Advancing preparation for fire season: Firefighters graduate from Wildland Firefighter Academy

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - As Alaska transitions into wildfire season, more firefighters are entering the season with a larger understanding of how to fight wildland fires.

On Tuesday, 21 firefighters graduated from the Alaska Basic Wildland Firefighter Academy.

The academy, sponsored by the Alaska Division of Forestry and Fire Protection, is one of four targeted training academies the division has this spring.

“These are some of our newest and brightest firefighters that are joining the Alaska workforce,” Nathan Zalewski, the Academy Coordinator, said.

According to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, this training, in particular, provides firefighters with more knowledge of fire behavior and wildfire suppression.

During the nearly two-week training, cadets spent around 14 hours a day working with chainsaws and pumps, and they gained both life and leadership skills.

“Essentially, what they are learning is how to suffer through adversity. How to grow through challenge and how to become future leaders in our workforce,” Zalewski said.

The training comes as the state is just over a month into its wildfire season. Both the state and the Municipality of Anchorage pushed up the start date to March 17 instead of April due to dry conditions at the time.

However, the Bureau of Land Management Fire Service said not all parts of the state have a high threat.

“BLM AFS’s protection area covers the northern half of the state, which still has a lot of snow and relatively low wildfire potential,” Beth Ispen, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management Fire Service, said. “However, the State of Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection’s area is pretty well snow-free and has experienced a few small wildfires.”

The skills obtained and sharpened during the training, Zalewski said, will prepare firefighters for situations they might encounter in the field.

“The importance of it, is I guess, conceptually pretty basic,” Zalewski said. “That’s our mission. Which is life and property protection from wildland fire, and beyond that, natural resource protection.”

Zalewski said the goal is for cadets to take the skills they learned in the training and bring them to their community.

“I plan on taking these skills ... to my Air National Guard unit, and I think the goal here is to be a resource to the state of Alaska,” Staff Sgt. Laineil Day Guim, who serves as a firefighter on Fort Wainwright and in the Alaska Air National Guard, said.

According to Guim, the training provided him with leadership opportunities and the ability to meet different people.

The division has three more trainings in May. Those trainings include the Intermediate Wildland Firefighter Academy, Initial Attack Academy, and Administrator Academy.

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