2012 Western Wildland Fire Academy

The VDOF will be  conducting a Western Wildland Fire Academy at Camp Bethel in Botetourt County September 27 through 30.  Camp Bethel is located at Exit 156 off I-81 near Troutville, VA.  

Registration for classes will begin on July 9^th.  The VDOF website will have more information soon. 

The offerings for the academy are as follows:

2012 Camp Bethel Wildfire Academy
Course	27-Sep	28-Sep	29-Sep	30-Sep
S-130/190 Firefighter Training/ Intro to Fire Behavior			X	X
S-131 Firefighter, Type I			X
S-133 Look Up, Lookk Down, Look Around				X
S-211 Portable Pumps		X	X	X
S-212 Wildland Fire Chainsaws	X	X	X	X
S-215 Fire Operations in the Wildland/ Urban Interface	X	X	X	X
S-230 Crew Boss (Single Resource)		X	X	X

Amherst Strike Team is Deployed!

Seven members of the Amherst County Strike Team, have responded to the Shipwreck Fire in Page County. As red flag conditions continue this week, be prepared for assignments. If you are available for deployment, let your local VDOF representative. know! STAY SAFE

Rain or Shine, Training Must Go On!

Rain or Shine, We Practice On!

12 members of the Amherst Strike team gathered on a rainy saturday morning to refresh their engine skills. As any good firefighter would; we adapted to the rainy weather and found some shelter to practice our engine and pumping skills.


During the day, the crew practiced establishing a water supply with a Mark 3 pump. They learned to supply engines and deploy structure protection lines, all while maintaining a safe working enviroment.

Engine Operator Training

Engine Operator Training

Date:                           March 24, 2012

Time:                          9:00 to 15:00

Location:                   Lynchburg Fire Training Center, 613 Training Center Rd, Lynchburg 24502

Cost:                           There is no charge for this training.

Description:               This will be a practical, hands on training event. The class will utilize the VDOF type VI engines and Hummers to perform water handling, structure protection and progressive hose lays. This event will utilize the incident management system and will be run as a mock incident.

This training will meets the requirement for firefighters to deploy on both in-state and out-of-state assignments. All VDOF firefighters are welcome as this will serve as a good hands on refresher.

Registration:             There are limited spaces available. To register,  contact Bill Perry at bill.perry@dof.virginia.gov or call 434-946-7955

Christmas Parade.

From the 2011 Amherst Christmas Parade.

Smokey Bear says "Thank You."

Wintergreen Refresher

A picture perfect day!

On November 6, 2011 a group of 32 part time firefighters converged on the Lake Monacan Clubhouse at Wintergreen in Nelson County to complete a yearly wildland fire refresher. Around 7am with a healthy layer of frost still on the ground, the group began their grueling physical fitness testing. A majority of the group took the moderate test which consists of carrying 25 pounds for 2 miles in 30 minutes. This allows the firefighters to meet the minimum physical standard for fighting fire on the Virginia Department of Forestry's behalf. A small group of the firefightes took the ardous test which consists of carrying 45 pounds for 3 miles in 45 minutes. This allows those firefighters to meet national firefighter fitness standards and to travel around the country fighting wildfires. I am pleased to say that the entire group passed with flying colors (the primary color being red from working up a sweat).

 

The training then progressed to an introduction of the cadre by the Incident Commander, Derek Keiser of Amherst. Serving on the cadre was Bill Perry (Operations Chief), David Powell (Safety Officer), Martha Warring (Logistics), Sandra Stephens (Finance), Houston Roberts (Fire Shelter, Entrapment Avoidance), Phil Carpenter (Air Operations), L.E. Rhodes and Paul Stoneburner (Structure Protection), Robbie Talbert (Fire Weather), Jason Braunstein (Mapping), and myself Erik Filep (Public Information Officer). A big thank you goes out to all VDOF personell involved, who helped ensure that the training was successful and beneficial to the firefighters.

Incident Command Post briefing

Paperwork was filled out and door prizes were handed out. This was followed by a safety briefing and assignments for the day. The firefighters rotated through five stations for the day: Fire Shelter Deployment, Structure Protection, Air Operations, Fire Weather, and Mapping. Each group of 6-7 rotated through the station with 50 minutes of instruction.

Lunch was provided with delicious BBQ, baked chicken, green bean, baked beans, coleslaw, and a variety of tasty homemade desserts. My personal favorite were the pumpkin cookies! During lunch a fire shelter and entrapment avoidance video was viewed to remind firefighters of the important of personal protective equipment including the fire shelter. After lunch the crews continued through the rotations.

We wrapped up with an After Action Review where the firefighters were able to provide feedback on how the day went and what would like to be seen for the training next year. All in all the reviews were excellent and the firefighters involved seemed to have had a great day. We tried to mimic a wildland fire scenario with the structure of the class so that students would be well prepared on what to expect with a large incident.

Another training is being planned for next year and we are excited to see what training opportunities that will bring. I am very thankful to the firefighters, not only to the service that they provide both to the Virginia Department of Forestry  and the state of Virginia, but also for their willingness to donate their Sunday to better themselves. The positive attitude displayed shows that we are truly blessed to have such a great crew.

Here are some pictures from the day's activities:

Nelson County Hummer Unit

Learning how to become a "hot pocket"

Swinging weather the old fashioned way

Structure protection using Class A foam

GPS units require a lot of thought!

2011 Spring Fire Season, So Far....

On Feb 14th there were 103 fires for 828 acres.  On these fires there were a total of 18 homes/structures damaged and 218 Protected.

The Feb 19th and 20th fires there was a total of 190 fires burned for 7,608 acres. There was 896 homes and structures protected although 104 homes and structures were damaged.

Statewide Fire Activity on Feb 19-20th.

• Albemarle County: Ragged Mountain Fire, 700 acres 61 structures protected.
• Albemarle County: Esmont Road Fire, 40 ac with 10 homes protected.
• Amherst County: Pendleton Drive Fire, 100 ac with 25 homes protected.
• Brunswick County: 2 fires 80 acres each
• Chesterfield County: numerous fires, largest was 30 acres
• Fauquier County: Thompson Mill Rd. Fire- 200 ac with 5 homes protected.
• Fort Pickett Fire: estimated 5000 acres burned since 14 February in live fire impact areas; fire is contained and did not threaten neighbors off post.
• Fort A.P. Hill: estimated 4500 acres; this fire got off post for about 6 acres.
• George Washington National Forest and the Shenandoah National Park report four large fires. The Pickle Branch Fire (Craig-Roanoke County) at 665 acres, The Coffman Fire(GW/JEFF NF), 1,262 ac on private land and 1,293 ac on federal lands and Chestnut Fire (Shenandoah National Park), 135 ac on private land and 965 ac on federal lands in Rockingham County combined into 1 big fire. ) at 3,655 acres, many structures located south of the fire, some evacuations were completed. And the Smith Run Fire (Warren-Rappahannock County) at 1,950 acres.
• Goochland County: 273 acres with 25 protected 1 destroyed.
• Gloucester County: 400 and 229 acres.
• Louisa County: Chopping Road Fire, 900 acres, 2 structures destroyed and 7 structures minor damage with 75 homes protected.
  
• Louisa County: Garners Rd Fire, 75 ac with 20 homes protected.
• Louisa County: Buckner Fire - 65 acres with 15 homes protected.
• Middlesex County: 524 acres.
• New Kent County: 91 acres; closed I-64 for a short time.
• Page County: The Kibler Hill Road Fire, 40 acres, 1 structure destroyed, 2 garages with 4 cars destroyed, 47 structures and other buildings protected.
• Rockingham County: Kauffman Fire-1,262 ac-Private and 1,200 federal with 120 homes protected.
• Shenandoah County: Crooked Run Fire- 332 ac with 11 homes protected with an evacuation.
• Scott County: Midol Fire on Powell Mountain, 550 + acres.
• Warren County: Lookout Mountain Fire- 24 ac with 57 homes protected and one destroyed.
• Warren County: Brown Town Fire- 200 ac private with 20 homes protected.