RX410 - Smoke Management Techniques

Reviewed: 2003     Hours: 32

Course Description:

This course leads students through the ecological and historical role of fire, characteristics of smoke and the health, safety and visibility impacts of smoke. Other topics include: public relations, legal requirements, meteorology, fuel consumption, smoke production dispersion modeling, and operational smoke management strategies.

This course is designed to be interactive in nature. It contains a panel discussion, several exercises designed to facilitate group and class participation and case studies from a variety of fuel types and political challenges. The pre-course work assignment is designed to familiarize students with the Smoke Management Guide and air quality regulations that impact prescribed fire programs.

Objectives:

The overall objective of this course is to provide land managers with the knowledge to manage smoke and reduce its impacts on public health and welfare. Given existing and potential air quality regulations, political and social sensitivities, the students will be able to:

• Predict, manage, and monitor prescribed fire smoke.
• Describe the legal, professional, and ethical reasons for managing smoke.
• Describe the roles of federal, state, and local agencies and organizations involved with and affected by smoke from prescribed fire.

 

Target Group:

Prescribed fire burn boss type 1 (RXB1) and the long term fire analyst (LTAN).
Other positions that would benefit from Rx-410 include: ignition specialist, fire effects monitor, air regulators, Fire ecologists, private landowners (e.g., TNC, Plum Creek, consortia), other state and private agencies, prescribed fire consultants, fire planners.

Minimum Instructor Qualifications:

Instructors must have prescribed and wildland fire experience as it relates to smoke management planning and implementation.

Also see NWCG Instructor Qualifications at the beginning of the Field Managers Course Guide.

This course is quite demanding from an instructional perspective. Positive course dynamics depend greatly on the technical knowledge, skill and enthusiasm of the instructor. When hosting this course, it is highly recommended that a mentoring program be established for new or potential instructors to shadow experienced instructors.

The shadow will have the opportunity to really focus on the specific material and interact one-on-one with the instructor to acquire a full understanding of the subject before teaching it. This effort will help maintain the quality and consistency of the course and benefit new instructors as well. The intent is simply to build a pool of quality instructors and maintain the integrity of the course.

Prerequisites:

Students should have a background in prescribed fire planning, implementing, monitoring, permitting or smoke/air regulating.

Offer Level:
Regional, state, or area

This Course Description is verbatim from the NWCG Field Manager's Course Guide (156 page PDF: Adobe Acrobat Reader required) and accurate as of 9-18-2008.

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