The Delaware Forest Service (DFS) is always looking for motivated recruits to join its wildland fire crew. There is no cost for training and no previous experience necessary. Candidates must be over 18 years, willing to learn, physically fit, and able to travel for at least two weeks at a time, usually in the summer months. In a typical year, the DFS would offer its in-person classes over several weekends in Dover. This year, all required courses for new firefighters will be offered online through the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) and Federal Emergency Management Agency websites. The complete list of courses and links to online training are at https://de.gov/firecrew
The Delaware Forest Service is seeking entries for its annual “Arbor Day School Poster Contest” – open to students in grades K to 5 from all Delaware public, private, home school, after-school, and other organized youth groups. Winning posters will be selected from each of the three counties in the following categories: kindergarten, grades 1 and 2, grades 3 and 4, and grade 5. Register by March 15 and submit posters by April 1, 2021. Details at http://de.gov/arborday
Delaware’s Urban and Community Forestry Program is once again offering competitive matching grants up to $5,000 for tree planting or tree management projects on public land. The grants – open to municipalities, homeowner associations, and certified 501(c)(3) non-profits in the State of Delaware – require a 50-50 match in either cash (non-federal funds) or in-kind services, including volunteer or staff time, equipment rental, or supplies. Requests can range from $500 to a maximum of $5,000 in one of two project categories: tree planting or tree management (i.e., professional tree inventory, hazardous tree removal, or pruning). This year’s deadline is Friday, March 5, 2021 at 4:30 p.m.
Smokey Bear visited St. Anne’s Episcopal School to highlight the importance of fire safety and prevention during National Fire Prevention Week. Smokey’s timeless message – “Only you can prevent wildfires!” – has more resonance this year, as wildfires have wreaked destruction across many western states: the National Interagency Fire Center reports that more than 45,000 fires have burned over 7.9 million acres – including 4 million acres in California– a 43 percent increase over 2019.
Delaware’s wildfire crew is returning to the First State after successfully battling blazes on a 14-day assignment in Arizona and California. Delaware’s 21-person team mobilized at Blackbird State Forest in Smyrna on August 28. On August 30 they were assigned to the Griffin Fire, a 61,821-acre blaze in Arizona’s Tonto National Forest in the U.S. Forest Service’s Southwest Region. They subsequently took on the Rockhouse Fire, a 19,506-acre blaze on land managed by the San Carlos Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, located 22 miles southeast of San Carlos, AZ. On September 9, they were transferred to the Southern California Geographic Area and assigned to the Valley Fire, which has consumed 17,665 acres in the Cleveland National Forest and located 19 miles northeast of Chula Vista, CA. The crew is expected to arrive back at Blackbird State Forest in Smyrna, Delaware by Friday afternoon, September 18.
The Delaware Forest Service (DFS) is always looking for motivated recruits to join its wildland fire crew. There is no cost for training and no previous experience necessary. Candidates must be over 18 years, willing to learn, physically fit, and able to travel for at least two weeks at a time, usually in the summer months. In a typical year, the DFS would offer its in-person classes over several weekends in Dover. This year, all required courses for new firefighters will be offered online through the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) and Federal Emergency Management Agency websites. The complete list of courses and links to online training are at https://de.gov/firecrew
The Delaware Forest Service is seeking entries for its annual “Arbor Day School Poster Contest” – open to students in grades K to 5 from all Delaware public, private, home school, after-school, and other organized youth groups. Winning posters will be selected from each of the three counties in the following categories: kindergarten, grades 1 and 2, grades 3 and 4, and grade 5. Register by March 15 and submit posters by April 1, 2021. Details at http://de.gov/arborday
Delaware’s Urban and Community Forestry Program is once again offering competitive matching grants up to $5,000 for tree planting or tree management projects on public land. The grants – open to municipalities, homeowner associations, and certified 501(c)(3) non-profits in the State of Delaware – require a 50-50 match in either cash (non-federal funds) or in-kind services, including volunteer or staff time, equipment rental, or supplies. Requests can range from $500 to a maximum of $5,000 in one of two project categories: tree planting or tree management (i.e., professional tree inventory, hazardous tree removal, or pruning). This year’s deadline is Friday, March 5, 2021 at 4:30 p.m.
Smokey Bear visited St. Anne’s Episcopal School to highlight the importance of fire safety and prevention during National Fire Prevention Week. Smokey’s timeless message – “Only you can prevent wildfires!” – has more resonance this year, as wildfires have wreaked destruction across many western states: the National Interagency Fire Center reports that more than 45,000 fires have burned over 7.9 million acres – including 4 million acres in California– a 43 percent increase over 2019.
Delaware’s wildfire crew is returning to the First State after successfully battling blazes on a 14-day assignment in Arizona and California. Delaware’s 21-person team mobilized at Blackbird State Forest in Smyrna on August 28. On August 30 they were assigned to the Griffin Fire, a 61,821-acre blaze in Arizona’s Tonto National Forest in the U.S. Forest Service’s Southwest Region. They subsequently took on the Rockhouse Fire, a 19,506-acre blaze on land managed by the San Carlos Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, located 22 miles southeast of San Carlos, AZ. On September 9, they were transferred to the Southern California Geographic Area and assigned to the Valley Fire, which has consumed 17,665 acres in the Cleveland National Forest and located 19 miles northeast of Chula Vista, CA. The crew is expected to arrive back at Blackbird State Forest in Smyrna, Delaware by Friday afternoon, September 18.
