National Interagency Prescribed Fire Training Center

Training Opportunities

21 Day Training Opportunity

The National Interagency Prescribed Fire Training Center (PFTC) is a facility designed to give individuals an opportunity to increase their prescribed fire practitioner skills. Over the course of their 21-Day training assignments, participants will gain confidence in their own ability to conduct prescribed fires and assume leadership roles in their home unit’s fire program by experiencing 10 - 12 days of hands-on burning in wildland urban interface, a variety of fuel types, and for a variety of management objectives. They will perform as a trainee burn boss, firing boss, fire effects monitor, or other prescribed fire position specialist on multiple burn assignments. Attendees will interact one-on-one with experienced prescribed fire practitioners from across the Southeast United States and gain a better understanding of fire regimes, condition classes, smoke management, and fire effects.

They will gain up-to-date knowledge on prescribed fire safety, burn planning, smoke management, monitoring and fire effects, and current fire policy. They will learn how prescribed fire practitioners have developed successful programs and public support, and get connected to a network of fire practitioners with other agencies, the private sector, and international agencies. Overall, this training should result in an increase in the participant’s and the home unit’s capacity for fire management leadership by completing training assignments as evidenced by completion of prescribed fire tasks in the NWCG task books. The variety of field experience along with the different prescriptions, planning procedures, and techniques of the various agencies offers an accelerated learning curve for the participants during their 21-day tour.

Participant Announcement

Participant Application

Workshops

Prescribed Fire Workshop for Agency Administrators

Agency Administrator Workshop Application

Target Audience

Agency Administrators/Line Officers from land management agencies seeking experience to effectively manage and oversee the implementation of an integrated fuels management program. Selected participants will receive hands-on experience in prescribed fire application and will have the opportunity to interact and mentor with skilled prescribed fire practitioners and successful fuels program managers.

Workshop Date

22 March thru 28 2009 (previously held in the fall)

Location

Exact location will be determined at a later date; however, it will be somewhere in the Southeast. During the workshop the participants and cadre will move within a geographic region to take advantage of burning windows and programs. This will necessitate changing lodging at least once, if not more, during the week.

Background Information

As a result of The National Fire Plan and the Healthy Forest Initiative, land management agencies are being tasked to aggressively implement fuels management programs. Line Officers and Agency Administrators are required to gain additional skills and increase involvement to effectively manage evolving fuels management programs. This one-week course is structured to give the managers six days of experience burning with highly skilled cooperators. PFTC will have several experienced fire managers from different parts of the United States attending the workshop and actively burning with attendees. During the week, Agency Administrators will have the opportunity to apply prescribed fire and interact with highly skilled practitioners and policy makers.

Curriculum

This workshop will provide participants the opportunity to:

  • Become familiar with interagency fuels management direction, policy and planning
  • Understand and implement key elements of successful fuels program in the WUI and landscapes
  • Interact with successful program managers and practitioners and build a network of contacts for the future
  • Discuss risk management, liability, and burn complexity as it pertains for agency administrators
  • Discuss and implement policy, burn plans, smoke management, and the decision making process
  • Enhance prescribed fire skills through applied experience burning with a variety of cooperators

Workshop Schedule

Kickoff Begins at 1900 on Sunday, March 22. The team will spend the following morning in orientation with short briefings on safety, equipment, and southeastern fuels. Field trips/burning will be at potential cooperator sites located within the area chosen for the workshop. Federal, state and private cooperators may be visited during this timeframe. On the last day, participants will conduct a closeout with the cadre. Participants should plan to travel home the morning of March 29th. PFTC will provide all transportation during the workshop.

Cost/Requirements

There is no tuition. All costs for travel, per diem, salary and overtime will be the responsibility of the sending unit. PFTC will provide all transportation during the workshop. All non red-carded participants must have completed Standards for Survival (6-8 hour course) and watched the video, Using Your Fire Shelter (NFES-1568). Participants must provide appropriate PPE.

PFTC Contact

Greg Seamon, Fire Training Specialist
850.523.8631 (voice) | 850.523.8613 (cell) | gseamon@tnc.org

Last Updated: January 08, 2008 | Page contents maintained by Fire Management. Contact: Fire Management Web Team