Portola High School Fire Science Class
Igniting passions in the classroom and blazing trails for careers in Wildland Firefighting and Fuels Management
Thirty years ago, Brad Miller, the current Fire Science Teacher at Portola High School, was sitting behind a desk at Quincy High School, taking a similar course to the one he now teaches. During his time at QHS, he was able to take a Fire Science course that launched him into Wildland Firefighting. Right after graduating he joined an Engine Crew. He stayed with the Forest Service for about 10 summers while he went to college and continued after he got his teaching credential. He started teaching at Portola High School in 1991 and in 1993 became the Fire Science teacher until the course was
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Additionally, during the 32 hours of in-class instruction, the class was able to get outside to get some hands-on experience. One of these such experiences is helping a current Fire Crew with a prescribed fire, which this year 's class will do at the end of May.
The final field day is the second required piece to becoming certified, followed by a final written examination. This year the PHS fire field day took place at Ross Meadows outside of Portola, CA on May 4th. Twenty of the 25 students in class were present. The field day not only tested student’s skills and physical abilities but it also challenged their mental stamina. After spending half of the day rotating through weather testing, firing devices, and mobile attack stations, the 20 students were tasked with cutting line up a steep hillside for half a mile. Two-hundred yards from the top, after complete exhaustion had taken over, they were ordered to run the rest of the way up to deploy a practice fire shelter. They were pushed to the max as they fought their way to the finish line. Some students fell behind, while others, determined to surpass their limits and past the pain, made it to the top in six minutes. Two
As to actually fighting fire, Wildfires are crazy unpredictable, the factors the drive the fire could change in an instant an kill you and your whole
For as long as mankind can conceive, fire has been a remarkable tool to conquer. When controlled, it provides necessary heat, energy, and fuel for a consumer to use; however, when fire goes unattended, it has the potential to become a wholly destructive element. The more western states of America, such as Utah and Colorado, have repeatedly experienced this concept in its most devastating form: wildfires. A wildfire is generally considered to be difficult to control and fast moving, swallowing anything that lay in its path, including forest or human habitat. As human incursion reaches more remote areas in wooded mountains, wildfires pose a serious threat to high-end homes and secluded cabins. The untamed nature of these fires also allows them to creep into subdivisions and endanger more
If you went out one day and out of nowhere you find yourself in a life-or-death situation would it be your fault? People in a life-or-death situation should be held accountable for their actions because most of the time people know that if they do something that can put them in a life-or-death situation then something bad will happen but they still do it willingly. Another person might not agree with this claim and say that people should not be held accountable for their actions. The reason he or she might think this is because if when a person does face a life-or-death situation it might not be entirely their fault. The following reasons are examples of why my claim is stronger.
Policies regarding the handling of wildland fires continue to change and evolve as new information is learned each fire season. Attitudes have changed between complete wildland fire suppression to no suppression at all. We now seem to have reached a balance between the two schools of thought and fall somewhere in the middle.
In the summer of 1910 Northern Idaho and Western Montana were hit by what seemed like a never ending series of destructive forest fires. With the spring bringing hardly any rainfall and drying winds from the Columbia plains, creeks began to disappear and the montane forests became dry. Intense heat along with high winds and dry vegetation create the perfect environment for forest fires. In June and July several dry electric storms hit the mountains and fires began to develop in isolated corners of the forest. The U.S. Forest Service which had just been developed in 1905 consisted of forest rangers on horseback climbing the mountains and protecting the forest from fires (Bergoffen, 1976). As the
The rising number of high severity wildfires in California has significant ecological, economic, and health impacts. Many western American forests are adapted to frequent low severity fires. However, the majority of these forests, and particularly the mixed conifer forests of California, are not adapted to high intensity fires and do not possess fire resistance adaptations such as serotinous cones to protect seeds. Consequently, high severity fires have significant negative impacts on California forests, and the absence of low severity fires has considerably altered many fundamental ecosystem processes (Miller et al. 2008). Prior to 1900, low severity fires would burn every 6-15 years. Low severity fires are generally non-lethal, have minimal change to the overstory, and kill mainly small trees. In the past, these fires were started naturally by lightning, or by Native Americans who used low severity fires to manage the forests.
The focus of this lesson will be teaching the students to examine the history of wildland fires and their impact on society in America and in their community. Students will explore different approaches to living with fire and will examine various fire management techniques including prescribed fire, fire suppression, and fire prevention. They will take a closer look at the Copper King Fire in Montana, and will conduct a research project of wildfire history in another state. Students will also gain a better understanding of the role of fire in a particular culture and the importance of wildfire in the ecosystem. They will also understand ways to reduce wildfire risk around their home and community. Furthermore, students will increase their knowledge
In 2024, employment is projected to be around 344,700 (CareerOneStop). There will always be forest fires; therefore, there will always be a need for wildland firefighters. With the increased rate and severity of forest fires, job openings are expected to rise. “Regardless of your strengths and preferences, if you’d like to make a life-long career out of wildland firefighting, the opportunity is there” (National Fire Fighter Corp). There are many different job opportunities and paths to be taken in the field of wildland firefighting.
Wildfires have always been a part of our lives on this rock we call Earth. Over the years we have developed tried and true ways to battle and extinguish them, but in the recent past it has become more and more of a problem considering their increase in size and weather patterns. These factors have been termed with a phase every American knows all too well, “Global Warming!” The western half of the United States has had to deal with these fires more than any other area of the country. Of the western half, the state of Colorado has seen its share of some of the worst wildfires. Since the 1970 's the normal number of flames in excess of 1,000 sections of land every year has almost quadrupled in Arizona and Idaho, and has multiplied in
The first session will be forty three days on with thirteen days off. The second will be forty five days on with eleven days off. The third will be forty nine days on with nine days off. The fourth will be forty three days with thirteen days off. Every four years there will be a longer break using the extra 56 days not used during the past years. This lets kids experience both types of schooling. During the school years kids, teachers, and staff will be interviewed on their opinion of the scheduling that year. Kids will be tested on intelligence while teachers will be tested on the convenience of when they taught. If their lessons were easier or harder during what part of the year and each year. The information can be analyzed to determine which type of schooling is the most effective.
The county of San Diego is a unique haven to hundreds of state and federally recognized endangered, threatened, or rare plant and animal species (The Nature Conservancy, n.d.). San Diego is also a territory with a long history of environmentally catastrophic wildfires. The Cedar and Witch Creek Fires are two of the most recent and notorious wildfires in California history for their degree of damage in terms of acreage burned and overall expense (The City of San Diego, n.d.). During and after these massive wildfire events is a significant public health concern related to respiratory health from the effects of smoke and ash debris. The challenges presented in mitigating and managing these health issues extends into county budget, public education, and cohesive multi-agency prevention and recovery efforts. Moreover, participatory efforts from the residents of San Diego County is key to the success of mitigating health risks presented by wildfire smoke and ash debris (Phillips, 2009, p. 420).
Choosing what career you want to go into after high school is a very important decision in your life. You base it off of what your parents and family have done or what your favorite subjects are. It can all be very overwhelming. Exploring all your possibilities is the best thing to do. I chose the book Smokejumper because it is about the life of an airborne fire fighter named Jason Ramos, and I have always had an interest in becoming a firefighter. A firefighter can be a very tough job so reading this book has really helped me in deciding if I would ever want to choose this type of career path. In this book it talks about life threatening risks, the rewarding benefits, and a brief history of how airborne firefighters came to be.
An understanding of how fires, wildfires in particular, work was a fundamental part in learning how to fight fires properly. This understanding entailed knowing what makes a fire a fire, what could cause a fire, what hinders and aids a fire’s growth, what different types of fire there are, and the characteristics of said types. Without the basic understanding of these things, it would have made the evolution of aerial firefighting next to impossible.
Throughout my life I have heard many speakers from being in the military, fire service, and an Expos from professionals that are trying to teach new techniques in the fire service. The instructor that influenced me the most was an instructor that I had at the Ohio Fire Academy's, that was Thomas Faerain his teaching methods was so outrageous that kept your interest through the whole class. His classes so good that he had to have a student keep track of the time and at 55 minutes mark that student would would stop him so that we can go on break. The classes that I took from this gentleman to this day I still know majority of the information that was taught to me. Because of Thomas was the reason I became a fire instructor for the state of Ohio.
Humans have been changing the Western forests' fire system since the settlement by the Europeans and now we are experiencing the consequences of those changes. During the summer of 2002, 6.9 million acres of forests was burnt up in the West (Wildland Fires, 1). This figure is two times the ten year annual average, and it does not look like next summer will be any better (Wildfire Season, 1).