News & Events

MISC UPDATES / / / Mar 1, 2026

• The Salvation Army Canteen is fully up and running with a brand-new generator!

• The mass-casualty training has been rescheduled from March 21 to the 27th. It will take place at Wausau Station 2. Get more information and register.

• Registration is open for the CoRE-EX pipeline training. The Wausau session is Apr 30.

Applications open for volunteer departments:

• Apply for 4 free sets of turnout gear! Learn more or go straight to the application form.

• Apply for a $5,000 grant through Nutella's stacks for giving back. Learn more or go straight to the application form. 

UPCOMING EM TRAINING / / / Feb 4, 2026

The training schedule for Emergency Management has been published! The following will all be held at 1000 Lakeview Dr. in Wausau.

• March 21: W-422 Multiple Casualty Incident Responder Training

• March 24-25: L0146 Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program

• April 30: CoRE-EX Pipeline Emergency Training; search for "Wausau." Registration not open yet.

• May 5-7: L0105 Public Information Basics

• June 2-4: ICS-300 Intermediate ICS for Expanding Incidents

As any other training becomes available, you'll find it on the EM training calendar—filter to the Northwest Region. We'll also add them to the training calendar on this site.

MISC UPDATES / / / Jan 18, 2026

TRAINING

• Check the updated NTC schedule. Additional sections added for FFI, HazMat Ops, and Driver/Operator-Aerial.

• Have anyone who needs Inspector or Officer? Register by Monday (Jan 19), as they may be canceled due to low enrollment.

• Check the calendar for upcoming events through Emergency Management. March: LEPC meeting, Multiple Casualty Incident Response, Homeland Security Exercise & Eval Program. April: Pipeline Response.

TO-DO

• NFIRS Data: REMINDER! You will lose access to NFIRS and your data on January 31. Go download your department's historical data if you haven’t already. There are instructions on this page.

• Has your department filled out NFPA’s Needs Assessment Survey yet? Please do! The survey is open until February 15. These reports can help inform legislation and funding.

APPLY FOR...

• $750 stipend for outreach during Home Fire Sprinkler Week (May 10-16)

• Is your department in need of laptops? NVFC & State Farm are giving away 5 laptops.

• Need funding for a wildfire mitigation project? Apply here for $10k for Wildfire Prep Day.

COMMUNICATION/OUTREACH

• This coming week is CRR Week and National Passenger Safety Week.

• January is Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month, National Blood Donor Month, and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS / / / Jan 8, 2026

• Feb 3-7, Green Bay: WEMSA EMS Conference and expo.

• Feb 7, Stevens Point: Step Up and Lead Conference: training and workshop for emergency responders in management or preparing to “step up” into leadership roles. Learn more & register here.

• Feb 26-28: Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs Association, Winter In-Service: leadership training and networking

WILDLAND FIRE TRAINING / / / Jan 8, 2026

Introduction to Wildland Fire Training is being offered Feb 7 at Riverside from 8:30 to 17:00. This free course is designed to give entry level firefighters familiarity with wildland fire safety, tactics, and terminology. It meets the NFPA 1051 requirements for wildland firefighting; it is recommended that all firefighters responding to wildland fires have this training. Students must attend the entire session to receive credit.

Registration is open until Feb 1, or until the class is full. To register, please contact Nick and provide the following information:

• Student name as it would appear on a certificate

• Fire Department

It is also time to schedule your Annual Refresher trainings. Chiefs and/or training officers, please call or email Nick to schedule a training night. If he does not hear from you, he will reach out directly. The goal is to have every department's refresher completed prior to the spring fire season.

The refresher this year will be scenario-based and will cover a few other topics. If you have a strong preference on material you’d like to cover, please let Nick know!

Nick Hovda
Forest Ranger—Division of Forestry, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
715-297-0211
Nicholas.Hovda@wisconsin.gov