06/21/05 Recruits get training on the fire lines

Like it or not the Idaho wildland fire season has started. That's why 80 wannabe fire fighters were going to school near Idaho City. OLSON "What you quickly learn is how difficult it is to fight a fire. Its hot, it's grueling. Its smoky, your eyes tear up. It's hard to breathe." Dave Olson of the Boise National Forest says before any student hits the fire line they have to pass the endurance test. . Get by that and then its classroom and fire line training. OLSON "Have standardized training so you could go basically anywhere in the nation and work on a wildfire. That's the intent of this, that you understand fire behavior, understand the techniques to put the fire out so you can go anywhere from New Mexico, Texas, Florida, California." Crew boss Russell Long is sure of one thing, that these 80 recruits get all the training possible. LONG "The training that we do at fire is everything for the success and safety of the individuals when they go to work for whatever agency they go to work for. So the importance of if, huge." Don't let the cool, wet weather fool you. In the Boise National Forest stats show most fires occur in August but 27 percent of them happen in July and lightning is the reason for most. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott