This course provides students with the knowledge and training required to develop and implement prescribed burn plans. We focus on setting ecological objectives, assessing burn complexity, assessing resource needs, contingency planning, managing smoke, prescribed burn execution, and post-burn follow-up.

Download a sample agenda.

The student body is divided into three burn teams that cooperatively develop and execute prescribed burn plans. Each team works closely with several members of the instructor cadre throughout the workshop. Prescribed burns take place in representative fuels of the surrounding landscape. All participants must bring PPE and have current fitness testing completed.

Objectives
Given land management objectives, project site conditions, weather data, fuel loading, availability of resources, political and/or land management constraints:

• Develop burn plans to safely meet resource/fire management objectives.
• Identify tasks to be considered by burn boss during pre-burn, burn and post-burn operations.
• Evaluate conditions to verify and/or adjust burn plan elements to meet planned objectives.
• Enhance knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to use fire in wildland ecosystems in a safe, professional and responsible manner.

Target Group
Incident Commander, Type IV (ICT4); Firing Boss (FIRB); Individuals at or working toward Burn Boss Type 2 (RxB2) qualifications.

Prerequisites
S-390 Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior Calculations.

What our students have said about this course:

• Course instructors are extremely knowledgeable and many times made me step back from my physical self to see the 'big picture' in fire management planning. I learned more from this one course than I've learned from other courses so far.
• I now question why my agency does burn prescriptions the way we do. Why don't we have contingency plans, identify smoke sensitive areas on maps, [do] public relations/media campaigns more aggressively on the benefits of fire ... I feel this workshop will motivate me to be a better, more responsible, potentially hazard free burn boss!
• The instructors are very knowledgeable, patient, helpful and unobtrusive. They provided excellent guidance and are a great cadre.
• The workshop was excellent because both class and field exercises were treated as both very important to increase the learning process.