Firefighters in Victoria, Australia conduct prescribed fires. Forest Fire Management Victoria photo.
The cooler and wetter weather in the Eastern Australian states of New South Wales and Victoria this summer has resulted in a very different bushfire season than the one that led to multiple very large fires a year ago.
Firefighters in Victoria have taken advantage of the conditions to conduct rappel training and complete prescribed fires.
Firefighters in Victoria, Australia conduct a briefing before a prescribed fire. Forest Fire Management Victoria photo. Firefighters in Victoria, Australia conduct a prescribed fire. Forest Fire Management Victoria photo. Firefighters in Victoria, Australia conduct rappel training. Coulson photo. Firefighters in Victoria, Australia conduct rappel training. Coulson photo.
Our newest recruits now go through a new course known as 'General Firefighter', replacing the previous Minimum Skills Wildfire training.
Wodonga West's newest recruits have been training hard and once final assessments are done, they will be ready to fight wildfires ? pic.twitter.com/ZAL3ZWBnee
In the video below Victoria’s new Deputy Chief Fire Officer Geoff Conway and CFA’s Deputy Chief Officer for the South East Region Trevor Owen provide an update on how the bushfire season is going and what to expect ahead in the Gippsland region of Southeast Victoria. It was recorded February 10, 2021.
Bridger Aerospace CL-415EAF, from Business Insider video
In January, Business Insider spent three days with Bridger Aerospace in Mesa, Arizona, where a class of pilots and technicians trained and recertified for the 2021 fire season in the company’s signature firefighting aircraft, the CL-415EAF known as the Super Scooper.
The crews flew the $30 million amphibious air tanker as it scooped up and then dropped up to 1,400 gallons of water.
An NFPA in-person classroom training session, Assessing Structure Ignition Potential from Wildfire. NFPA photo.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has received a large grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to transform its classroom-based wildfire risk reduction training into a digital learning experience for Americans living and working in the wildland/urban interface (WUI).
The organization will develop three training programs — for homeowners, business owners, and public safety personnel. They will cover WUI fire mitigation practices using interactive web-based training and engaging simulations in a 3-D virtual environment. The training modules will be experiential, a process of learning through experience such as hands-on or simulations.
Some of the content from an existing conventional class, Assessing Structure Ignition Potential from Wildfire, will be incorporated into the new experiential format. The two-day course is based on fire science research into how homes and other structures ignite during wildfires and covers wildfire behavior, structure exposure, and the concept of the Home Ignition Zone. Attendees learn how to analyze wildfire risks to structures and provide actionable advice to property owners through an activity-rich curriculum.
The transformation project will be conducted in partnership with the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, an independent, nonprofit, scientific research and communications organization, and overseen by a technical advisory panel of experts.
Michele Steinberg, Manager of NFPA’s Wildfire Division, said work based on the $950,000 FEMA grant began in September, 2020. “We anticipate having the main training module deliverable available by around October 2021, with additional elements being added through the first three quarters of 2022,” she said.
The NFPA has also received two other FEMA Assistance to Firefighter Grants grants to study the effectiveness of fire investigator personal protective equipment and to develop a strategic roadmap for the fire service while transitioning from fluorinated foam usage to fluorine free foam technology.
File photo. A Colombian Air Force C-130 makes a demonstration drop with a MAFFS unit. March 29, 2017. Photo by Bill Gabbert.
U.S. Air Force personnel from four bases in the United States travelled to South America to work with the Colombian armed forces as part of a mobile training team from February 11 through March 11 at two air bases in Colombia.
The team was comprised of 15 air advisors from the 571st MSAS at Travis Air Force Base, California, and six total force instructors from three other U.S. Air Force units. The training covered a variety of areas of cooperation between the U.S. and Colombia. It aimed at supporting Colombia in their pursuit to counter transnational and transregional threat networksm aerial firefighting, and to enhance the capability of the Fuerza Aerea Colombiana, their air force also known as the FAC.
Additionally, the 571st MSAS team provided ground training to the Colombian air force on Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems, or MAFFS, a system loaded into the back of a C-130 aircraft that drops fire retardant to aid in stopping the spread of wildfires.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Richard Pantusa, 731st Airlift Squadron Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems instructor pilot from Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, demonstrates the effectiveness of fire retardant in combating forest fires to members from the Fuerza Aerea Colombiana in Columbia, March 4, 2020. Employing an aerial firefighting capability will help the FAC in combatting wild fires, both internally and internationally. The specialized training, provided by the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command personnel, was a stepping stone to future work with the FAC on further enhancing this capability. (Courtesy photo)
Aerial firefighting capability will help the FAC in combatting wildfires, both internally and internationally. The specialized training provided by the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command personnel was a stepping stone to future work with the FAC on further enhancing this capability.
“While a very effective fire-fighting tool, this specific mission set requires consistent practice,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Richard Pantusa, 731st Airlift Squadron MAFFS instructor pilot from Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. “It is inherently a dangerous mission — flying low over mountainous terrain that is on fire. The FAC has a new MAFFS program that includes highly motivated and knowledgeable C-130 operators who are attempting to grow their MAFFS program.”
While training on the diverse capabilities of the C-130 was the main focus of the mission, the 571st MSAS air advisors also took the opportunity to support additional U.S. Southern Command lines of effort by continuing to develop interoperability between the U.S. and Colombia.
