Florida Wildland Fire Training

Prescribed Fire Techniques for Wildlife: A Workshop for Private Landowners

floridafiretraining — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:00:25 +0000

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, University of Florida IFAS Extension Office, and Florida Chapter of the Wildlife Society are hosting a two- day course on prescribed fire techniques for wildlife benefits intended for private landowners. The workshop will be held in Tallahassee, Florida on February 28-29, 2012. Cost is $45. Register by February 20th. See the informational flier (.pdf). For more information and to register visit the Florida Chapter of the Wildlife Society course page.

Florida Certified Prescribed Burners Course

floridafiretraining — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:54:48 +0000

Are you a land owner or land manager looking to “get your number” to conduct and call-in your own prescribed fires? The Florida Forest Service offers both a correspondance course (for experienced burners only) and the interagency prescribed fire course towards earning this certification. The interagency course is held several times a year around the state with each class taking place over the course of a week. For more information and to sign up (there are still courses available this spring) see their website here.

S-130 / S-190 / L-180 Offered in February

floridafiretraining — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:56:08 +0000

Osceola National Forest Prescribed Fire

This just in! The Florida chapter of The Nature Conservancy along with the Florida Park Service will be offering a Basic Wildland Firefighter training session at Wekiwa Springs State Park from Feb 13-17, 2012. The session will include S-130, S-190, and I-180. The training is free, however meals are on your own. Lodging may be available on site. This is a limited registration course with priority given to TNC and FPS employees. If you are interested in participating in this course (required for Red Card) contact Amy Copeland of the Florida Park Service (Amy.Copeland@dep.state.fl.us).

Looks like a busy year ahead

floridafiretraining — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:40:06 +0000

It looks like 2012 is going to be a busy year for the wildland fire community in Florida and possibly nationwide. Things are already getting busy in the north central part of the state with several fires around Gainesville and another fire burning on Cumberland Island in south Georgia. The Florida Forest Service meteorologist released his forecast for this spring on Jan. 5th. Due to the ongoing drought through much of the state, it is expected that wildland fire potential will be at or above normal conditions.

Direct from the Florida Forest Service spring forecast summary:

Overall, the current conditions and forecasts indicate near to above normal fire potential in the short term. Some areas, such as the Panhandle, will see lesser potential in this near term thanks to the impact of recent rainfall. In the long term, however, the area of above normal wildfire potential will expand. The worst conditions are in the northern tier of the state, where long term rain shortages and drought conditions exist, and the beneficial impacts of December rainfall should fade with expected below normal precipitation. A similar expansion of above normal fire potential in the peninsula should also occur, as below normal rainfall should exacerbate conditions in areas that were assisted in the fall by slugs of tropical moisture that moved through in the late hurricane season.

To monitor the Florida Forest Service fire weather information, visit their page here. Also check out INCIWeb as a decent site to monitor national large fire incident activity through the year, although there are many fires that don’t make it to that site. For more regional assessments of drought conditions this spring check out the Florida Automated Weather Network (FAWNS) and the NOAA PDSI archive page (disregard the warning screen).

Tall Timbers Research Station Fire Ecology Internships Announced

floridafiretraining — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:19:49 +0000

Tall Timbers Research Station (Photo by David Godwin)

The Tall Timbers Research Station north of Tallahassee, Florida has opened up applications for two fire ecology internships for the Summer 2012 season. Application review starts February 1st, 2012. Limited housing is available on site and interns receive a stipend of $225 / week. For more information see the internship description and application instructions here.

Florida Interagency Prescribed Fire Course

floridafiretraining — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 18:45:08 +0000

From our friend Zach Prusak over at the Nature Conservancy:

Basic prescribed fire training, as well as Florida certification for experienced burners, is available through Hillsborough Community College’s Certified Burner Program. These courses are designed to train individuals in public and private agencies and organizations that are charged with the responsibility of performing prescribed fires. Attached (IBPFTflyer1112) is the latest schedule for upcoming Inter-Agency Basic Prescribed Fire Training courses for 2011 and 2012, with a reminder that the next course (Volusia Fire Institute, Daytona Beach, December 11-16) has an updated registration deadline of this Friday, October 21^st.

Any questions about the December Inter-Agency Course, please contact Barry Coulliette at 904-266-5014, or Barry.Coulliette@freshfromflorida.com

Florida Forest Service Training Calendar Updated

floridafiretraining — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:14:30 +0000

The Florida Forest Service (formally the Florida Division of Forestry) has updated their wildland fire training calendar through early summer of 2012. Courses offered include the Interagency Basic Prescribed Fire suite, S-131, S-230, and many more. For the entire list head directly to their training calendar here. If you have questions about any of the courses contact the course coordinators directly.

Southern Fire Exchange Fall Webinar Series

floridafiretraining — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:14:53 +0000

Southern Fire Exchange Fall 2011 Webinar Series

The Southern Fire Exchange, a Joint Fire Science sponsored program dedicated to providing the latest fire science information to communities and practitioners across the South, will present a series of webinars on topics related to wildland fire and natural resource management this fall. Upcoming webinars include:

Using Smoke Prediction Models for Prescribed Burning Planning
October 19, 2011, 12:00-1:00 p.m. Eastern

Prescribed Fire and the Public: Myths and Realities
November 16, 2011, 12:00-1:00 p.m. Eastern

Interagency Fuel Treatment Decision Support System
December 14, 2011, 12:00-1:00 p.m. Eastern

To register and/or learn more about these webinars visit:

www.southernfireexchange.org/ProDev/Webinars.html

For updates from the Southern Fire Exchange, follow their Twitter account:

www.twitter.com/SEFireScience

The 2011 Great Florida Fire School

floridafiretraining — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:32:42 +0000

When: Nov. 2-5th, 2011

Where: Indian River State College, Fort Pierce, Florida

Cost: $100

What: The Great Florida Fire School is mostly oriented towards structural firefighters but there is usually a wildland fire component as well. This year S-130/S-190 will be offered during the week, along with S-215, and S-330. Wildland fire courses are typically taught by the Florida Division of Forestry, now called the Florida Forest Service.

For more information and to register see their website: http://greatfloridafireschool.org/index.htm

Central Florida Prescribed Fire Council Meeting

floridafiretraining — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:20:57 +0000

From our friend in fire Zach Prusak:

This year’s Central Florida Prescribed Fire Council meeting will be held at the Osceola Heritage Park Complex in Kissimmee, Tuesday, November 1^st. Sign-in begins at 8:30, the meeting will then start at 9:30 and will wrap up around 4:00.

Here is the online registration website link:

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2264240404

Even though the online registration tickets are marked as “free,” there is a registration fee of $10.00 for this year’s event which includes lunch (provided by the Orange County Cattlemen’s Association), coffee/drinks and snacks during the day. You can pay at the door the morning of the meeting when you check in.

This year we will hear updates from the Florida Forest Service, the Southern Fire Exchange, a presentation from the local NWS office on weather prediction tools, research on fire’s effects on the Cabbage Palm, smutgrass control with fire, invasives/fire and more…….

Directions to the Heritage Park Complex:

http://www.ohpark.com/services-directions.html