WCFA Training Committee (TCOMM) meeting was called to order at 1803 hours. President Graves, Training Coordinator (TC) Sims and committee members Tim Logozzo, Dave Rains and Reed Gracie were present. President Graves also invited Greg Bailey and Vitas Labanauskas to attend.
President Graves ask TC Sims to begin with the Training Updates for 2027. She went through all the class changes and updates; much discussion followed on the new ones concerning where and when we would have them.
Reed Gracie agreed to talk with local PBA members about providing pumps and hoses for the S-211 pump class. He asked if Dave Rains would host a class at his Pateros home and act as lead instructor, Dave accepted. President Graves added that he could host this class in Spokane.
TC Sims said she will get the S-131 Firefighter Type 1 class ready for instructors and prepare the workbooks that will need to be ordered.
We continued by discussing the S-231 Engine Boss (Blended 3 OLT – 11 ILT) class. Determining if it was going to be required for new ENGB in 2027, based on a memo that came out on Nov 18, 25. From what we can tell it does not replace S-230, and you must take S-230 prior to taking this class. President Graves said he is qualified to teach this class along with Greg Isaac and it could be added as one more day to a S-230 class.
There was a new class *S-229 SRB (OLT) that was listed as a required class for ENGB in the Nov 18, 2025, memo. This class is a requirement for all new SRB positions and is a prerequisite for all the ENGB/CRWB classes. You have to be qualified as a FFT1 before you can take this class. We plan to encourage members to have their students take this class before April and May 2027 S-290, S-230 and S-231 classes.
* Requirement Timeline S-229: As outlined in NWCG QMC Memo 26-01, S-229 becomes required training for all SRB positions and a required prerequisite for position-specific courses (such as S-230 Crew Boss, S-231 Engine Boss).
Several committee members suggested we teach the S-215 Urban Interface class again. President Graves said he is qualified to teach this class, and he plans to reach out to Don Strand (former instructor) to talk about it. We discussed where to have it and when.
There was discussion on starting our training season earlier. TC Sims pointed out that when we offered classes earlier in the past, even just last year and the year before, they were poorly attended in all locations. We will continue to discuss this and see if it is feasible.
President Graves asked TC Sims to review the possible refresher topics to add this year.
TC Sims proposed a unit on Tree Strikes. There have been too many this season and she feels it would be a good topic, all agreed. Dave Rains stated that some changes are going to be coming to Fallers and it will be for the good, more discussion followed. Reed Gracie suggested the newly formed Faller Committee should follow up on this. Problems with the fallers exist and they are not paid enough.
Reed Gracie brought up the topic of Radios and the need for more training, more discussion followed. President Graves asked for someone to look into it, Dave Rains and Greg Bailey said they would. We also discussed having this as a topic for a seminar at our spring meeting.
More discussion continued; the following list shows the topics we plan to use and who agreed to gather information so they can be made units for this year’s refresher:
Mental Illness – President Graves
Medical Emergency Do’s and Don’ts – Vitas Labanauskas
Burn Overs Do’s and Don’ts – Dave Rains, Reed Gracie
Structure Protect Do’s and Don’ts – Tim Logozzo
Tree Strikes – TC Sims & Reed Gracie
Radios – Greg Bailey & Dave Rains
Defensive Driving – Reed Gracie
Case Study ideas – President Graves
Do we need a price increase? TC Sims said most of the class fees are fine for now. The S-230, S-231 and S-290 fees need to be increased, she feels $175 might be enough. She will continue to work on this.
Last topic is Options for Training Coordinator. TC Sims spoke to President Graves a few days prior to this meeting and expressed that she might like to be relieved from the duties as TC. She plans to stay involved and will not leave the WCFA hanging as they begin the process of finding someone else. This position interlinks with the secretary, and she would work closely with the new candidate. We discussed letting the members know but are not sure how or when just yet.
President Graves thanked TC Sims for her many years in this position and is appreciative of her willingness to continue until we can get someone else. He also thanked everyone who attended and asked Vitas if he would like to become a member of the TCOMM, he accepted. It will be presented to the board at the next meeting. Greg Bailey pointed out that we have committee members that cover Fallers and Engines, he said it would be best to invite new members that represent other resources like Tenders and Equipment.
TC Sims also expressed how successful this “planning” meeting has been and felt relieved with all the support to be ready for the upcoming training season. Reed Gracie interjected that this be a starting point to have TCOMM meetings more regularly to keep the committee in the loop and keep ideas flowing. All agreed.
Motion to adjourn the meeting by Greg Bailey, 2nd by Todd Graves, meeting adjourned at 2003 hours.