Documentation will need to be submitted with registration form.

Coursework Requirements

1.  IS-100 Introduction to the Incident Command System

2.  S-190 Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior

3.  S-130 Firefighter Training

4.  S-290 Intermediate Wildland Fire Behavior (classroom only, online courses not accepted)

5. Students will need a working knowledge of Behave Plus fire modeling system to be successful in the class.

Firing Requirements

Qualified NWCG/CICCS Firing Boss (FIRB)

or

both equivalent firing experience and

one of the following courses: S-219 Firing Operations, CA-219 Wildland Firefighting – Firing Operations, C-234 Ignition Operations, or S-234 Ignition Operations

Leadership Requirements

S-131 Advanced Firefighter

or

L-280 Followership to Leadership

or

Qualified NWCG/CICCS Firefighter Type 1 (FFT1)

or

Equivalent leadership experience

For PACE VI Application and prerequisite equivalency information click here.

For additional information regarding State Certified Prescribed-Fire Burn Boss Certification, Course Plan click here.

Call (925) 989-0983 if you have questions or email us at:
Surefiretraining@yahoo.com

This course is intended for experienced prescribed or cultural fire practitioners who wish to be recognized by the state for their knowledge and expertise. Could include retired fire professionals, landowners and community members, NGO staff, private contractors, tribal members and cultural burners, state and local agency staff, and others.

Certified persons may act as contractors within land designated as State Responsibility Area (SRA) by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

This in person classroom-based course provides information about and develops the skills required for planning and managing prescribed fire on State or private lands.  

This course provides information about and develops the skills required for planning and managing prescribed fire on State or private lands.  The curriculum includes portions of the NWCG courses RX301, RX341, and RX410 classes, but should not be considered a substitute for any of these RX classes.  There is no course equivalency between this class and any NWCG course. 

This course contains instructor-led training, including simulation exercises and a task book. Students are required to complete the prerequisites (coursework, firing, and leadership requirements) prior to taking the instructor-led training and completing the task book. As detailed in the course plan, this course was developed and formatted into the SFT curriculum development model. Stakeholders are encouraged to study this information carefully and seek clarification from SFT if questions arise. Certified persons may act as contractors within land designated as State Responsibility Area (SRA) by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

To participate in this course, students need:
• Laptop computer with internet capability
• Laptop cord/power supply
• Appropriate clothing and foot wear and day pack for a day long field  exercise.
• Incident Response Pocket Guide (IRPG) NFES 001077 (provided by instructor)

This course format includes interactive instructor-led training, active student participation, daily homework assignments, a site visit and field exercise to gather information for the students to use to develop a burn plan, IAP and supporting maps.  Students will need to understand and be proficient using modeling tools to develop prescription parameters, such as Behave Fire Modeling System or Appendix B.  

Students will need to spend a considerable amount of time working together in small groups after class hours to develop a burn plan, IAP and group presentation.

Course Topics Include:

• State-Certified Prescribed-Fire Burn Boss Certification Process
• Fire Use and Prescribed-Fire Laws
• Fire Behavior Concepts Relate to Prescribed-Fire Implementation
• Developing a Burn Plan
• The Permitting and Approval Process
• Implementing a Prescribed-Fire Operation
  

Students will work together in groups to develop a burn plan and Incident Action Plan (IAP) and present an operational briefing using the IAP.

Students are required to complete the prerequisites (coursework, firing, and leadership requirements) prior to taking this course. Students that successfully complete this course will be required to complete a Task Book to apply for certification as a State-Certified Prescribed- Fire Burn Boss.

Woody Bouska, President and Owner, SURE-FIRE TRAINING INC.

The lead instructor, Woody Bouska, is the president of SURE-FIRE Training Inc., a corporation that specializes in delivering high quality professional wildfire consulting, analysis, planning, mitigation and education services. Woody has over 40 years of experience in the wildland fire service and is a wildfire risk analysis and mitigation specialist. Woody has extensive experience working with various agencies and organizations planning, and conducting, prescribed burns and wildland fuels management projects. Woody is also a registered California State Fire Training Instructor who provides a variety of consulting and training services for fire departments, land management agencies and other government and corporate organizations throughout the world. He received his formal education from UC Davis in Wildlife Biology.

Debbie began her career in 1983 on an engine in Southern California learning to put lay hose, clean campgrounds, attended her first prescribed burn, and other project work.  In 1985 she moved to Oregon where she was on the La Grande Hot Shots, engines and in 1988 on the Redmond Hot Shots.  She received her permanent position with the USFS on the Winema National Forest under the co-op program.  Debbie spent over 20 years as a fuels officer on both the Plumas and Lassen National Forest.  During this time, she did a variety of burns (clear cuts, brush, wildlife, timber) eventually building a program on the Hat Creek District that conducted landscape level burns.   In addition to prescribed burning she provide fire management and fuels management input to forest vegetation projects, PG and E projects, Cal Trans and wildlife projects.   In 2007 she became the Division Chief for the Hat Creek Ranger District and retired in that position in 2020.  Since retirement she has kept active in fire management by writing CWPP’s, training, firefighting assignments, prescribed fire assignments and other land management projects.

In 1987 Debbie received her Bachelor of Science Degree from Humboldt State University in Forest Management.   Debbie is a California State Fire Training Registered Instructor for CARX and has taught RX-300/301/341 and been the lead instructor for all three NWCG classes for over 20 years.  She has also taught fire refresher/burn boss refresher, S-390 and firing boss.  Debbie is a qualified NWCG type I/II burn boss, division group supervisor, firing boss and strike team leader.

Ben began his fire career in 1978 cutting fuel break and burning piles on the Los Padres National Forest. From 1979 through 1986 he served as a firefighter on Hotshot and Engine Crews with the Sequoia National Forest and Bakersfield BLM, and as a forestry aide with the California Department of Forestry. From 1987 through 1994, Ben worked on the Arrowhead Hotshot Crew at Kings Canyon National Park, where he obtained his first permanent position. Ben shifted the focus of his career in 1995 towards prescribed fire and fire/fuels management. In early 1995, Ben moved to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise where he helped develop the NPS Wildland Fire Module program and served as the Program Coordinator for three years. In early 1998, Ben moved to Point Reyes National Seashore where he served as the Prescribed Fire Specialist for 2.5 years and Fire Management Officer for 1.5 years. Ben took the position as the Fuels Management Specialist at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (SEKI) in March 2002 where he served until retiring in October 2014. During this time he became proficient at landscape burning to restore and maintain giant sequoia groves throughout the parks. He also worked as a Division Supervisor on the South Central Sierra Type II Incident Management Team. Since retiring

Ben has remained very active in fire management. He was under contract at SEKI, Devils Postpile NM, and three NPS units in Idaho writing burn plans, assisting with fire management plans, etc. In 2018, Ben was hired as a permanent-part time Burn Boss at Calaveras Big Trees State Parks to develop their prescribed fire program in giant sequoia groves. Additionally in retirement, Ben has written burn plans for the USFS, BLM, NPS, Firestorm Wildland Fire Suppression, City of Chico, Sonoma County, Save-the-Redwoods League, Marin Municipal Water District, Novato Fire District, and Point Blue Conservation Science. Ben received his BS in Forest Resource Management from Cal Poly State University at San Luis Obispo in 1981. He has been involved in wildfire training development and instruction for over 30 years. He became a qualified NWCG RXB2 in 1995 and an RXB1 in 2003. His other operational qualifications include DIVS, ICT3, FIRB, TFLD, among others. Ben maintains his fire qualifications red card through the SEKI fire management program.