Wildland Firefighter Foundation / News
Shawnee National Forest Hosts Its First Engine Academy
Harrisburg, IL June 30, 2009 - The Shawnee National Forest recently hosted the 2009 Eastern Area Fire Engine Academy. Thirty-seven students participated in this week-long training from eight national forests, one tallgrass prairie, two National Parks Service units, two Fish and Wildlife Service units and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. These units were located in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Iowa.
This course hosted by the Shawnee was the first of its kind in the Eastern Region of the Forest Service which encompasses the twenty-two states in the northeast quarter of the country. Classes were held at John A. Logan College and field exercises were conducted at Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge. The purpose behind this training is to improve the safety, efficiency and effectiveness of our firefighters in the Eastern Area.
All of the students successfully completed the training. Top academic honors went to Greg Burkhart from the Shawnee National Forest. Being recognized as members of the top engine module were Greg Burkhart, Garrod Carruthers from the Hiawatha National Forest, Jeremiah Haddix from the Hoosier national Forest and Michael Thom from the Midewin National Tall Grass Prairie.
Forest Supervisor Allen Nicholas stated, "I appreciate the efforts all of the parties who participated in the planning and execution of this course. The instructors from the Shawnee, Hoosier, Wayne, Huron-Manistee and Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forests, the Midewin National Tall Grass Prairie, the Williamson County Fire Protection District, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge did an outstanding job of presenting the training."
Training of this nature benefits the participants and their communities when the lessons learned are applied locally.
|
