Northern Blair County Forest Fire Crew
Station 38
Want to be a Wildland Firefighter with
Northern
This is what you will need to know. Crew meetings are the 4th wednesday of every month. At the
Qualifications
Must be 18 years of age
A. Training Requirements
1. PA - 130 Basic Wildland Firefighting 16 Hour Course
2. S - 190 Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior 6 Hour Course
3. L - 180 Standards for Survival 8 Hour Course
4. I - 100 Introduction to Incident Command 4 Hour Course
5. Annual Fire Shelter Deployment Refresher 2 Hour Course
B. Work Capacity Test
This test must be done every year. The test is a physical test firefighters must pass for fire details. The test is a walking test. The firefighter must walk 2 miles in 30 minutes with a 25 lbs. pack
Compensation
Crew members will be compensated for time and mileage per the published:
Fire Equipment & Manpower rates for the specific year.
Firefighting Duties
The main job of the crew is to build control lines on wildland fires. Other things to consider are that you may be subject to extreme physical danger and long hours of work. Firefighting requires extensive amount of walking bending and lifting heavy objects. The ability to work effectively and calmly under emergency conditions, in remote and rugged terrain, in dust, smoke, heat, sometimes change in temperature, and elevation. There will be frequent travel by off road vehicle. Other dangers may be low flying firefighting aircraft. The nature of the work requires the use of protective clothing and equipment. Other duties may be burning out areas to control the fire. After the fire is controlled the its time for the dirty work of mop-up. Mop-up is digging and scraping all hot spots out and extinguishing the the heat source. Sometimes it's done with hoses and water other times it's done by hand. Most of all it's a really good time and lots of fun.
If this sounds like a good time to you then come to a meeting and we will get you started. You don't have to belong to a fire company to be on the crew. You just have to want to fight wildland fire and have fun.
