WVDOF Fire School

Our Region will be assisting with the WVDOF's Wildland Fire School, to be held September 17th - 21st, at Jacksons Mill 4-H Camp, near Weston. There are some slots open for VFD members who wish to attend, and you can contact Ben Webster at our Charleston Office, (304)558-2788 for more information.

Mid-Atlantic Wildfire Academy Announced!

The website for the first Mid-Atlantic Wildfire Training Academy has been released. The academy will be held at the West Virginia University Division of Forestry and Natural Resources, from June 9 to 15, 2007. Check out the website at http://www.mawfta.com for details and to register!

Upcoming WCT sessions for Firefighters

Here's the schedule for two upcoming Work Capacity Tests (Pack Tests) and Annual Refresher classes. These are annual requirements for individuals wanting to qualify as national wildland firefighters. The pre-requisite is that you must have completed the basic training for FFT2 classification - this includes I-100, S-190, and S-130 courses.

LOCATION: BUCKHANNON, WV
DATE/TIME: SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 2007 0900 - 1600
CONTACT TO REGISTER OR MORE INFORMATION: (304) 256-6775, rangerb@mail.wvnet.edu

LOCATION: MORGANTOWN, WV
DATE/TIME: FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 2007 0900 - 1600
CONTACT TO REGISTER OR MORE INFORMATION: (304) 367-2793, r1fire@ma.rr.com

All participants are strongly urged to bring their own 45-pound pack. All packs will be weighed using WVDOF scales. If you do not have a pack available, you will be given a backpack pump filled with 5 gallons of water to use for the test. The test consists of walking 3 miles in 45 minutes or less with 45 pounds.

Fire shelter drills will immediately follow for those individuals successfully completing the Pack Test. After lunch, will reconvene for safety refresher training and mobilization discussion.

Welcome to Spotfire News!

Hi, and welcome to Spotfire News, the blog for all of your wildfire related news for Region 1 of the West Virginia Division of Forestry. I will do my best to keep this blog updated with news of upcoming training and special events in the Regional area, including the counties of Barbour, Berkeley, Brooke, Grant, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Harrison, Jefferson, Marion, Marshall, Mineral, Monongalia, Morgan, Ohio, Preston, Taylor, Tucker, Pendleton, and Preston.

Questions about the material on this site can be directed through posts or by email to the author. I will strive to check the blog at least once a day if possible, but at least a few times a week. Feel free to add comments at any time!