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Overview
The College of Western Idaho is proud to partner with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), United States Forest Service (USFS), and Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) to bring you the annual Wildland Fire Academy.
Wildland firefighting is a very diverse profession and provides a wide array of job experience. Firefighters learn how to run firefighting equipment such as chainsaws, wildland fire engines, water pumps and other mechanized tools. They also learn how to read the weather and record it, efficiently dig fire line, safely cut down trees, operate various firefighting equipment, conduct safety briefings and drills, and a wealth of other useful skills.
Mission
Workforce Development at College of Western Idaho (CWI) provides you high-quality, short-term training to boost your job skills, acquire new career skills, and earn the certificates you need. Take as many classes as you want in our short-term, credit free classes with no applications, no transcripts, and no hassle. Just sign up and watch your career take off.
Classes are offered at a variety of locations throughout western Idaho that are taught by knowledgeable professionals with years of experience in the topics they teach.
Why This Program
The academy provides specialized training for both grass and timber wildfires with an emphasis on safety procedures includes both classroom and live fire training.
In one week, you will be offered classes utilizing the National Wildfire Coordinating Group curriculum. During this time you will have the opportunity to take lower and upper division classes.
Basic Fire School is a five day course designed for entry-level students.
Respectful Community
College of Western Idaho is committed to maintaining a Respectful Community by providing equal opportunity for all individuals and does not discriminate in services, benefits, or activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, veteran status, age, or any other legally protected status. More on Title IX
News and Blogs
Forty wildland fire recruits spent the week of May 23 at College of Western Idaho training and learning new skills to battle fires this summer.
Firefighting recruits spent a week at the end of May training at CWI to battle wildfires this summer.
Under a cloudless sky, rookie wildland firefighters feverishly dug a fire line as a wall of flames approached.
The flames were fictitious, created with long lines of red spray paint in a field north of the Nampa Campus Academic Building at the College of Western Idaho (CWI). The exercise...