These crews receive basic wildland fire fighter training including classes such as S130 (Basic Firefighter Training), S190 (Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior), S212 (Wildland Fire Chainsaws), and the opportunity to take the Wildland Fire pack test and receive a Red Card. 

Project work for our fuels and fire crews consists of heavy fuels reduction work; using chainsaws to thin the forest in order to reduce the amount of fuels (trees, shrubs, brush) on the ground, thereby reducing the impact of wildland fire.

Fuels and fire crews utilize chainsaws to restore habitat.  This can include conifer removal in sage grouse habitat to help protect the species.  The removal of these conifers provide less perches for birds of prey, thereby creating a safer habitat for sage grouse to thrive.

Our Central Divide regional office has two fuels and fire crews that work with the Salmon Challis National Forest in Idaho to complete fuels reduction projects on National Forest lands.  This work includes cutting trees and shrubs and making slash piles to be burned later in the fall.  The reduces the fuel load in the understory of the forest, giving wildland fire less "ladder fuels" (shrubs, smaller trees, and brush that help carry fire into the larger tree canopy).  It also helps reduce the danger to nearby homes that exist within the Wildland Urban Interface.

On this project, a Central Divide crew was working with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) field office in Butte, MT to clear the encroachment of conifer trees from an area that is valued for winter Elk habitat. Removal of conifers enhances riparian vegetation, water availability, and reduces the fuels hazard from a fire prone region.