The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and Alaska Division of Forestry conducted the first Fire Corps training offered in Alaska, on April 15.  The course, modeled after the Citizen Emergency Response Team (CERT) concept, is designed to help home owners and communities prepare for and mitigate the impacts of wildfire in the wildland-urban interface, especially during the first few hours between ignition and emergency response actions.  The course provided an introduction to wildland fire behavior with an emphasis on local fuel types, variables associated with weather, risks and hazards, and what to do if evacuation is not an option by using shelter-in-place.  Twenty-three area residents from communities located within a 75-mile radius of Refuge headquarters in Soldotna attended the training.  The Refuge and State Forestry staff are preparing for an early and potentially severe fire season in 2006 and outreach to local area residents is an important aspect of the preparation.