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Firefighters Prepare For Another Dangerous Season
National Interagency Fire Center
A total of 38 firefighters died in the U.S. last year battling blazes. Instructors at the Wildfire and Incident Management Academy will teach how to fight fires aggressively, but safely.
With last summer’s deadly Yarnell Hill Firefresh in the fire community’s memory, hundreds of firefighters from around the country will be gathering nearby in Prescott on Saturday to prepare for the next season.
A total of 38 firefighters died in the United States last year battling blazes, including the 19 hotshots from Prescott. While many factors caused those deaths, fire experts say the combination of abundant fuels, drought and climate change means firefighters now must be alert to the dangers of what they call “mega fires.”
“The fires are igniting faster, they’re burning hotter, and they’re getting larger faster than we can contain them,” said Wade Ward, a firefighter and information officer with the Prescott Fire Department. “It’s definitely a situational awareness that not only leadership has to look at but the boots on the ground have to consider.”
Instructors at the academy will teach situational awareness and how to fight fires aggressively, but safely,during such hazardous conditions.
