Students at the Boxelder Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center are getting a chance to try their hand at forest fire-fighting.  Recently, staff and students completed their training to be certified as a Type 2 Handcrew for the USDA Forest Service. 

The crews main responsibility is to construct a “fireline” – a strip of land cleared of flammable materials and dug down to mineral soil – around wildfires to control them, burn out fire areas, and mop up after the fire.

If activated, these students can be deployed for up to two weeks and assigned to Fire Support Operations anywhere in the continental United States.  The hours will be long, the work hard, and the experience well worth it.