Staff writer
A group of Marion County firefighters learned how to battle wildland blazes last week at Quivira Boy Scout Ranch near Sedan.
The firefighters spent Wednesday putting out areas still smoldering from a fire the previous day. Wednesday was too windy to start a wildland burn.
Coming from five county fire departments, the 13 firefighters accompanied by Lincolnville fire chief Lester Kaiser as part of the incident command team included Matt Voth, Galen Miller, Jeremy Voth and Jared Unrau of Goessel, Tony Hett and
training
Kevin Shields of Lincolnville, Tyler Bentz and Ricky Giroux of Ramona, Mark Wiebe and Tim Svoboda of Durham, Tony Adams and Travis Pohlman of Peabody, and Austin Welch of Hillsboro.
Learning to work as a cohesive team is as important as making sure the fire did not rekindle to roaring flames.
The training prepares firefighters for activation to fight wildfires in Kansas and other states as part of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group.
Wildland firefighters are highly trained in fire behavior, fire suppression methods, and wildland fire mitigation.
Last week’s training was coordinated and co-sponsored by Kansas Forest Service, Hutchinson Community College and Quivira Boy Scout Council.