Agren Projects

Prescribed Fire & Volunteer Fire Departments

The Challenge:

Fire was once a naturally-occurring event in prairie lands and forests that controlled unwanted vegetation and excessive underbrush. That changed when European settlers arrived and saw fire as a threat to their homes, communities, and efforts to make a living. In recent years, however, the benefits of controlled fire are again being recognized by conservationists and progressive landowners. But using fire safely in a countryside filled with cities, roadways and farmsteads is a challenge. In addition, burn crews are sometimes hesitant to conduct planned fires because of a lack of liability coverage and limited technical assistance for planning and conducting prescribed fire. The need exists to find a way to safely and efficiently use prescribed fire to maintain healthy ecosystems for all plants and animals.

Agren's Solution:

At Agren, we've long recognized the benefits of prescribed fire. We knew of a small volunteer fire department in the town of Smithland in northwest Iowa that was conducting fire as a service to their community. Their service benefits the ecosystem, increases landowners' awareness and acceptance of fire in their area, and raises funds for the department.

In 2007, we secured Iowa NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant funding for a project to replicate the success of the Smithland Fire Department's prescribed burning service. We recruited and trained departments in western and south-central Iowa to plan and conduct prescribed fires in a safe, ecologically-beneficial manner. In just the first year of the project, more than 700 acres were burned during 19 controlled fires in four counties - Fremont, Mills, Woodbury, and Decatur.

During the first year, two educational trainings were offered to firefighters in the pilot areas. Nearly 60 volunteers took part in the initial kick-off trainings in January, where volunteers from the Smithland department introduced them to the concept of a prescribed fire service. The second trainings were held in September at actual burn sites near Thurman, Smithland, and Leon. The emphasis at these trainings was the importance of preparing a burn plan, as well as specific suggestions for planning and conducting burns.

We also encouraged firefighters to take advantage of numerous technical training opportunities to better qualify them to conduct prescribed fire. We coordinated efforts to give hands-on, in-field experience to new prescribed fire workers by letting them work with experienced burn crews.

In addition, REAP (Resource Enhancement and Protection) Conservation Education Program funding was obtained to help develop a reference binder for participating departments. The binder provides information to help volunteer fire departments plan and conduct burns, as well as promote their fire service in their communities. The binders will be disseminated to volunteer fire departments across Iowa at the conclusion of the project.