Firefighters and environmentalists attended a 6-day conference at Fort Riley.

By Maria Childs
1st Inf. Div. Post

“Deploy!” shouted a wildland fire instructor from Colorado State University
as five firefighters raced toward him.

The 25-second clock began at the start of the command for all five of them
including Adam Peterson, a Fort Riley firefighter, who was now in the middle
of the field practicing the use of his emergency shelter for a wildland fire
course Feb. 10.

Peterson was one of about 25 firefighters and environmentalists who attended
the 6-day course offered at Fort Riley.

“It’s a lot different than structural firefighting,” Peterson said. “A lot
of the time, when you respond to a structural fire, you don’t know all the
hazards until you get inside. With wildland fires, everything is in the open
– it’s right there. It’s a different type of methodology behind fighting
structural and wildland fires.”

Firefighters across the nation are certifying in multiple types of
firefighting. Installation Management Command has decided to jump on board
with this standardization and certify Department of Defense firefighters in
multiple areas.

Steve Gray, one of the instructors who visited Fort Riley, talks to a local
representative from fire stations across the United States and makes plans
to provide the course to that installation’s firefighters. He said the
standardization is for safety.

“I think the number one reason is safety,” Gray said. “It’s a foundation
that every wildland firefighter starts from.fire still burns like fire
burns.”

Vicki Edge, another instructor and Georgia State firefighter, said
firefighters get the chemistry of firefighting from their educational
background and their structural world, but that doesn’t mean they know how
to fight any fire.

“They just need to know how to apply it to a wildland fire,” Edge said.

Dan Grosboll, a fish and wildlife biologist from Joint Base Louis-McChord in
Washington, visited Fort Riley to obtain the certification. At his
installation, he is responsible for executing prescribed burns for habitat
management. Each year, he reviews the standards of wildlife fires including
using his emergency shelter, but he said it was great to be reminded in an
atmosphere with firefighters who brought a new perspective for him.

“It is a great refresher in all the basic wildland fire techniques,”
Grosboll said. “Most of it was a review for me.”

Being new to Fort Riley, Peterson said this training is very useful because
the fire department executes many prescribed burns and knowing how to manage
the fire is very important because of the grassland.

“The mission here is a lot different than some other bases,” Peterson said.
“We have ranges so wildland fires are prevalent specifically at Fort Riley.
This covers anything from prescribed burns to instances where it is not a
planned burn.”

Peterson has all of his certification except wildland firefighting. He said
it was nice to have the class at Fort Riley because he was familiar with the
land.

“The people that have the knowledge of the wildland mission are here,”
Peterson said. “Even though it was put on by someone outside of Fort Riley,
all the people are familiar with the mission here at Fort riley are here, so
I get to learn on two fronts.”