Training FAQ

Volunteers are classified "active" after they contribute twelve (12) hours of volunteer service to the BFCP. Volunteer service hours may include participation in regular BFCP meetings, outreach activities, canteen, arson watch and similar operations. Hours that a volunteer spends receiving training are recognized, recorded and credited, but are not counted towards the volunteers' "active hours". An excellent way to clarify the distinction: if you signed an ICS 211 Check-In List at any event or incident outside of training classes, those were "active" hours.

Yes. However, at busy events, we've seen people show up and get involved before they can sign in. It is the responsibility of each volunteer to ensure that hours they contribute to BFCP are reported accurately and appropriately.

We ask for a number of reasons. First, it's a gentle encouragement to think about further training. Second, people sometimes train then forget to forward a copy of their certificate to the Training Coordinator. Finally, if you submitted more than 6 months prior, it's possible those training records were destroyed before they could be recorded. Until recently, one of our stumbling blocks was that our internal database was stuck in development. We could only keep personal training records for so long before privacy issues dictated those records destroyed. Inconvenient, perhaps, but we value your privacy as much as your safety.