Clemson University is holding students’ feet to the fire – literally – as it prepares them to take leadership roles in one of the most dangerous and underserved aspects in the forestry industry.
Fire Tigers is a 15-member group of Clemson forestry and wildlife students who volunteer to assist the U.S. Forest Service with prescribed burns and fighting wildfires in the Andrew Pickens Ranger District of Sumter National Forest in South Carolina.
Prescribed burning uses fire to control pest insects and diseases, provide forage, improve habitats for wildlife and put nutrients back into the soil. It also promotes the growth of trees, wildflowers and other plants and eliminates fuel that could lead to catastrophic wildfires later. The Fire Tiger program gives students the opportunity to take basic wildland training courses, something most other college students won’t receive until they enter the workforce.
“Students in the Fire Tigers program get all of their training through U.S. Forest Service standards,” said Helen Mohr, a forester with the U.S. Forest Service who helps lead the group, adding they hope to work with the South Carolina Forestry Commission to conduct prescribed fires in the future. “As a Fire Tiger, each student has opportunities to go out and help with Forest Service prescribed fires and Forest Service wildfires.”
“These students are learning from the same materials U.S. Forest Service wildland firefighters are given,” she said. “By adhering to those national standards, they’re officially certified to work anywhere in the country.”
Read more on this from Clemson University’s ‘The Newsstand’ at https://newsstand.clemson.edu/mediarelations/fighting-fire-with-fire-clemson-students-prepare-for-front-lines-in-fight-against-wildfires/.