Central Oregon Wildfire School returns, teaching crucial skills for firefighters ahead of another busy fire season
SUNRIVER, Ore. (KTVZ) -- For the next several days, Central Oregon Fire Management Service is once again partnering with structural firefighting departments around the region to provide an immersive scenario-based wildland firefighting program designed to increase firefighters’ understanding of wildland firefighting suppression tactics, mutual aid and the dynamics of interagency response in an emerging wildfire incident.
Over 100 participants from fire departments ranging from Crescent to Warm Springs will be in attendance in Sunriver, officials said Friday.
The course begins on Saturday with a classroom portion to familiarize participants with wildland firefighting procedures, communications and tools, followed by two to three days of live-fire response exercises.
The live-fire portions of the course will be held starting as early as Sunday and could last through Tuesday along Forest Service Road 41 adjacent to Besson Day Use Area. Live-fire training plots will be ignited around 10 a.m. on these days.
The live-fire exercises give participants the opportunity to respond to a wildfire scenario while practicing dispatch protocol, fireline construction, hose lay implementation and interagency communication. While no road or trail closures are anticipated, forest users travelling along the southern portion of Forest Service Road 41 should use caution and watch out for firefighters and firefighting equipment.
The Central Oregon Wildfire School, initially developed in the 1990s, has been intermittently held over the years. The most recent iteration, beginning in 2018, revitalized and improved the program, enhancing the live-fire format with critical skills education.
The program serves as a collaborative effort among local agencies to foster, develop and sustain cooperator relationships while increasing knowledge around wildfire response. This amplified understanding of wildfire response strengthens and increases the success rate of diminishing catastrophic wildfire in Central Oregon.
“The training that participants receive will make them safer and more efficient firefighters,” says Sunriver Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Rod Bjorvik. “It also improves coordination between local fire departments and our federal and state partners, ultimately leading to better outcomes during response to wildfire in Central Oregon.”
Agencies involved in the planning and hosting of the training include Bend Fire & Rescue, the Bureau of Land Management's Prineville District, the Deschutes National Forest, the Oregon Department of Forestry, the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, the Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal, the Redmond Fire Department and the Sunriver Fire Department.
