Wildland firefighter training and certification in Georgia

Paid Structural Departments, Volunteer Firefighters, and Forest Fire Cooperator personnel are trained and certified to standards recognized by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG).
Graduates are issued :
! Georgia Fire Academy Training Completion Certificate
! National Professional Qualifications (NPQ) registration / application from Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training to be placed on the National Registry for Wildland Firefighter
! Inter-Agency Incident Qualification Card from the Georgia Forestry Commission certifying a regional qualification as Wildland Firefighter Type 2 and a State certification as Georgia Basic Wildland Firefighter (GBWF)

How to Apply: The schedule for Georgia Basic Wildland Firefighter courses are posted on the Georgia Public Safety Training Center website: www.state.ga.us/gpstc/ welcome.html. After finding a course suiting your schedule, register through online registration using your department's routine procedure. Cooperators from other federal and state agencies, timber companies, etc. should contact:
Georgia Forestry Commission Training Office P. O. Box 819
Macon, GA 31202-0819 Phone: 478-751-3507
Fax: 478-751-3465 Email: mgaines@gfc.state.ga.us
In memory of those who have made the final sacrifice

Georgia Forestry Commission J. Frederick Allen, Director www.gfc.state.ga.us
An Equal Opportunity Employer and Provider

BACKGROUND
On July 20, 1999 the Georgia Forestry Commission, Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training, and Georgia Fire Academy met to define objectives and procedures for adopting a "Wildland Firefighter" standard qualification system in Georgia.
Wildland firefighting demands special knowledge, skills, abilities, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) not included in structural firefighter training courses.
The certification was needed due to increases in fire severity in Georgia and the Southeast, out-of-area and out-of-state responses of municipal fire departments and cooperators to fires, and requests from agencies other than traditional fire service organizations to be wildland-fire trained. The safety and welfare of firefighting personnel, being the first and foremost consideration on all incidents and operations, necessitates that personnel responding to wildland fires have a working knowledge of basic wildland fire suppression skills, safety standards, and procedures.
Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training recognized the Georgia Forestry Commission as the statewide jurisdictional agency responsible for

direction and coordination of qualification requirements. The Forestry Commission agreed to provide instructors for courses and cooperative partnerships including Firefighter Standards and Training, and the Georgia Fire Academy.
REQUIRED TRAINING
Georgia Basic Wildland Firefighter certification is open to all sponsored fire and emergency personnel in the State of Georgia, and sponsoring entities or agencies beyond the uniformed fire services. The week-long course at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center provides required classroom and practical training of: S-130 Firefighter Training 34 hours S-190 Introduction to Fire Behavior 6 hours I-100 Introduction to ICS self study FFT2 Position Task Book Completion
GBWF trainees qualify on the specialized tools, such as the "Pulaski," used by a fire crew during live-fire field exercises.

Practical exercises and "Hands-On" participation are highly stressed in the GBWF course.
REQUIRED PPE
Basic protective equipment for wildland fire suppression includes a helmet, protective footwear, gloves, and flame-resistant clothing as defined in NFPA 1977, Standard on Protective Clothing and Equipment for Wildland Fire Fighting.
An approved and serviceable Fire Shelter is also to be included as an individual required PPE item. It is the responsibility of the employing agency to provide this equipment for individuals seeking certification under this standard.
No individual will be certified unless they report to training with the required wildland fire suppression Personal Protective Equipment during evaluations.