Monday we continue the prep work we started the previous week. We also have received our Red Cards! This means that this will be VFC’s first “real” prescribed burn. We are excited to get our hands dirty. On Tuesday we meet at a predetermined location near where the RX will take place and receive a briefing from our Burn Boss, Mr. Clausen, and Burn Boss Trainee, Lindsey Fournier. The SCA crew is listed on the Incident Action Plan (IAP)as “holding.” When on a prescribed burn their are two major groups, ignitions and holding. Ignitions has the drip torches and lights the fires. Holding monitors the hand line to be sure that the fire stays in the prescribed area and monitors the fires behavior. On Wednesday we are part of both holding and ignitions. We get a few hours on the drip torch then join the holders. Thursday is another day of holding, we do not see much fire behavior due to the unseasonable rain we had received, along with other factors. Friday we monitor the fire to be sure that it remains contained. about 300+ acres were maintained this week. One of the best weeks we’ve had… and they keep getting better.
