Twenty-one firefighters from the Forestry Commission and cooperating agencies were recertified as wildland sawyers July 16-17 at Harbison State Forest.
To meet National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) standards as a faller, firefighters initially complete the S-212 (Wildland Fire Chain Saws) course. Upon completion, they are qualified as either faller 3 (basic faller) or faller 2 (intermediate faller). The faller 1 (advanced faller) certification indicates the faller has multiple years of experience in chainsaw operations and has demonstrated proficiency in performing high complexity saw operations. The faller 1 may work independently or supervise/direct other level 2 and 3 fallers during fireline saw operations. To maintain their qualifications, fallers must recertify every three years under the supervision of a qualified sawyer. Two certifiers from the USDA Forest Service’s Long Cane Ranger District spent two days observing and coaching sawyers to verify their certification.
During this recertification, sawyers had the opportunity to recertify at their current level or to train and certify to obtain a higher qualification. Each candidate had to assess a tree, determine a fall direction, fell the tree, trim the limbs from the downed tree and buck the tree into smaller sections.
Click to reveal the qualifications everyone obtained:
Jon Barker, Faller 2
Stephen Broom, Faller 2
Eric Brown, Faller 2
Jason Duck, Faller 2
Jeremy Gantt, Faller 2
Tyler Greiner, Faller 2
Russell Hale, Faller 2
Scotty Harrington, Faller 2
Ron Holt, Faller 2
Ben Melton, Faller 2
Buck Newcomb, Faller 2
Jeff Riggin, Faller 2
James Robins, Faller 2
David Tayler, Faller 2
Jacob Vandenbosch, Faller 1
Cody Watts, Faller 2
Blake Weathers, Faller 2
Colton Webb, Faller 1
