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Wildland Fire Origin and Cause Determination (FI-210) N0775

Training Specialist

Kevin Oliver
301-447-1613

Delivery type

5-day off-campus

ACE recommendation

There is not an American Council on Education credit recommendation for this course.

The USFA/NFA, US Forest Service and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection are partnering to offer a new NFA Course: N0775: Wildland Fire Origin and Cause Determination (FI-210). This course will be delivered in Redding, CA. The course delivery is dependent on weather and fire conditions in California at the time of the offering. Students should not make travel arrangements prior to September 11. Students will be notified the week of August 27 of their acceptance into the class.

This course will provide a consistent knowledge and skill base for the Wildland Fire Investigator (INVF). The concepts taught in this course will help the investigator perform at an acceptable level on a national basis without regard to geographic boundaries. The course is presented by lectures, electronic presentations, field exercises, and class discussion.

Information on the course content can be found here: FI-210, Wildland Fire Origin and Cause Determination.

The five-day class will be held at the Northern California Training Center (NCTC) by a cadre of NWCG-certified instructors from USFS and CAL FIRE. Instructional activity materials will be provided. Prior to attending the course, students will be required to complete pre-course materials through the NWCG Wildland Fire Learning Portal.

The NFA will reimburse airline travel (or mileage, at GSA rates, if driving). Airline tickets should be purchased AFTER September 11, 2023, due to possible course changes. The student should purchase a nonrefundable, economy coach-class ticket, and travel on the days listed in the announcement (9/24/2023 and 9/30/2023). Students may depart the evening of Friday, September 29, if they prefer; however, the class does not conclude until 4:00 p.m. and flight reservations for Friday evening must include allowances for travel time from Redding, CA.

Student Stipend Agreements forms will be emailed to each accepted student during the class. The student will need to provide a copy of their airline ticket, a blank-voided check, and a copy of the hotel receipt to be reimbursed. This information can be scanned/emailed to Crystal.Arnold@fema.dhs.gov with 30 days of the course end date. Requests received after the 30-day deadline may be denied. 

For NCTC, Redding, students should fly into Sacramento (SMF). The airport is approximately 2.5 hours’ drive from Redding, CA. If the location of the class changes, new airport information will be provided.

The NFA will reimburse hotel rooms (up to the federal per diem rate - $98 / night for six nights). You must provide a hotel receipt (your name must appear on the receipt) to be reimbursed.

Students will be responsible for meals and rental cars.

Priority will be reserved for full-time public service personnel with wildfire or wildland arson investigative responsibilities. This course is targeted to the new wildland fire investigator. This course uses the NWCG Wildland Fire Learning Portal for content delivery, assignments, and examinations, a laptop or tablet is required to attend this course.

This course will be limited to 30 students. 

Successful completion of the following CFITrainer.net module: 

1.  Wildland Fire Investigation

Applicants must provide a copy of their CFITrainer.net transcript along with their admissions application verifying that they have successfully completed the requisite training modules listed above.