COLORADO—Food is one the basics on the hierarchy of a wildland firefighter’s needs, and the food served up by any of the three Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center mobile kitchens is fantastic. Why? Beyond what’s needed for operations, Job Corps chefs purchase the highest quality of food their budgets allow—gourmet coffee anyone?

Wildland fire staff fortunate enough to be served by a Job Corps mobile kitchen always comment on the high-quality meals. “The food was quite good and offerings differed from typical mobile kitchens that support incidents,” said Mitch Bohn, training specialists for the Wildland Firefighter Training Apprenticeship program.

Fire Leadership Program training specialist Tess McCarville with the Washington Office Fire and Aviation Management has first-hand experience with these mobile kitchens. She requested one in support of the recent Cascade 2007 Complex Staff Ride. This is the third year a Job Corps mobile kitchen has supported the staff ride, which explores the risk management decisions taken by agency administrators, fire management, personnel and contractors during August 2007 fires on Boise National Forest. Trapper Creek and Boxelder Job Corps center kitchen and camp crews supported this year’s staff ride, feeding breakfast, lunch and dinner to the 33 participants and 15-member crew.

The Job Corps Fire program owns and operates three mobile kitchens stationed at Boxelder Job Corps (South Dakota), Timber Lake Job Corps (Oregon) and Trapper Creek Job Corps (Montana) Civilian Conservation Centers.

The kitchens are typically staffed with a 14- to 20-person crew from two or more centers. This crew consists of two to three cooks, six Job Corps culinary arts students, one camp crew boss and six to 10 camp crew students. This standard configuration allows a kitchen to support incidents of up to 300 personnel while also providing flexibility to serve smaller incidents.

In remote situations like the staff ride, there’s generally no food service contractor, so kitchen staff have the added task of driving to the nearest grocery store every few days for food and supplies. The benefit of this extra effort is that chefs hand select quality meats and produce to prepare fresh, made-to-order meals.

Over and above preparing meals that meet firefighters’ caloric needs, Job Corps culinary arts students take pride in serving a range of appealing fresh, made-to-order entrees. The service mindset of the students and staff ensure the kitchen’s smooth operation—they know their job is to support the firefighters and other emergency response personnel, whether they are out on a training or living in fire camp.

Fire managers train students as wildland firefighters, dispatchers and camp crew members at all 24 Job Corps centers. For more information, contact Kenneth C. Andren Jr., mobile kitchen partnership coordinator, at kenneth.andren@usda.gov or 605-490-3814.