Wild Fire Training Heats Up in Bay Area
Here in California, the threat of wild fire is an inherent risk to life and property - just as tornadoes are in the Midwest and hurricanes are in the Southeast. As temperature records hit triple digits in some parts our state, the dry brush that lends to the landscape of many homes in rural neighborhoods provides the ideal fuel to ignite a high-intense wild fire.
On June 27th and 28th, dozens of fire department teams and task forces from throughout the greater Bay Area took part in a two-day training drill that tackled progressive hose lays, mobile attacks, direct hand line construction and basic firing evolutions. In addition to ground exercises, CDF helicopter 106 performed several bucket drops for air support operations.
“This type of urban/interface training is so vital to all agencies in California,” said Sac Metro BC Jim Eastman. “It captures the tasks and responsibilities of what these men and women are already doing on the front lines – but more importantly it puts in to place an incident command system where we can all communicate with standardized language and terminology. That alone, is huge, when it comes to large incidences where multiple agencies are involved.”
In effort to improve and update its current I-Zone training modules, the California Fire Fighter Joint Apprenticeship Committee (CFFJAC) was also on site at the Camp Parks training ground – along with its video production crew from FireStar Productions – to gather footage that will be implemented in its updated training program that will be available early next year.
Last year, the CFFJAC re-established its I-Zone Advisory Committee, comprised of nine wild fire experts from participating CFFJAC fire agencies across the state, to update and reformat the current I-Zone training curriculum into 8 modules on discs that will include an instructor’s guide, student manual, PowerPoint and Video exercises.
“Although the Advisory Committee is re-vamping the curriculum,” said Watsonville Fire Chief Mark Bisbee, “the information that we’re offering means nothing if front line firefighters don’t have the proper and most relevant visuals to go along with it. This is why the CFFJAC’s training products are so vital and necessary to every fire department’s current training program.”
“This follow up training will replace the previous I-Zone course that the CFFJAC currently offers to its participating fire departments,” explained I-Zone Advisory Committee Member Gary Nelson, who is retired from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. “This module will contain additional components that all front line firefighters should be trained on, such as what to do with spot fires, holding roads, how to effectively incorporate communication and plan escape routes.”
The CFFJAC expects to begin pilot courses for several of the new modules by early next year
