October 7, 2016—BASTROP, Texas—Firefighters from
across the country will travel to Camp Swift to attend one of the country’s
premiere interagency wildfire academies.
The 19th annual Capital Area Interagency Wildfire and
Incident Management Academy, fondly known as the Bastrop Academy, will take
place Oct.13-26 at the Camp Swift National Guard Facility in Bastrop, Texas. This
year, more than 400 students from 12 states are expected to attend.
Managed as an actual wildfire incident, the academy is
operated using the Incident Command System with the mission of enhancing the
wildland firefighters’ knowledge and practice safe and cost-effective
operations.
“At the
academy, firefighters are offered NWCG [National Wildfire Coordinating Group]
classes ranging from basic to advanced firefighting, including leadership and
business management,” said Academy Public Information Officer Kristen Newman.
“These classes offer fundamental training for firefighters to progress in the
wildland field.”
Tuition assistance is available to qualified volunteer
and career fire departments through the Rural Volunteer Fire Department
Assistance Program (HB 2604) and TIFMAS grant programs. Applications for
training tuition assistance must be submitted to the Texas A&M Forest
Service before the course start date.
“Training is considered a top priority for many fire
departments,” said Jason Keiningham, Texas A&M Forest Service capacity
building department head. “As an agency, we are honored to help fire
departments reach their training goals through use of our training tuition
grants.”
The Academy is coordinated and supported by Texas
A&M Forest Service, Texas National Guard, U.S. Forest Service, National
Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Weather Service, The
Nature Conservancy and Texas Wildfire Association.
For more information on the academy, visit the Texas
Interagency Coordination Center training page at ticc.tamu.edu.
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Contacts
Kari Hines,
Academy Public Information Officer
512-375-0354, khines@tfs.tamu.edu
Texas
A&M Forest Service Communications
979-458-6606, newsmedia@tfs.tamu.edu