ARIZONA, USA — As wildfire season approaches, hundreds of firefighters from local, state, and federal agencies gathered at Lake Pleasant Wednesday to train for what promises to be a long fire season.
Wildland fire training
Training held this week, which includes firefighters from the Central Arizona Wildland Response Team, reinforces techniques firefighters use to fight fires in the desert area just north of the Valley.
“These are specialized training just for wildland; how do we fight them around structures, in the grass, urban interfaces, areas like that," said Kurt Walker, a Battalion Chief with Peoria Fire and Medical Department.
The training sessions help crews from roughly 15 agencies coordinate communications between fire agencies, plan an attack for a wildland fire, and work on skills such as utilizing multiple fire apparatus to take advantage of available water sources.
A longer season and a growing community
“Now that we’re growing in the community, we’re building houses in those rural areas that are now exposed to wildland fires,” said Battalion Chief Walker. “So, we need to train to prepare for those kinds of fires; how we are going to attack them, how are we going to keep our firefighters safe.”
Walker has also seen the wildland fire season expand over recent years. He said the fire season used to start in May and last until August. Now, the season has shifted to April through September. That makes training like this even more valuable to keep all first responders safe.
“Getting on the same page, stress safety to all our members so we’re going into fire season with a safe, good plan ahead to how we going to attack these fires,” Walker said.
For those living in a more rural setting, stresses keeping a 30’ defensible space around your home, including keeping all trees, shrubs, and items out of that space.
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