California State-Certified Prescribed Fire Burn Boss (CARX)
Redding, CA
January 13th - 17th, 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. (40 hours)
This in-person classroom-based course provided information about and developed the skills required for planning and managing prescribed fire on State or private lands. This course contained instructor-led training, including simulation exercises, development of a burn plan, and a task book. Students were required to complete the prerequisites (coursework, firing, and leadership requirements) prior to taking the instructor-led training. The curriculum included portions of the NWCG courses RX301, RX341, and RX410 classes, but was not considered a substitute for any of these RX classes. There was no course equivalency between this class and any NWCG course. As detailed in the course plan, this course was developed and formatted into the SFT curriculum development model. Certified persons may act as contractors within land designated as State Responsibility Area (SRA) by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
This course was intended for experienced prescribed or cultural fire practitioners who wish to be recognized by the state for their knowledge and expertise. This included retired fire professionals, landowners and community members, NGO staff, private contractors, tribal members and cultural burners, state and local agency staff, and others.
Students received a State Fire Training certificate upon successful completion of course.
For additional information regarding State Certified Prescribed-Fire Burn Boss Certification, Course Plan and Equivalency Information click here.
For PACE VI Application and prerequisite equivalency information click here.
Prerequisites:
Coursework Requirements:
- IS-100 Introduction to the Incident Command System
- S-190 Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior
- S-130 Firefighter Training
- S-290 Intermediate Wildland Fire Behavior (classroom only, online courses not accepted)
- Students will need a working knowledge of Behave Plus fire modeling system to be successful in the class.
Firing Requirements:
Qualified NWCG/CICCS Firing Boss (FIRB) or both equivalent firing experience and one of the following courses: S-219 Firing Operations, CA-219 Wildland Firefighting – Firing Operations, C-234 Ignition Operations, or S-234 Ignition Operations
Leadership Requirements:
S-131 Advanced Firefighter or L-280 Followership to Leadership or Qualified NWCG/CICCS Firefighter Type 1 (FFT1) or equivalent leadership experience (to see equivalency information click here).
| Time | Details |
|---|---|
| Monday, January 13th |
Orientation and Administration State-Certified Prescribed Fire Burn Boss Certification Process History and the Role of Prescribed Fire - Tribal Use of Fire Laws and Regulations Governing Prescribed Fire/Permitting Burn Prescription and Fire Behavior Modeling |
| Tuesday, January 14th |
Field Activity:
|
| Wednesday, January 15th |
Firing Operations/Methods Developing a Burn Plan Operational Leadership on a Prescribed-Fire Building an IAP |
| Thursday, January 16th |
Developing a Smoke Management Plan Operational Briefing and Prescribed Fire Operations Work on Burn Plan |
| Friday, January 17th |
Completion of Burn Plan and Presentations Operational Briefings Final exam and close-out |
Primary Instructor:
Woody Bouska, President and Owner, SURE-FIRE TRAINING INC.
The lead instructor, Woody Bouska, is the president of SURE-FIRE Training Inc., a corporation that specializes in delivering high quality professional wildfire consulting, analysis, planning, mitigation and education services. Woody has over 40 years of experience in the wildland fire service and is a wildfire risk analysis and mitigation specialist. Woody has extensive experience working with various agencies and organizations planning, and conducting, prescribed burns and wildland fuels management projects. Woody is also a registered California State Fire Training Instructor who provides a variety of consulting and training services for fire departments, land management agencies and other government and corporate organizations throughout the world. He received his formal education from UC Davis in Wildlife Biology.
