NEXT GENERATION

By Sarah Crate, The Longleaf Alliance

the pulaski club

bringing fire science to high school students

t Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport, Tennessee, students know how to derail a lesson on factored polynomials by simply asking for a “fire story” from math teacher Bryan Kerns. A natural storyteller, Bryan has plenty of material from his time as a wildland firefighter out West and locally in the Appalachian Mountains. It is Bryan’s passion for fire and for helping students that led him to take his fire stories from classroom distraction strategy to classroom curriculum.

In 2018, Bryan initiated an after-school club dubbed the Pulaski Club. “Kids would be stoked about my fire stories, asking, ‘How do I get into that?’ My response was always so vague and didn’t get at the real answer. So, I invited kids to my classroom to talk about conservation, wildland fire, and prescribed fire after school. Thirty-five kids showed up at the first meeting. Eventually, the Club thinned out to 11 dedicated seniors, seven of which were 18-years-old and got their redcard or Incident Qualification Card immediately after graduation.”

So how exactly did these recent high school graduates begin their summer with nationally recognized wildland firefighting qualifications?

The Dobyns-Bennett Pulaski Club meets two Mondays each month and essentially goes through National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) training standards. Each member works through S-130 Firefighter Training & S-190 Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior courses independently,

Aonline. Meetings are usually hands-on demonstrations to reinforce concepts and safety. Training is key, but the Pulaski Club’s ultimate goal is to provide students opportunities to experience a live prescribed fire. And that is exactly what Bryan has made possible. On-campus Fire Ecology Area: Bryan initiated a one-acre hillside prescribed fire demonstration area bordering the high school track; its prominent placement makes it highly visible to students and the whole community. The site is divided into six units burned at different times of the year by Pulaski Club students. The students write a burn plan for each burn and carry out the burn from start to finish. Throughout the school year, the Biology and Earth Science classes also use the area for general fire effects monitoring. Prescribed Fire Module: The Pulaski Club is now functioning as a viable prescribed fire resource. The crew consists of Mr. Kerns and three to four seniors (who have completed S-190 & S-130), complete with full PPE, hand tools, drip torches, and line gear. Students are considered field observers during the burns, wearing full PPE and carrying hand tools. For the 2020-2021 school year, Club members were on five prescribed burns, totaling 125 acres. The momentum has only continued from there. In addition to math courses, Bryan now teaches a Career and Technical Education (CTE) course at Dobyns-Bennett High School called Fire Science I – Principles of Fire and Emergency Services, with structure fire and emergency services guest speakers and an

emphasis on fire ecology and prescribed burning. Several Pulaski Club alumni are now working in fire and emergency services or studying natural resources in college. • Two recent graduates are wildland firefighters with the

Tennessee Division of Forestry. • Five recent graduates are in EMT classes and/or are working locally in this profession. • Several graduates are serving in local Volunteer Fire

Departments. • Two graduates spent last summer on a hand crew out West (Lone Peak Hot Shots and Clearwater-Potlatch Timber

Protective Agency Fire Crew). • One previous student even found their way to prescribed fire in longleaf country, serving on The Nature

Conservancy's seasonal Sandhills burn crew in North

Carolina.

“My dream is to expand this program beyond my classroom and see it take off in other schools across the country. If kids have the chance to see fire while in high school, they will have a greater understanding of fire across the landscape. Maybe they even get bit by the fire bug and discover a career.”

Learn more about the Pulaski Club at sites.google.com/k12k.com/dbhs-pulaski-club/home. Obstacles are opportunities to move forward.

Liability — Since this program falls under the Career & Technical Education (CTE) Department, Dobyns-Bennett High School added Fire Science student coverage to its existing school insurance policy. PPE & Equipment — With limited funding, Bryan solicited support from family, partners, and businesses, including these critical contributions: • Bullard Helmets donated wildland firefighter hard hats. • Mystery Ranch Packs donated fire packs; the actual ones used in the movie Only the Brave! • White's Boots donated pairs of seconds, blemished, and/or returned boots. • Tennessee Valley Authority donated fire shelters, hand tools, radios, compasses, gloves, and eye protection. • Anonymous hand-me-downs, pretty much "dumpsterdiving" for old Nomex® shirts and pants, have been rehabbed and repurposed. • Dobyns-Bennett High School CTE Program purchased a 65-gallon WATERAX skid unit. • Senator Bill & Tracy Frist provided a generous monetary donation that helps fill in the gaps.

Note - The Club is on the lookout for a 4-door, 4-wheeldrive pickup truck! Age restriction — The 18-year-old age requirement is only a barrier when participating in agency burns. Otherwise, burns on campus and local private lands have no restrictions on age.