January 14, 2009
Bowling
Green, Ky. - Making their way down the side of a rocky ridge in Mammoth Cave National Park, a group of Western Kentucky University students got a taste of what it would be like to be part of the initial assault on a wildland fire.
To wrap up a weeklong WKU Winter Term course on wildland firefighting skills, the students learned how to clear leaves, brush, roots and trees to make a fire line.
“I can see how you should pace yourself at this,” student Austin Harris said as he cleared a small tree from the line.
Harris of Bowling Green said he was attracted to the class because he’d like to work for the park service and obtaining the wildland firefighting certification might increase his job opportunities.
This was the second year WKU had offered the course in conjunction with Mammoth Cave National Park. The class was held Jan. 5-9.
“A fun part of biology classes is you get to get out and do stuff that’s hands-on,” said student Amy Jewell of Cave City, who also works at the park and is interested in becoming certified to assist with prescribed burns inside the park.
The students spent three days on classroom instruction with workbooks and video and two days outdoors on field exercises. The students learned how topography, weather patterns and fuel sources (trees, leaves, brush, etc.) affect a wildland fire’s behavior and how to protect structures and cultural resources.
Wildland fires, like those that occur in California, aren’t a major occurrence at Mammoth Cave National Park, according to Rich Caldwell, fire management officer. Each year, however, the park does burn 3,000 to 4,000 acres in prescribed burns but always has a goal of preserving and protecting land and its cultural resources, he said.
“A big part of the class has been the emphasis on safety, keeping yourself and everyone else safe,” student Morgan Barby of Bowling Green said.
Other students in the class were Megan Carroll of Flaherty, Danielle Racke of Bowling Green, Heather Thomas of Bowling Green and John Davis of Bowling Green.
After completing an exam at the Mammoth Cave National Park Training Center, the students traveled to a winding gravel road near Three Sisters Hollow. Once they arrived, they unloaded their firefighting tools (rakes, shovels, axes) and put on their goggles, gloves, helmets and backpacks.
John Ashcraft, fuels technician at the park, briefed the students and described the developing situation as if the students were preparing to fight an actual wildland fire. In the scenario, the students would be conducting the initial ground attack on a fire on a ridge on the eastern side of the hollow.
Ashcraft asked students about weather observations and described the types of fuels sources they would see on the ridge, including dry leaves, trees and brush.
Even with recent rainfall, Ashcraft told the students, “all you need is the top layer of leaves to be dry” for a wildland fire to spread.
Once the briefing was complete, students grabbed their firefighting tools and began walking in single file along the gravel road. Once they arrived at the site, Caldwell showed them how to work the fire line and remove the debris along the way.
“Take a pull and keep moving” is motto for the exercise, park ranger Pete Zahrt reminded the students.
With Danielle Racke at the front of line and Heather Thomas at the back, the students began raking and moving the leaves, roots and brush from their fire line.
As Caldwell pulled some small roots, Zahrt reminded the students that roots need to be removed from the line because a fire can and will go underground and jump the fire line.
Up ahead, Harris used his Pulaski tool (a combination axe and mattock) to move a small dead tree that was across the line. As the students made their way down the edge of the rocky ridge, Harris alerted the group in the back to “watch your footing.”
As the students moved down the ridge into the bottomland below, Thomas and others in the back of the line asked Zahrt if they could swap positions and tools so they could learn what to expect at the front of the line.
At some point in the exercise, Caldwell planned to surprise the students with a challenge that would require them to find their escape route.
“They don’t know what to expect in a real situation so we want to make it realistic,” he said.
Photo captions:
WKU Photos by Clinton Lewis
The wildland firefighting class heads out for a .25-mile hike to the training area in Mammoth Cave National Park on Jan. 9.
WKU student Morgan Barby of Bowling Green, left, works in a line clearing leaves and brush to create a fire prevention line on the park grounds.
Leading the group down a steep embankment, WKU student Danielle Racke of Bowling Green scouts the best way to descend.
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