North Idaho Fire Education
Idaho's northern BLM lands are very diverse; they range from tall forests to high plains. North Idaho BLM has a very active fire education program; information and programs are available for all ages.
Here are a few examples:
Fire Squirts Summer Camp
In 2008, the U.S. Forest Service partnered with the Bureau of Land Management, Framing Our Community (a local non-profit organization), and local school districts to provide a summer opportunity for local children in Idaho County to learn about fire. The Fire Squirts program is a fun, educational week-long camp that teaches children, ages 8 to 14, about fire ecology, fire history, fire behavior, fire prevention, and fire suppression.
Children learn about fire in the Fire Squirts Program.
Through interactive sessions, creative artwork, laboratory experiments, and dramatic play, students learned about the fire triangle, ecological cycles, fuels treatments and defensible space, map and compass skills, and much more. Students got to dress up in firefighter and smokejumper personal protective equipment to learn firsthand about tools and gear, engines and parachutes, and even implemented suppression tactics on a practice fire. The children also visited some nearby homes that had been impacted by a recent wildfire to learn about defensible space. They even got to “play with fire” in laboratory experiments that demonstrate how fuel composition, wind, and topography influence fire behavior.
Kids dress up in fire gear and use hoses
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The Fire Squirts program has been offered annually by the Nez Perce National Forest since 2000. The camp curriculum was originally designed and implemented for Elk City children by Jill Wilson, a former Forest Service Fire Prevention Technician and teacher at the Elk City School. Jill has since moved on, but the program has become well established. Locations have varied from year to year in order to reach more kids across Idaho County. This year camps were held in Elk City and White Bird, while previous programs have also been held in Grangeville, Kooskia, and Riggins. Tuition is free, but space is limited to 25 students in grades 2-8. Interagency partnerships have allowed this program to expand to more than one location per year and to enhance the curriculum. With Community Assistance funding, the Cottonwood Field Office has provided support to this program through an Assistance Agreement with Framing Our Community, a local non-profit community-based organization, to bring Jill back into the program she had originally developed. Other instructors included Nez Perce National Forest employees from Clearwater and Slate Creek Ranger District fire programs as well as Grangeville Air Center smokejumpers.
Plans are currently underway to offer 2009 Fire Squirts programs in 2 or 3 communities (locations to be determined). There has been interest from the Payette National Forest in expanding this program beyond Idaho County.
Contact: Cottonwood Field Office, 208-962-3245
Firewise Saves the Day!
The Cottonwood Field Office, in cooperation with several cooperating agencies and groups, provided funding and participation in a film entitled “Are We Safe from Fire? Protecting Idaho Communities” The film is produced by Emmy award winning, “Fire Wise” filmmaker, Robert Seidler. This film is an educational video program for residents, land managers, and emergency service providers that showcases the lessons learned from the Poe Cabin Fire, a wildfire that burned lands managed by the Cottonwood BLM Field Office, among others, during the 2007 fire season.
On July 19th, 2007, the Poe Cabin fire crossed over a ridgeline that separates the Snake and Salmon River Canyons, spilling into the headwaters of the Deer Creek drainage. Within 10 minutes, the fire had traveled two miles, as embers were cast in front of the main fire front. Eight homes were overrun by a high intensity wildfire within minutes. Homeowners were forced to flee with little or no evacuation warning. Some became trapped because sections of the escape route were engulfed by flames. Other residents waited out the storm at a designated safety zone; many were left wondering if their homes would survive. After the main fire passed, residents of the Deer Creek drainage returned home to find that the majority of structures had survived, primarily due to homeowner’s implementing treatments that made their homes “Fire Wise.”
One of the homes that survived the fire because homeowners implemented Firewise principles around their home |
The aftermath of this incident presented an opportunity for land management agencies and residents of Deer Creek to highlight how advance planning and treatments provided defensible space to protect homes even under the most extreme circumstances. The story and idea for sharing lessons learned resulted in the production of the film, “Are We Safe from Fire? Protecting Idaho Communities” being distributed, online (www.idahofireplan.org/video/), and by DVD. The film is available to 100% of the U.S population for their use and to share with their friends and associates. Click
here to see the video.
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