PHOENIX — More than 800 firefighters are in Prescott this week for the Arizona Wildfire and Incident Management Academy, training to be better firefighters as Arizona's fire season draws near.
Firefighters attend the academy to learn about fire weather, fire behavior and crew management.
"We have instructors here who are so good at what they do," academy spokesman Pete Gordon said. "They have a sense of duty to go beyond the book."
There are 47 classes over the week, Gordon said. Those classes offer firefighters an opportunity to pass on what they've learned about the changing nature of fires, Gordon said.
"There was, once upon a time, a fire season," Gordon said. "That's quickly faded over the last decade."
The Wildfire and Incident Management Academy was born after the Rodeo-Chedisky fire, which was the largest and most destructive wildfire in Arizona history at the time. It was replaced ten years later by the Wallow Fire, which currently holds the record.
After the fire was out, Gordon said fire officials discovered some problems with the way the crews worked together.
"Issues with interoperability, the standardized equipment, standardized communications and especially training," Gordon said.
Faced with those issues, officials created the fire academy to get everyone on the same page, Gordon said.
Now, the academy has grown to offer 47 courses over the course of a week, and includes students from around the world, in all phases of their firefighting careers.
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