ALBANY COUNTY — With climate change increasing the risk of wildfires, Albany County has launched a program to train volunteers to fight the fires as well as to educate the public about their dangers.

The county’s Fire Service Academy, a pilot program, will teach a free 40-hour course, starting April 1, at the East Berne firehouse. This is the first session in a series of planned courses. The first module focuses on the fundamentals of wildfire management; future sessions will dive into specialized areas.

“The wildfire season has lengthened in many areas due to factors including warmer springs, longer summer dry seasons, and drier soils and vegetation,” according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency. “Similarly, climate change threatens to increase the frequency, extent, and severity of fires through increased temperatures and drought.”

Wildfires have the potential to harm property, livelihoods, and human health, the agency notes and says, “Fire-related threats are increasing, especially as more people live in and near forests, grasslands, and other natural areas.”

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, between 1980 and 2023, the United States had 22 wildfires that individually caused more than $1 billion in damage; 18 of those have occurred since 2000.

Over the past few decades, the EPA notes, the United States has routinely spent more than $1 billion per year to fight wildfires, including $3.5 billion in 2022.

“These efforts have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of firefighters,” the EPA reports. “Even in communities far downwind, wildfire smoke has been directly linked to poor air quality that can lead to significant health effects and costs to society (emergency department visits, hospital admissions, and deaths, often due to respiratory ailments).

“Beyond the human and societal impacts, wildfires also affect the Earth’s climate. Forests in particular store large amounts of carbon. When they burn, they immediately release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which in turn contributes to climate change. After burning, forests also release carbon dioxide more gradually through decomposition.”

Wildfires don’t wait, and neither should we

“In the face of increasingly frequent and severe wildfires, including those we saw recently nearby in the Catskills, the role of firefighters has never been more critical,” said Daniel McCoy, the county’s executive and a former firefighter himself, in a release announcing the program.

“They are our first line of defense,” he went on, “and we have a responsibility to empower them with the best training and support … Investing in this training is not just a matter of policy, it is a commitment to the safety and resiliency of our community. Wildfires don’t wait, and neither should we.”

The New York State Basic Exterior Fire Operations Course will include online training paired with on-site demonstrations of equipment and technique, as well as question-and-answer sessions.

After the classroom instruction is complete, the class will complete a six-hour field training session at the Hilltown Fire Training Facility where students will use the techniques and tools they have acquired such as fire suppression, back burning, and cut lines.

Training will run from April 1 to May 17, on Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. After training is complete, a graduation ceremony will be held with family and friends at Lawson Lake.

Participants must be between the ages of 14 and 65, be able to carry up to 40 pounds, have passed an annual physical exam, and be up-to-date on required vaccines.

No previous firefighting experience is required. County residents interested in registering for training may go online to bit.ly/4bVA7uO to sign up.