Department of Forestry’s Wildland Fire Academy will be held today through Sunday.

If you are interested in covering Wednesday’s night fire, please call John Campbell at 804.221.4864. If you are interested in covering Saturday’s night fire, please contact Gregg O’Donnell at 434.989.0665.

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The Virginia Department of Forestry protects and develops healthy, sustainable forest resources for Virginians. Headquartered in Charlottesville, there are Forestry staff members assigned to every county to provide service to citizens of the Commonwealth. VDOF is an equal opportunity provider.

With nearly 16 million acres of forest land and more than 248,000 Virginians employed in the forest products industry, Virginia forests provide more than $30 billion annually in benefits to the Commonwealth.