Online Wildland Fire Training

In 2008, there were 310,00 forest firefighters employed in the United States.

Wildland firefighters have been increasingly in demand, with job growth estimated to be 14 percent to 19 percent between 2008 and 2018. Online training enables fire departments to save money and train more firefighters.

Significance

More homes are being built in areas prone to wildfire, placing more demands on local fire departments that may not have wildland fire training. Online courses help with that problem.

Types

Since wildland fires require different firefighting methods and wildland firefighters use different equipment than other firefighters, wildland fire training is significantly different. Online courses are available from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) and the National Fire Academy.

Features

Courses offered online in wildland firefighting include I-100 which is Intro to Incident Command System. This deals with the roles, duties and procedures. Other courses include S-110 Basic Wildland Suppression Orientation which covers preparation, mobilization, equipment and clothing and wildland fire camp living conditions. Course S-130 Fire Fighter Training is made up of 12 modules each requiring one to three hours to complete, and covers a wide variety of topics key to wildland firefighting and culminating in a field day requirement. Course S-190 Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior covers how forest fires start and spread.

References

• National Wildfire Coordinating Group: Online Training
• Government Technology: Wildland Fire Courses
• Bureau of Labor Statistics: Fire Fighters
• O-Net OnLine: Forest Fire Fighters