I was just thinking to myself as I took notice of the leaves changing their colors how beautiful Shenandoah National Park would be this time of the year. Whether you're taking a drive along the Skyline or going for a hike in the back country to spot rattlesnakes and waterfalls it's a beautiful sight. I was stationed at Manassas National Battlefield Park, but I was less than an hour away from the North entrance of Shenandoah through the small town of Front Royal. Midway through my summer experience my Chief thought it would be great if I could take the Wildland Fire course, S-130/190 at Shenandoah NP where it would be taught. Luckily with a couple phone calls and a few forms to fill out I would be staying just outside the park for the 4-day training to receive my Red card along with a seasonal maintenance worker at MANA.
We spent three days in a classroom going over basics and essential tools used on a fire, and the last day was spent in the field getting to use the equipment and understanding how to deploy your shelter in a matter of seconds. Not only did the training teach me about wild land firefighting, but in order to go on this training I had the opportunity to work closely with Manassas's administration staff. I was fortunate enough for them to support me going on the training and help teach me about how to send someone out on a training or even on a fire, as well how one would get paid or reimbursed during such an event.
Overall I had a great time at Shenandoah, getting the chance to meet other people working in the park and seeing Shenandoah in a different way rather than from a visitor perspective. A way in such that can help protect and prevent the spread of fire throughout the park if such an unfortunate incident ever took place.
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Here we are all lined up, each ready to head out into the woods to do
some practical training with different tools. |
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Myself, in (borrowed) Personal Protective Equipment.
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| Seasonal Maintenance employee at MANA, Christian, carrying the leaf blower. |
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| Digging a line. |
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Not only is the leaf blower used to help control and reduce fire in the field,
but also used to simulate the rough wind speeds of fire rolling over a deployed shelter. |
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| Saying goodbye to Shenandoah NP. |
This week I got to spend my time with the Yosemite fire crew
going to a training. In order to get my red card I will
need to complete four class sections (S-130, S-190, L-180, ICS-100), then from
there I will need to have a physical and pack test. Once all that is passed I will
be given my red card and will be able to help with wildfires or prescribed burns within the park. Luckily for me the Basic 32 training that was out in
last week went through and taught the students all four of the courses that are
needed for the red card. The week was packed with information and real world experience
from the instructors who ran the course. Then at the end of the week they took
us out to an area that they will be doing a prescribed burn Sunday June 11th
and taught us how to cut fire line properly and to lay hose so that they can
ensure the fire doesn’t get out of control and burn more land than they
intended to burn. 
Other than
going to class all week my roommates and I went on a night hiking trip up the
four-mile trail to Union Point to look at the stars and see the valley under a
full moon. We also went to Hetch Hetchy which is the reservoir for San Francisco.
We went there to hike the trails and see the waterfalls and the beautiful
scenery which surrounds the reservoir. From Hetch Hetchy we made our way to one
of the few Giant sequoia tree groves in the world and got to see just how big
and magnificent these trees truly are. 
This week I
learned a lot about how to fight wildfires while also staying safe. I also got
to see parts of the park I haven’t been to yet and see views that left me
speechless. Next week I will be in a Basic Aviation training on Monday and then
will be out on patrol with a ranger for the rest of the week.
