Fire department participates in national pilot program

An Australian firefighter was in Jacksonville Monday to tell Yanks how they do it Down Under.

A process used in Australia and New Zealand to assess skill levels of fire fighters may be used in the United States after a pilot program that includes Jacksonville is complete.

The process, called Recognition of Prior Learning, assesses the competencies of structural-fire fighters to determine whether they are qualified, or the degree to which they are qualified, for wildland fire fighting positions.

The RPL program has been used in Australia and New Zealand for more than 20 years.

The pilot, put together by The Bureau of Land Management and the International Association of Fire Chiefs, along with the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, is in its second phase in the United States, visiting eight states including Texas, Georgia, New Mexico, Idaho, Montana, California, Washington and North Carolina,  to assess interested fire fighters. The initial phase of the pilot was conducted in Montana and Florida.

"In the United States wildland fire is a problem across the country. Anytime of year it's fire season somewhere in the U.S.," said Kelly Hawk, community protection specialist with the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management.

There are about 50,000 wildland fire fighters in the U.S. at the moment. If the RPL program is accepted, that could open the field up to the 1.2 million structure fire fighters nationwide.

"We're seeing an increased workload, longer fire season and more extreme fire seasons," Hawk said. "Having the extra support, especially that local support, makes a lot of sense."

To complete the process, structure fire fighters present a portfolio documenting their training, certifications, records and past experience and the ways in which they meet various requirements for fighting wildfires.

Six Jacksonville fire fighters chose to take part in the pilot. Hawk said their portfolios were "excellent."

"Probably the best we've seen by far," she said.

Rick McIntyre, chief of the Jacksonville Fire Department, said the department decided to take part in the study to help the program come to fruition.

"It's an opportunity to provide input into a national pilot project that will hopefully ultimately allow structure fire fighters to support wildland fire operations throughout the country," McIntyre said. "If we can help this process come about in the U.S., that's going to be a great thing."

Along with Jacksonville, firefighters in Nashville and Apex will also be assessed.

"The American fire service is really diverse across the country ... We wanted not only a wide variety ... but kind of a cross section across the country," Hawk said. "The interest and the skills are there; we've got to take advantage of that."

Gary Wood, firewise coordinator with the North Carolina Division of Forest Services, said 20 years ago wildland fire fighters could fight a fire in the woods without having to worry about homes - that's not the case anymore.

There are various areas in Eastern North Carolina and throughout the south where wildland fires can burn large acreages quickly, Wood said.

"Being able to have folks trained in the dual roles is going to give us a significant number of qualified fire fighters," he said.

Using local fire fighters to aid in wildland fire fighting prohibits the need to outsource fire fighters from neighboring communities or other states.

"It increases our capability to function in a more cost-effective manner," Wood said

Contact Jacksonville/Onslow government reporter Molly DeWitt at 910-219-8455 or mdewitt@freedomenc.com.