Marshfield High School will offer a Wildland Firefighter class in semester 2. The class is based on the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, or NWCG, a national wildfire organization that oversees wildland firefighter operational standards.
The new instructor, Alan Miller, knew he always wanted to be a teacher, although he initially intended to teach art. Instead, he ended up working at a call center, and one of his friends convinced him to join the wildland fire organization.
“Fighting fire, it’s an occupation that has a lot of danger involved in it.” Miller said, “But we mitigate a lot of that danger with good firefighting practices.”
The class will follow NWCG guidelines to provide standardized training, review qualifications, and learn to use basic firefighting equipment. The goal of NWCG is to ensure effective wildland fire management nationwide. Students who take the course could potentially use the information in a future career.
“The skills that they teach are good for any career–even if you don’t become a firefighter, there’s value,” said student Jake Butlin, who registered for the class and went on a recent field trip with Miller.
Being a wildland firefighter is not as easy as it seems. While classroom work can help mitigate hazards, it’s still a very dangerous job.
Miller has worked in this industry for around 16 fire seasons and has never had or been in a fire where a CPFA employee has died from a fire or any similar incident.
“It’s pretty rare that somebody actually dies in a fire, particularly in our agency,” Miller said, “We’re pretty good with safety.”
Firefighters go through tough training, both in and out of the classroom. Those who are trained well, follow their safety training, and work with others who do the same, can avoid some potential hazards. Statistically, the logging and commercial fishing industries are more dangerous than wildland firefighting.
“In class, I try to make as many things hands-on as possible,” said Miller, “Where we can kind of get involved and actually get our hands on some equipment…get a feel for the material.”
This MHS class will be held during 3rd period, and will be graded heavily on participation, being present, and practicing the skills. To succeed, students will have to do a few Federal Emergency Management Agency homework assignments and take a couple of online courses with FEMA, which come with certifications.
“They said that if you pass the class, you get a certification and can get hired with them right out of high school,” said MHS student Samantha Howell, who also went on the recent field trip.
Activities will take place indoors and outdoors; there will be two full field days where students go out on the field for the whole day, allowing kids to play in water, dig in dirt, and go on trails. There will also be some scenarios of wildfire events, possibly even a few field trips.
Sometimes on field days, Miller divides the class into engine companies or groups, and instructs each group to consider how they would approach a given fire scenario. Problem-solving skills and teamwork are necessary to extinguish the fire. This prepares students to work on a team, much like real firefighters.
Past classes have visited the Coos Forest Protection Association building to learn new skills. They have also leaned on their community partners to assist with training: mountainous areas like the Camp Fircroft of Langloise have been used for field days.
“There’s some stuff, though, that you have to just learn about in, like, a traditional classroom way,” Miller said.
In the classroom, students will have assignments and a weekly quiz covering activities outside and inside the classroom. Typical quizzes can be taken home, making them more like a homework assignment than an actual quiz.
There is still room for more students in this class. Anyone interested in joining the wildland firefighter class should contact their counselor. Semester two at MHS begins on Feb. 2.
