COSTILLA COUNTY — Seventeen members of the Costilla County Fire Protection District attended a S-130/190 Basic Firefighting and Introduction to Wildfire Behavior Course hosted at the Trinchera Ranch. 

This four-day course was offered over two weekends so those volunteer fire department members could attend without interfering with their regular day jobs. The Colorado Wildland Fire & Incident Management Academy along with the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control were honored to provide this critical basic firefighting class to Costilla County Firefighters.

The 2018 Spring Fire tested the training level of the Costilla County Fire Protection District volunteers. This class is the first step in receiving a red card qualification, allowing them to participate on hand or engine crews during future wildfire events locally and nationally.  The Costilla County Fire Protection District is actively pursuing grants for more training and equipment.    

The Colorado Wildland Fire & Incident Management Academy (CWFIMA) is hosted by the Upper Arkansas Valley Wildfire Foundation, a small 501(c)(3) organization, currently headquartered in Costilla County under Executive Director Wendy Fischer.  The academy is celebrating its 25th anniversary, providing training that exceeds the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) standards.  We offer two large training events annually, every January and June.  Visit www.CWFIMA.org for more information. 

The Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control (CDFPC) has a field office in Alamosa that is staffed by five full-time firefighters that work cooperatively with all the fire departments in the SLV on emergency responses. Their priority mission is to provide support, service, and assistance to local fire agencies and counties, in addition to filling resource and incident management gaps where they occur. Visit https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/dfpc for more information. 

Thank you to the Trinchera Ranch for providing the classroom space and meals along with the CWFIMA and CDFPC for providing the materials, equipment and instructors needed for this critical training.