MANGILAO, Guam — The Guam Department of Agriculture’s Forestry and Soil Resources Division is hosting two specialized wildfire training sessions in June with the help of the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, an effort aimed at strengthening local wildfire protection and community resilience.
The division said the sessions bring national-level expertise to Guam to equip local fire and natural resource partners with tools to reduce wildfire impacts across the island. Partners in the initiative include the Guam Fire Department, the Mayors Council of Guam, Soil and Water Conservation Districts and USDA-NRCS. Both trainings will be held at the Chalan Pago-Ordot Multipurpose Emergency Shelter.
The first session, Assessing Structural Ignition Potential, takes place June 17 and 18 and will be led by Thomas Welle, an approved instructor for the National Fire Protection Association. Fire experts and resource managers will study how structures are lost during wildfires, loss-minimization methods and strategies for partnering with private citizens on grassroots mitigation.
The second session, Community Wildfire Mitigation Best Practices, runs June 30 through July 2 and will be facilitated by Coalitions and Collaboratives, a Colorado-based conservation nonprofit that helps communities apply science to wildfire mitigation, watershed health and climate resiliency.
Acting Director Glenn Takai said wildfire preparedness begins long before a fire starts. He said bringing national expertise to Guam and strengthening partnerships across agencies and communities is an investment in the knowledge, coordination and resilience needed to protect people, natural resources and agricultural lands.
Forestry and Soil Resources Division Chief Christine Fejeran said the trainings introduce island partners to additional approaches to wildfire mitigation while also putting Guam’s wildland fire challenges on the national map and record.