Through its partners and its local units, GFC provides wildfire prevention tools, information and support. Specialized firefighter training services and resources are provided to city, county and other municipal fire departments and state agencies.
Wildland firefighters work in natural environments, such as forests, preventing and fighting fires, and performing rescue and aid services.
Wildland Firefighter Training is for:
- Fire Department personnel – must be a Georgia Certified Firefighter, or for the volunteer firefighter, a minimum of Basic Firefighter Module One with live fire
- State Agency personnel – must be affiliated with a NWCG member agency such as the GFC, or Federal wildland fire agencies through direct membership or agreement
- Cooperator personnel – must be affiliated with GFC under their employer’s cooperative wildfire agreement
- All students must be 18 years of age to participate in this training.
How Do I Receive Training?
GFC now offers Wildfire Preparedness Training for fire departments and other cooperators locally. This training can be for an individual fire department of for multiple cooperators in an area. GFC wildfire preparedness training will provide cooperators with a basic knowledge of fire weather, fuel, and terrain and how those impact wildfires. Additionally, the training will provide knowledge on how to safely operate in a wildfire environment while implementing structure triage, structure protection, and mop up operations. The training will also cover what to expect when working in cooperation with GFC fire suppression personnel and equipment and how GFC will interact with cooperating agencies. This is the most value-added training GFC can provide to cooperators.
Register for courses required for Firefighter Type 2 Qualification Requirements & Field Exercise
NWCG Fire Fighter Type 2 training is available for those individuals looking for more in-depth wildfire training with continuing education or training credits. The required courses are available online. L-180, S-190, and S-130 are available on the USFA National Fire Academy website and ICS-100 and IS-700 are available on the FEMA Independent Study Program website. To become certified, you must be employed by an NWCG partner agency where you will complete an additional field day and an arduous work capacity test. If requested, GFC can provide a field day to complete the S-130 course however, students must have a full complement of wildland PPE (Boots, gloves, pants and shirt or jumpsuit, hardhat, eye protection, and fire shelter of the appropriate size that meets or exceeds NFPA 1977 before requesting field training. Completion of the field day will earn a student a certificate of completion but not certification.
GFC is the agency having jurisdiction for wildland fire training in Georgia. However, we do not certify or deploy wildland firefighters who are not employees.