Forestry Commission helping to increase resilience to wildfires with new training

Funded by Defra and supported by stakeholders from Natural England, National Fire Chiefs Council and others, the Forestry Commission is increasing England’s resilience to wildfire suppression and prescribed fire operations through accredited training modules.

The training is aimed at all staff working across all habitat types: lowland and upland heaths and moors, forestry, grassland and urban areas. The modules provide a single ‘standard’ of working for wildfire response and prevention as well as prescribed burning. 

Over 180 staff have been trained to date, including Natural England, Forestry Commission and private land management (i.e., game keepers and environmental non-government organisation) staff. The training has been observer by several fire and rescue service wildfire tactical advisers and been judged as excellent and recommended to other users. We are now receiving interest from several fire and rescue service to roll out training to staff across the country.

The modules are based on industry standards, such as Forest Industry Safety Accord (FISA), National Occupational Standards (NOS) and guidance, such as Forestry Commission’s Practice Guidance and Incident Management System. Lantra is an awarding organisation providisng qualifications for land-based industries and provide the accreditation for this training.

Pathway of progression

The courses are broken down into four LANTRA accredited modules, the first three forming a pathway of progression that can be completed through a combination of online and face to face training. All of them require a three-hour online assessment where an 80 per cent pass rate is necessary to move on to the next level.

• Vegetation Fire Foundation
• Vegetation Fire Operator
• Prescribed Fire Manager
• Wildfire Management Plan

Vegetation Fire Foundation

This module should be taken by anyone who will be working on a wildfire or prescribed fire operation or is looking to gather a basic understanding of vegetation fire. It is designed to give you an overview of a vegetation fires, working with the fire and rescue service using JESIP or other land managers in the event of a wildfire, keeping yourself and others safe while under a high degree of supervision. It is a prerequisite for all the following modules.

Vegetation Fire Operator

This course requires both the online assessment and attendance at a hands-on training day with continual assessment. It is aimed at all staff undertaking damping down operations or working on burning teams. Additionally, it will provide managers with a strong understanding of line management responsibilities. The module covers the safe and effective use of hand tools, a wide range of pumps and fire ignition tools. It covers those working on wildfire suppression as well as prescribed fire operations. It is a prerequisite module for the Prescribed Fire Manager module.

Prescribed Fire Manager

Alongside the online assessment, this course it is a mixture of site visit and attendance at a classroom training day using a real location as the assessment example. It is aimed at anyone who will be writing to apply for a licence to undertake prescribe burn or to improve their practice. This introduces those designing burning to the Prescribed Fire Operations Plan.

Wildfire Management Plan

This uses the same approach as the Prescribed Fire Manager module and is aimed at planning foresters, agents and land managers keen to protect their sites. The Wildfire Management Plan, which can be a standalone document or integrated into Site Management Plans, follows guidance from the Forestry Commission and Upland Management Group.

It can be used for a range of habitats in a landscape, from rural to urban areas. It allows learners to develop knowledge and skills on the key tools within the wildfire prevention toolkit, such as, Wildfire Risk Assessment, Wildfire Management Zones (including defendable space), prevention measures and Wildfire Response Plans to support fire and rescue services.

Competency framework

Forestry Commission, and a wide range of other stakeholders, within the England and Wales Wildfire Forum, have also defined a competency framework which will continue the pathway of progression. This will mean operators and managers can have their abilities formally recognised, along with possible local Continued Professional Development (CPD) events to formally maintain skills. Additional modules are planned to provide a full framework of wildfire resilience.