Civilian Conservation Center Fire Program
Since its inception in 2013 as a partnership with Fire and Aviation Management (FAM) , the Forest Service Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center (CCC) fire program has grown exponentially. Amongst national forests and grasslands, CCC wildland fire and camp crews have gained a reputation for fielding skilled, disciplined, and well-trained crews.
All 24 CCCs have a wildland fire and/or camp crew and a Forest Assistant Fire Management Officer. At any one time, the program has the capacity to dispatch more than 1,000 Firefighter Type 2 (FFT2) qualified Job Corps students nationwide to support wildland fires, all-hazard emergencies, hazardous fuels, and forest health programs nationwide.
Exceptional CCC students may be recruited for the Advanced Fire Management Training Program (AFMTP) at the Collbran (Colorado) Schenck (North Carolina) or Trapper Creek (Montana) Job Corps CCCs, apprentices for the Wildland Fire Apprentice Program (WFAP) or be recruited as new firefighter hires to better meet the demands for a professional, highly-skilled, and diverse wildland fire management workforce.
Job Corps Dispatch Academies, held annually in the Pacific Northwest (R6), Rocky Mountain (R2), and Southern (R8) Regions are training and qualifying a new generation of wildland fire Expanded Dispatch Recorders (EDRC) who are changing the face of fire suppression coordination centers across the country. The Weber Basin Job Corps CCC will accept its first class of students for its Advanced Emergency Dispatcher trade in the spring of 2020. These students will have the opportunity to graduate as both Expanded Dispatch Recorders and Initial Attack Dispatch Recorders.
The Boxelder Job Corps CCC maintains a mobile kitchen staffed by culinary arts students that are deployed to Type 3 incidents across the western United States and are available to prepare and serve meals. After graduating with a culinary arts certificate, Forest Service Job Corps culinary arts students have the option of working in commercial kitchens or applying to a culinary school for advanced training.
Article: Forest Fire Management Officer's Take on the Job Corps Fire Program
The Boxelder Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center fire crew prepped line on the Tarantula Fire from July 16 – 20, 2018 and worked to suppress the fire through indirect strategies and tactics. After completing saw and hand lines, the crew started ignition operations followed by several days of mop-up in and around the fire. Photo by Robert Cota.
The Boxelder Job Corps Civilian Conservation (CCC) center fire crew combined with the Collbran Job Corps CCC fire crew for their last three fire assignments in the 2018. The ongoing partnership between the two CCCs allows the two crews to meet NWCG Red Book requirements for Wildland Firefighter Type 2 and Type 2 Initial Attack hand crew configurations. Here members of the combined crews observe the conditions of the Bull Draw Fire on the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest on an assignment that lasted from July 29 to August 10, 2018.
Great Onyx Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center camp crew members Anthony Riley, Tyrese Knowles, Alex Carter and Daniel Gordon sort hose fittings at the Rice Ridge fire incident command center in Seeley Lake, Montana on the Lolo National Forest.
Great Onyx Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center staff member Chris Goodson instructs wildland firefighting students on the intricacies of taking weather observations while on the Mize 2 Fire on the Daniel Boone National Forest in December 207.
Students (sitting L–R): Job Corps Dispatch Academy Graduates Erick Romero, Prince King, Daryon Spears, Petriece Pechuli, Nyasabit Ayom and Gabriel Vazquez. (Standing L–R): Bruce Drapeau, Harris Maceo, Raquel Stanton, Greg Sanders, Evonne Stites, Jesse Casterson, Justin Abbey, Donica Bigelow, Robert Cota, Brandon Everett, Mike Deveraux, Jordan Gulley and Gabe Wishart.
Boxelder Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center Camp Crew Boss Angela Stasewich (kneeling) helps her crewmembers fill 5-gallon “cubies” of drinking water at the Rice Ridge Fire base camp in Seeley Lake, Montana on the Lola National Forest in August 2017.
The Boxelder Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center (CCC) Mobile Kitchen crew, staffed with students from Boxelder and Timber Lake CCCs, on assignment at the Vallecito Lake Staging Area, San Juan National Forest. (L-R) First Row: Boxelder Job Corps Mobile Kitchen Manager Chuck Steinberg, Cook Lynn Philips, and Job Corps students Evangeline Tarway, Brian Puc Gongora, and Wyatt Harrington and Camp Crew Boss Erik Simonyak. Second Row: Job Corps students Manualla Long and Tayler Johnson and Cook Chi Chang. Third Row: Job Corps students Gala Shendi, Ayanna Farmer, and Benoit Niyukuri. Fourth Row: Job Corps students Carlose Cole and Massi Sade. Fifth Row: Job Corps students Matthew Keppers Swan, and Babtiste Weasel Bear. Photo by Eric Bracken.