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Smoke hangs over the mountains in Alaska. Photo courtesy Alaska Fire Service
Veterans participate in wildland firefighter training through Team Rubicon, BLM partnership. Photo courtesy Team Rubicon
Veterans participate in wildland firefighter training through Team Rubicon, BLM partnership. Photo courtesy Team Rubicon
Veterans participate in wildland firefighter training through Team Rubicon, BLM partnership. Photo courtesy Team Rubicon
Team Rubicon firefighters pick up wildland firefighting gear for Alaska assignment. Photo by Samantha Storms, BLM
Bureau of Land Management and Team Rubicon Partner to Fight Wildfires, Provide Training and Employment for Veterans
As over 200 wildfires burn in Alaska, a new veterans crew yesterday, June 25th, picked up wildland firefighting gear and prepared for a new mission. They recently became certified wildland firefighters through a partnership between the BLM and the veteran’s non-profit organization Team Rubicon.
The crew, listed below, includes employees from the BLM Wyoming Wind River/ Big Horn Basin and High Plains Districts, US Forest Service and Team Rubicon firefighters from Colorado and Wyoming.
- Heath Morgan, Crew Boss
- Nate Kerschner, Crew Boss Trainee
- Carson Mountford, Firefighter
- Cody Smith, Firefighter
- Josh Garcia, Firefighter
- Eli Worrall, Firefighter
- Colter Brown, Firefighter
- Justin Rockhill, Firefighter
- Jacob Osgood, Firefighter, Army Veteran
- Noelle Skilton, Firefighter, Army and Navy Veteran
- Aaron Kirby, Firefighter, Army Veteran
- William Talyor, Firefighter and EMT
- Chase Decker, Firefighter, Marine Corps Veteran
- Cody Cowan, Firefighter
- Michael Gately, Firefighter, Marine Corps Veteran
- John Green, Firefighter, Army Veteran
- Marc Gonzalez, Firefighter, Navy Veteran
- Jason Kennedy, Firefighter, Army Veteran
- Chris Merrit, Firefighter, Army Veteran
- Cal Hoffman, Firefighter, Army Veteran
- Beau Kidd, USFS Division Supervisor
- Samantha Storms, Firefighter and BLM Public Information Officer
These veterans are the first group of five around the country to participate in wildland firefighter training through the partnership. The training provides the necessary classroom instruction and field experience for the Team Rubicon veterans to receive their Type-2 Firefighter certification, making them eligible to be dispatched to a fire incident and paid as firefighters.
Team Rubicon is an international nonprofit disaster response organization that combines the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders to deploy disaster response teams to communities affected by disasters across the country. On June 9th, Interior Secretary Jewell announced a partnership between the BLM and Team Rubicon to hire and train up to 400 veterans this summer in order to increase our firefighting response capabilities. CLICK HERE to read more about this partnership and the coming fire season.
Follow the experiences of the new Team Rubicon and BLM Wyoming firefighters in Alaska on @BLMCareers Twitter!
