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