The 13th Annual South Dakota Wildland Fire Academy will be held in Pierre, SD
March 19 through March 22, 2026.
All wildland fire training presented at the South Dakota Wildland Fire Academy
meets the standards set forth by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG).
Participants need to register no later than March 6. The registration fee is a non-refundable $35 per student, payable by credit card or check (checks payable to SD Dept of Public Safety and mailed to Tamara Dierks, SD Wildland Fire, 3305 W South St, Rapid City SD 57702 or brought to the first day of class.
- No meals are provided with this training, but the area had a variety of food options including fast food and sit-down restaurants.
- Students needed to attend the entire class to receive credit. No exceptions made.
- Students must provide all wildland PPE to participate in field exercises: hard hat, eye protection, leather gloves, Nomex shirt/pants, fire shelter, line gear (if available), and boots.
- Classes begin at 0800 (Central Time Zone) on their respective days where listed in the class schedule.
- Thank you to the agencies and individuals that help ensure the academy's growth and success each year.
And just like that it is the end of 2025 and I have no idea where the year went. Overall, it was a very quiet year locally and nationally—we didn't even hit a PL5 once! But based on task book submittals and initiations it seems everyone made lemonade out of the mountain of lemons and a lot of great training work was done. It can seem impossible in slow fire seasons to obtain a new qualification, but remember that every fire is an opportunity for growth so take those opportunities when you can!
SD Wildland Fire will continue to concentrate our class offerings on those that help with upward growth in qualifications. Thankfully, NWCG is finally updating the 15-20 year old course curriculums and you will see many of those at the academy this year including L280, S219, and S290. I hope to see you at some trainings this winter season and have a safe 2026 fire season!
Sincerely,
Tamara
We highly suggest finding lodging early, as hotels fill quickly in this area.
S-130 Basic Wildland Firefighter, S-190 Introduction to Fire Behavior
Start: Thursday, March 19, 2026, 0800
End: Sunday, March 22, 2026, 1700
Location: Drifters Conference Center, 325 E Hustan Avenue, Fort Pierre, SD
Prerequisites: Complete L180, IS100 and IS700 online (information sent with class letter).
Course Description: The intent of S-130 is to train new firefighters in basic firefighting skills and includes a required field exercise. S-190 Introduces students to the basic concepts of wildland fire behavior including: the primary wildland fire environment components; how characteristics and interactions of fuels, weather, and topography affect fire behavior; and how fire behavior affects risk to firefighters. L-180 exposes students to human performance concepts as part of basic wildland fire training. These courses are required to become a basic wildland firefighter (FFT2).
S-131 Firefighter Type 1 Training
Start: Saturday, March 21, 2026, 0800
End: Sunday, March 22, 2026, 1400
Location: Capital City Campus, 925 E Sioux Avenue, Pierre, SD
Prerequisites: Qualified as Firefighter Type 2 (FFT2)/No pre-course work required.
Course Description: S-131 is a course designed to meet the training needs of the Firefighter Type 1 (FFT1) and/or Incident Commander Type 5 (ICT5). It is designed to be interactive in nature and contains class discussion and several tactical decision games designed to facilitate learning the objectives. Topics include operational leadership, communications, LCES, and tactical decision making. This course is required for Firefighter Type 1 (FFT1) and Incident Commander Type 5 (ICT5).
S-230 Crew Boss and S-231 Engine Boss (Blended Course)
Start: Saturday, March 21, 2026, 0800
End: Sunday, March 22, 2026, 1700
Location: Capital City Campus, 925 E Sioux Avenue, Pierre, SD
Prerequisites: Must be qualified as a Firefighter Type 1 (FFT1) and have successfully passed S-290 Intermediate Wildland Fire Behavior. Must also satisfactorily pass the pre-work modules.
Special Instructions: Pre-course work instructions will be sent to all students who have submitted nominations.
Course Description: This course was developed using a blended approach to learning, meaning that it contains a mix of online and instructor-led training (ILT). Students are required to complete the online training portion of the course and pass an online assessment prior to taking the ILT. The ILT will reinforce the content learned online and provide opportunities to apply this knowledge to real-world scenarios and practical exercises. Upon completion of the ILT, students must then take and pass a final assessment in order to receive credit for the course. The final assessment covers content from both the online and ILT portions of the course. This course is required for all Single Resource Boss Positions.
S-200 Initial Attack Incident Commander, Type 4
Start: Saturday, March 21, 2026, 0800
End: Sunday, March 22, 2025, 1700
Location: Capital City Campus, 925 E Sioux Avenue, Pierre, SD
Prerequisites: Must be qualified as a Single Re-source Boss. Pre course work is required and must be completed before class.
Special Instructions: Pre-course work instructions will be sent to all students who have sub-mitted nominations.
Course Description: This course is designed to meet the training needs of the incident commander type 4 (ICT4). It is presented in a discussion/exercise format. The six instructional units include Foundational Skills; Intelligence gathering and Documentation; Size Up the Incident; Develop a Plan of Action; Post-Fire Activities; Evaluating Incident Objectives and Manage the Incident. Evaluation of the student is by unit tests and performance based evaluations. This course is required for Incident Commander Type 4 (ICT4) which is required for Taskforce Leader.
S-290 Intermediate Wildland Fire Behavior
Start: Thursday, March 19, 2026, 0800
End: Friday, March 20, 2026, 1700
Location: Drifters Conference Center, 325 E Hustan Avenue, Fort Pierre, SD
Prerequisites: Completion of S-190 Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior and satisfactory complete of pre-course work.
Special Instructions: Pre-course work instructions will be sent to all students who have submitted nominations. Attendance in the class is dependent upon completing this on the due date which is typically a week before class!
Course Description: This is a classroom-based skills course designed to prepare the prospective fireline supervisor to undertake safe and effective fire management operations. It is the second course in a series that collectively serves to develop fire behavior prediction knowledge and skills. This course is required for Prescribed Fire Burn Boss Type 3 (RXB3) and all Single Resource Bosses.
L-280 Followership to Leadership
Start: Saturday, March 21, 2026, 0800
End: Sunday, March 22, 2026, 1700
Location: Capital City Campus, 925 E Sioux Avenue, Pierre, SD
Prerequisites: Satisfactory completion of the pre-course work and successful completion of L-180 Human Factors in the Wildland Fire Service.
Special Instructions: Pre-course work instructions will be sent to all students who have sub-mitted nominations.
Course Description: This training course is designed as a self-assessment opportunity for individuals preparing to step into a leadership role. The course combines one day of classroom instruction followed by a second day in the field with students working through a series of problem-solving events in small teams (Field Leadership Assessment Course). Topics include leader-ship values and principles, transition challenges for new leaders, situational leadership, team cohesion factors, ethical decision making, and after-action review techniques. Some course delivery may be arduous in nature. This is a great Leadership and Development Course.
S-219 Firing Operations
Start: Friday, March 21, 2026, 0800
End: Sunday, March 22, 2026, 1700
Location: Capital City Campus, 925 E Sioux Avenue, Pierre, SD
Prerequisites: Must be qualified as a Firefighter Type 2 (FFT2) and satisfactorily complete the pre-course work before class.
Special Instructions: Pre-course work instructions will be sent to all students who have submitted nominations.
Course Description: This course uses a blended approach to learning with both online and Instructor Lead Training (ILT). Students are required to complete the online training portion of the course prior to taking the ILT. The course introduces the roles and responsibilities of a firing boss (FIRB) and outlines duties of other personnel who may engage in firing operations. It also discusses and illustrates common firing devices and techniques. Although comprehensive in nature, the course work is not a substitute for the dynamic fire environment. The course provides students with important information regarding general tasks required to be successful. This course is required for State of South Dakota employees and cooperators pursuing the Prescribed Fire Burn Boss Type 3 (RXB3) qualification.
S-270 Basic Air Operations
Start: Saturday, March 21, 2026, 0800
End: Sunday, March 22, 2026, 1700
Location: Capital City Campus, 925 E Sioux Avenue, Pierre, SD
Prerequisites: Satisfactory completion of pre-course work.
Special Instructions: Pre-course work instructions will be sent to all students who have sub-mitted nominations.
Course Description: This course covers aircraft types and capabilities, aviation management and safety for flying in and working with agency aircraft, tactical and logistical uses of aircraft, and requirements for helicopter take-off and landing areas. Upon completion of this course, the student will have obtained the basic under-standing of the different functions of Air Operations. This is a great continuing education course.
FI-110 Wildland Fire Observations and Origin Scene Protection for First Responders
Start/End: Friday, March 20, 2026, 0800—1700
Location: Capital City Campus, 925 E Sioux Avenue, Pierre, SD
Prerequisites: None
Special Instructions: None
Course Description: The primary emphasis of this course is to teach sound wildland fire observations and origin scene protection practices that enable first responders to a wildland fire scene to perform proper origin scene protection procedures. The course is presented by short lectures, electronic presentations, exercise, and class discussion. Objectives include:
• Understand the roles and responsibilities of a first responder in support of the investigation of a wildland fire.
• List the key observations that should be made when responding to a wildland fire.
• List the five tasks to be performed upon arrival to a wildland fire.
• Understand basic fire behavior and fire pattern indicators that identify signs of a general origin area.
• Understand the various causes of wildland fires.
• Understand the requirements of the post-response phase, including the information transfer process.
Great continuing education class for wildland firefighters which also helps investigators with scene preservation and protection.
Tamara Dierks
Training and Aviation Program Manager
Office: 605.393.4229
Fax: 605.393.8044
Email