Rich Caldwell likes to boast about the fire program at Mammoth Cave National Park.
As the park fire management officer, Caldwell has planned and coordinated eleven prescribed fires in six years, treating 5,675 acres. He has provided $192,000 to local volunteer fire departments in the three counties around the park through the Rural Fire Assistance program. However, his favorite accomplishment, the one that makes his chest swell with pride, is how park-sponsored firefighter training has changed many young lives.
Since 2005, 65 Great Onyx Job Corps students have been trained in S130 and S190, and then assigned as firefighters. Over one hundred additional students have been trained to participate on camp crews for fires, hurricanes, and other major incidents.
Fire opportunities give them a tangible boost as they graduate from Job Corps and enter the working world. The nature of fire duty training, its disciplined environment, and solid work experience prepare the students for real-world jobs, and a percentage of their fire pay is placed in savings for after graduation. Two Great Onyx graduates have made firefighting an NPS career – Daniel Neuenschwander and Romale Lovelace, both forestry technicians at Natchez Trace Parkway.
In 2007, Great Onyx students have assisted on nine incidents as Type 2 firefighters and camp crew members in Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Montana, Idaho, and California. Type 2 firefighters are the basic resources used in the control and extinguishing of wildland fires. They work either as individuals or as a member of a supervised crew and perform manual and semi-skilled labor as assigned.
Great Onyx Job Corps Center, part of the national program under the Department of Labor, offers a two-year educational program for young people between the ages of 16 and 24; many of students complete their GED during the program and learn a trade.
Contact: Rich Caldwell, FMO, Mammoth Cave National Park
Phone: (270) 758-2119
*This story supports the National Fire Plan |
