Wildfire Training Taxing for Newbies, Veterans

June 12--Several new firefighters picked up hoses, and instructor Willie Cirone joked as they took their first cracks at unraveling their firefighting equipment.

"It's like 'Police Academy,' for [heaven's] sakes," he said.

Cirone, who is from the New Jersey State Forest Fire Service, was teaching them the proper way to roll and unroll fire hoses, as well as the difference between the sizes and their best functions.

The training was among the activities Tuesday at the Mid-Atlantic Wildfire Training Academy held on WVU Forest land. It is a weeklong event to provide forest fire training to all levels of firefighters.

Conor Cook is fresh out of high school in Cincinnati and is looking to become a forest firefighter. He said he believed he was the youngest one at the academy, at 19 years old.

Cook said he became interested after a cousin participated in an academy. He said he wasn't afraid to fight fires, but nervous.

There are about 150 people from 10 states participating, said Michael Vanderberg, academy coordinator. The academy is a partnership among seven states, and they try to hold it in West Virginia each year because of its central location.

The academy offers courses for all levels of firefighting skills, Vanderberg said. Many of the participants want to join crews that are deployed to fight western wildfires, he said. He added they are right in the middle of that season, and crews from West Virginia can be sent to help. For the more experienced academy participants, it's a chance to move up the ladder.

"These firefighters will also come here to advance their careers," he said.

Some academy members want to become crew bosses or learn to teach courses, Vanderberg said.

Copyright 2013 - The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.