During the Women-in-Fire Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (WTREX), participants of all genders and ethnic and racial backgrounds are invited to explore the growing role of women in fire management, while conducting prescribed fire operations designed to advance your formal qualifications in wildland fire management and enhance your understanding of fire ecology and effects, communications and outreach, prescribed fire policy and planning, and more. Applications are due December 13, 2019.

Description: The training will be organized as an incident and will utilize the Incident Command System. Participants will serve in qualified and trainee firefighting positions on a burn team and will assist with preparing, scouting, briefing, igniting, holding, mop-up, and patrol on numerous controlled burns in the area. We will also complete pre- and post-fire monitoring, train with equipment, practice fireline leadership skills, and learn about local fire ecology and fire management. The work will take place in diverse ecosystems, including on some lands managed by state and federal agencies and The Nature Conservancy. The training will include trips to prescribed fire and fuels treatment project sites, as well as presentations from local scientists, land managers, practitioners, and women who are leaders in various aspects of fire management. In addition, participants will have the chance to practice for media interviews. Download the WTREX flyer to learn more about the course, requirements, and the online application.

Key things to know about WTREX:

• An intensive 12-day training exchange that combines practical live-fire training with indoor learning and discussion to advance participants’ qualifications and experience in wildland fire operations
• Will engage participants of all genders in building a support network for female fire practitioners working to advance their leadership in wildland fire management
• Serves as an opportunity to elevate diversity in perspective, background, and talent in order to create solutions for today’s complex fire problems
• Is an interagency event, bringing together fire managers and practitioners from various federal and private agencies
   

Participants will: 

• Stay at the Airfield Conference Center & Southeast 4-H Educational Center near Wakefield, VA and conduct burning in the VA Southeastern Coastal Plain with the potential of also burning in the mountains of VA. Meals and dorm space are provided. 
• Work together to accomplish much-needed prescribed burning in a variety of fire-adapted ecosystems.
   

Target Group: Prescribed fire and wildfire personnel and other natural resource managers involved in fire and ecosystem management, including federal, state, tribal, non-governmental, and private practitioners. Participants of all genders are invited to attend this event, though a higher proportion of female applicants will be selected.