Fire Leadership Training to be Held Thursday

The Northern Rockies Training Center will be hosting a Fireline Leadership course on Thursday, November 7 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Missoula County Development Park.

Office of Emergency Management Director Chris Lounsbury said on Tuesday, November 5, that the training will be for wildland firefighting personnel at all management levels.

"They're going to be out, in and around the buildings going through different scenarios as they walk through the area," Lounsbury said. "They'll be primarily using the sidewalks to give the trainees different challenges in those leadership roles between planning and logistics, incident command and those types of things."

Lounsbury said that the training techniques will vary across a wide spectrum during Thursday's exercise.

"You've heard of those leadership seminars that ask you to take a doughnut and a pencil and make a compass," Lounsbury said. "There will also be questions of how to deal with a wildland fire that was heading downhill into a certain area. It's a variety of different things that range from making you laugh a little bit, to the very complex."

Lounsbury said the reason for the publicity regarding the training exercise is that the public will see fire trucks and personnel in full firefighting gear using deployment shelters, and others dressed in the wildland yellow and green, and to not be alarmed and call 9-1-1.