Wildland fire agencies from Arkansas and Oklahoma will sponsor the annual Arkansas River Valley Wildland Fire Academy beginning at Arkansas Tech today. The two-week Academy is hosted by the Professional Development Institute..
The goal of the Wildland Fire Academy is to provide concentrated, quality and professional training in an inter-agency environment for personnel seeking to increase their experience and knowledge in the incident management arena.
Approximately 150 participants from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri have registered to attend the Academy. The event will provide wildland firefighters both classroom training and field exercises to equip them with new skills and knowledge for their jobs. Nearly 100 agency instructors and support personnel volunteer to provide the professional training and mentoring to attendees each year.
Participating agencies in the Arkansas River Valley Wildland Fire Academy include: U.S. Forest Service, Arkansas Forestry Commission, Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Park Service, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oklahoma Department of Forestry, Department of Defense Personnel, Department. of Parks and Tourism, Apache Tribe, Caddo Nation, Choctaw Nation, Cherokee Nation, and the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma.
The Academy schedule is designed to allow students to participate in up to 16 classes offered over the course of two weeks. This allows students to gain training and experience to advance their wildland fire and emergency response qualifications.
After completing training, the agency wildland firefighters will be available for assignments throughout the country.
Be sure to log back on ArkansasTechNews.com for more about the academy.
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