Wildland firefighter trainees prepare for fast-approaching wildfire season: 'Opportunity to give back'

Wildfire season is only weeks away from heating up and the people on the front lines aren’t wasting any time getting ready.

It takes wildland firefighter trainees around 50 hours of classroom training and additional training in the field to become certified to fight wildfires.

"This is my opportunity to give back," said wildland firefighter Reese Cousins. "To protect people and property is our number one mission."

On field day, trainees work through four different exercises that prepare them for fighting high-risk flames, such as digging trench lines and deploying a portable fire shelter, to complete their certification.

COLORADO WILDFIRE FORCES EVACUATION OF MORE THAN 19,000 RESIDENTS

"Really giving them that sort of hands-on opportunity to really talk with instructors and go over stuff that virtual training really cannot replicate," said Thomas Kyle Milward with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

LARGEST CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE SEEN FROM NOAA SPACE SATELLITE 

Communication is a big part of each of the training exercises. Firefighters let each other know when trench lines are deep enough and how much water is needed to control a fire.

"Communication, it comes down to life and death in these scenarios and in the big fires," Cousins said, adding that trust is also important in the field.

According to the National Interagency Fire Center, there were almost 69,000 wildfires last year – more than 10,000 over the total for 2021.

ALASKA WILDFIRE SEASON SETS RECORD

Since the West saw a lot of rain over the past few months, Kyle-Milward warned the wildfire risk could be higher this season because of an increase in plant growth – which quite literally adds fuel to the flames.

Kyle-Milward added that wildfire season could start in late May or early June out West.

SEAN HANNITY: Hunter told the judge that he was just 'too poor' to pay child support

Sean Hannity explained how Hunter Biden is pushing back in his Arkansas court case, claiming that he no longer has enough money to pay child support for his four-year-old daughter on "Hannity."

HUNTER BIDEN'S TWISTED ATTEMPTS TO KEEP HIS LITTLE GIRL FROM USING HIS NAME ARE NOW IN A NE REALM

SEAN HANNITY: We begin in Batesville, Arkansas, where zero experience Hunter Biden appeared in court today wearing a beautiful, check it out, beautiful designer suit, flanked by some of the most expensive attorneys in the world. 

The president's adult son told the judge that he was just 'too poor' to make child support payments – I'm not making it up – to the mother of his four-year-old daughter. Now, according to one of Hunter's attorneys, the millions that he made from Russia and China and Ukraine and all these other countries, apparently they're claiming are long gone. 

We'd like to get an answer. How much money did the Biden family syndicate make in China, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and all these other places? 

About Us

Virtus (virtue, valor, excellence, courage, character, and worth)

Vincit (conquers, triumphs, and wins)