Firefighters wrap up week-long wildfire training in Sweet Home with big burn

Firefighters wrap up week-long wildfire training in Sweet Home with big burn | News [Video]

Firefighters from public and private forest agencies across the mid-Willamette Valley spent the week building up their knowledge on containment lines, fire behavior and weather and the roles everyone plays in a fire operation. They put that knowledge to the test Friday with a live burning exercise.

SWEET HOME, Ore. — Dozens of firefighters wrapped up a week of training Friday afternoon with a giant burn of brush piles to put to action the lessons they learned about wildland firefighting.

About 170 firefighters from the Oregon Department of Forestry, U.S. Forest Service and other public and private forestry agencies came out for the Mid-Willamette Valley Interagency Fire School from June 24 to June 28.

Friday’s live burn served as a culmination of the school.

“We light brush piles and all the crews will come out and they’ll put all the technical skills that they used throughout the week—put them together …