SMYRNA, Del. (July 31, 2023) – The Delaware Forest Service mobilized a 3-person wildland fire engine crew from Blackbird State Forest on July 28th for a fire assignment to Wawona, California. Working with the Yosemite National Park’s Emergency Communication Center and various agencies from all over the country, the crew will be working on patrolling and isolating new fire starts due to human activity and lightning strikes. The predicted fire danger for the area is extreme/high for the next 7 days with an active 841-acre fire currently burning in Yosemite National Park, which is creating closures in the area. This assignment will be physically demanding for the crew and will require their 45 years of experience in logistical and operational roles in order to isolate these new starts so that they do not turn into larger fires.

Today, July 31, marks the first day of a fourteen-day assignment for the engine crew. The Delaware Forest Service will be looking to perform a crew swap around mid-August so that support can continue to be provided to the area. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, 64 large fires and complexes have burned 311,669 acres in 9 states. More than 11,500 wildland firefighters and support personnel are currently assigned to incidents across the country.

About Delaware Forest Service
The mission of the Delaware Department of Agriculture’s Delaware Forest Service (DFS) is to conserve, protect, and enhance Delaware forests and their resources for the public through education, management, demonstration, promotion, and providing technical services in a timely and efficient manner. DFS provides a wide range of services to help Delawareans manage and improve their forest resources. These services are divided into three categories: conservation, protection, and education. For more information, visit the website de.gov/forestry and connect with DFS on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

SMYRNA, Del. (August 9, 2022) –The Delaware Forest Service mobilized a 19-person wildfire crew from Blackbird State Forest to northern California today. The crew will travel cross-country to join other wildfire crews to battle blazes as the number of wildfires in the area continue to grow, sparked by hot, dry, and windy weather combined with an unstable atmosphere, creating lightning-caused fires.

According to the National Interagency Fire Center, 66 large fires and complexes have burned 1,694,298 acres in 14 states. More than 12,300 wildland firefighters and support personnel are currently assigned to incidents across the country.

Delaware has trained more than 600 firefighters since 1996 and battled wildfires in numerous states, including Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, California, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. https://de.gov/wildfire.

For more information, contact Kyle Hoyd at kyle.hoyd@delaware.gov

More photos and videos are available at: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjA2pY6

DOVER, Del. – The Delaware Forest Service is looking to increase its wildfire crews for the upcoming season through training for new recruits. During the 2018 wildfire season, Delaware sent two full crews out to Colorado, Idaho, and Montana to be first responders.

Interested recruits should be over 18 years old, physically fit, motivated, and willing to travel out-of-state for at least two weeks during the summer on fire assignments. No previous experience is needed, but recruits are required to complete ICS-100 (Introduction to the Incident Command System) and IS-700 (An Introduction to the National Incident Management System), available online, prior to reporting for training.

“The Delaware Forest Service has trained more than 400 wildland firefighters through our program. Delaware crews are in high demand for initial attack because of their Type II-IA crew status,” said Kyle Hoyd, DFS Wildland Fire Program Administrator. “We are able to deploy a full crew, with several of our firefighters able to take on leadership roles within the Incident Command System.”

All trainees must complete the following courses on two separate weekend sessions:
1) S-190: Intro to Wildfire Behavior – October 20 (Sat.) – 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
2) S-130: Basic Wildland Firefighting – October 21 (Sun.), November 3 and 4 (Sat. and Sun.) – 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day
Courses are held at the Delaware State Fire School, 1461 Chestnut Grove Road, Dover, DE 19904 (302) 739-4773.

Applicants should register by October 16 by contacting the Delaware State Fire School at (302) 739-4773 or email: fire.school@delaware.gov. Website: statefireschool.delaware.gov. Those with no prior experience can contact Kyle Hoyd, DFS Wildland Fire Program Administrator, at (302) 698-4548 or kyle.hoyd@delaware.gov for more information.

Both S-190 and S-130 are required for prospective firefighters to attain “red-card” certification from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG). In addition to the basic coursework, candidates must also complete an arduous “work capacity” or “pack test,” which involves carrying a 45-pound pack over a three-mile course in less than 45 minutes. This is held in conjunction with the annual Wildfire Burn Camp held in early spring, where those recruits who have passed all the training will test their skills and knowledge during a live prescribed burn using tools and equipment typically used during western wildfires. Students will practice wildland suppression tactics in the simulated wildfire while working within the Incident Command System to prepare for deployment.

Delaware has been mobilizing crews and individual resources to serve on out-of-state assignments since the late-1990s. Delaware firefighters have traveled to Alaska, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.

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Media Contact: John Petersen, 302-698-4552, John.Petersen@delaware.gov

The Delaware Forest Service (DFS) is seeking qualified and motivated candidates for its wildfire training classes at the Delaware State Fire School. Applicants should be at least 18 years of age, physically and mentally fit, motivated to learn, and willing and able to travel for up to two weeks or more (usually during the summer months) for out-of-state fire assignments. Previous firefighting experience is not required.

While volunteer firefighters can register through their own fire company, those without prior firefighting experience must contact Kyle Hoyd, DFS Wildland Fire Program, by phone: (302) 698-4548  or email: kyle.hoyd@delaware.gov to get authorization before enrolling in the classes. The deadline for course registration is January 3, 2015.

The first set of wildfire training classes: “S-190, I-100, and PMS-416,” will be held on Saturday and Sunday, January 24 and 25,  from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day at the Delaware State Fire School, 1461 Chestnut Grove Rd, Dover, DE 19904, 302-739-4773. The second set of classes, “S-130: Basic Wildland Firefighting,” will be taught at the Fire School over the course of two weekends: February 28 and March 1, and also March 7 and 8, 2015, from 9 a.m to 4 p.m. each day.  The cost of S-190, I-100, and PMS-416 (January) is $50 (includes lunch both days) and the cost of S-130 (March) is $100 (includes lunch every day), with remittance payable to the “Delaware State Fire School.”

Registration Form*(PDF)
2015 Training Schedule* (PDF)

Both S-190 and S-130 are required for prospective firefighters to attain “red-card” certification from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG), the lead agency for wildfire training in the United States.   In addition to basic coursework, candidates must also complete a rigorous “work capacity” or “pack test,” which involves carrying a 45-pound pack over a three-mile course in less than 45 minutes. The capstone of the wildfire training series is the Delaware Forest Service’s annual “Fire Camp,” which will be held on Saturday, April 25, 2015 at Redden State Forest in Georgetown, Sussex County. The one-day seminar features intensive, hand-on training in a range of wildland firefighting tools and strategies, culminated by a “live-burn” exercise designed to simulate conditions on an actual fire assignment.

To fully complete the entire training series, potential candidates must register for S-190 by the January 3, 2015 deadline.

Delaware’s wildland fire program is coming off another successful year: in 2014, the Delaware dispatched two 20-person teams to out-of-state assignments through the National Interagency Fire Center: one crew traveled to Oregon to battle wildfires in July while another crew was sent to the West in August to battle fires in Washington and Oregon .  Trained and dispatched by the Delaware Department of Agriculture Forest Service, wildfire crews are comprised of men and women of varying ages and backgrounds who represent a mix of public agencies, nonprofit groups, volunteer fire companies, and private citizens—all with an interest in firefighting and a desire to help their communities.

Despite its small size, Delaware has an outstanding reputation on the national firefighting scene and was honored by Governor Markell during the celebration of National Fire Prevention Month in October. Since the program’s inception in the 1990s, the First State has also sent personnel to aid in other national or regional emergencies, such as hurricane relief crews in Florida and New York.

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High-resolution images on Delaware Forest Service’s Facebook Photo Album

DOVER – The Delaware Forest Service has sent a second wildfire crew to the western United States as 41 active large fires are burning over 700,000 acres across five western states, with most concentrated in California, Oregon, and Washington, with 10 each. So far this year, a total of 35,751 fires have burned over 2.5 million acres nationwide.

Twenty firefighters under the direction of the Delaware Forest Service will serve a two-week assignment to fight wildfires for the National Interagency Fire Center beginning with their trip to Redmond, Oregon for positioning before a likely assignment in the Pacific Northwest or Northern California. A team from Delaware recently returned on August 5 from a two-week assignment in the state of Washington.

Delaware’s crew mobilized at Blackbird State Forest in Smyrna on Wednesday, August 13. The team – comprised of public agency staff, volunteer firefighters, and private citizens – will be led by State Forester Michael A. Valenti of Dover, a veteran of previous out-of-state assignments.

The crew’s departure coincides with a peak in fire activity in the West. The National Fire Preparedness Level is currently 4 on a 5-point scale due to increased wildfire activity in the western U.S.  http://www.nifc.gov

For more information, contact John Petersen 302-233-8180 (cell)