IT'S GETTING HOT IN HERE: NEBRASKA AIR, ARMY GUARD TRAINS TO FIGHT WILD FIRES

LINCOLN, NE, UNITED STATES

09.10.2016

Story by Staff Sgt. Mary Thach 

155th Air Refueling Wing, Nebraska Air National Guard

Several instructors from the Nebraska Forest Service traveled to the Nebraska National Guard air base in Lincoln, Nebraska, Sept. 9-12, to train approximately 20 firefighters from the Nebraska Army and Air National Guard, to respond to wildfires throughout the state and the plains region.
The four-day course, which is given nationally to all firefighters, allows the Guardsmen to become Red Card certified, which allows them the ability to fight wildfires on state or federally owned property. All Nebraska Air National Guard firefighters are required to be Red Card certified.
Seth Peterson, a fire management specialist for the Nebraska Forest Service and instructor, travels across the state annually to certify firefighters on the basics of fighting wildfires.
Peterson said this course is provided coast-to-coast using identical curriculum to ensure each person is using the same terminology, can implement and perform the proper procedures, use the same tools, and don protective equipment in wildfire situations. The training is exactly the same whether the personnel being trained are volunteers, civilian “hot-shots” who travel the country fighting fires, full-time local fire and rescue, or military department firefighters.
Along with three days of classroom instruction, the firefighters are given a full day of hands on training to familiarize themselves with concepts learned in the classroom, and to get experience using the tools and equipment introduced during the course.
“We are here because [the Nebraska National Guard] is looking at creating a 20-man hand crew to respond to wildfires throughout Nebraska and adjoining states that surround us,” said Peterson. “In order to be qualified to go on fires you need to take the beginner firefighter classes.”
“Other states have been sharing [resources for fighting fires] with Nebraska for a long time because we did not have a wild fire infrastructure,” added Peterson. “Now that we are part of the [Great Planes Inter Agency] Compact, we need to share our resources when [adjoining states] need it. When a fire happens in Nebraska they are going to want to help us.”

• Date Taken: 09.10.2016
• Date Posted: 09.11.2016 13:49
• Story ID: 209258
• Location: LINCOLN, NE, US