The Richland and Pasco recruit academies burned a field in West Richland today for experience with wildland fires.
The firefighters were trained on how to control a spreading fire by digging with hand tools, fire hose deployment, and spreading fire with a drip torch.
The firefighters perform this training before the beginning of fire season in June. The goal is to have firefighters that are prepared and skilled when deployed on a fire.
Ben Shearer, Community Risk Reduction for Pasco Fire Department, said, "You don't learn by things going bad, you learn by repeating the good things. You want it to be muscle memory, trusting the tool you were given, the teamwork you have. The more experiences we can build with that, the more trustworthy you'd be."
Shearer also said if the flames you are fighting are taller than you, call the fire department and stay safe.