WINDSOR, Conn — Getting in the line of fire was part of the plan at the Matianuck Natural Area Preserve in Windsor on Tuesday. The Forestry Division of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection brought together firefighters for a “prescribed burn” – ultimately a chance to get hands-on training in the midst of brush fire season in Connecticut.
"To do live fire on anything is the best training you are going to get," said Rich Schenk, a veteran firefighter and fire control officer with CT DEEP’s forestry division. "We can simulate things in a classroom but to actually go out and do it on the ground – you can’t simulate that."
“It is brush fire season for Connecticut which typically runs from mid-March to the second week of May,” said Olney Knight a fire control officer. He added, “The training is invaluable, you can’t get better than live fire training, it’s hands-on.”
While the crew attending to the controlled, or “prescribed,” burn in Windsor focuses on the dangers of brush fires in Connecticut, many of them have traveled to help with faraway wildfires over the years.
"We have a national fire crew and we export them all over," Scheck said. "Last year we spent a lot of time up in Canada, if you remember all the smoke coming from Canada, so we were assisting the provinces in Canada as well as across the Western United States."
Knight added that brush fire training days benefit everyone.
“When you can use good fire to make positive ecological impacts and positive community impacts that’s really what we are looking to do,” Knight said.
Jimmy Altman is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at jaltman@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
---
Do you have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at newstips@fox61.com
---
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS
Download the FOX61 News APP
iTunes: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.
Steam Live on FIRE TV: Search ‘FOX61’ and click ‘Get’ to download.