He Never Stops Learning
Incident: Az Wildfire Incident Management Academy Prescribed Fire
Released: 3/17/2010
Gary Roysdon is a long-time resident of the Prescott area, Chairman of the Prescott Area Wildland Urban Interface Commission (PAWUIC), and one of the more mature members of the 2010 Arizona Wildfire and Incident Management Academy (AWIMA) S-130/190 class.
PAWUIC is the only Wildland Urban organization of its kind in Arizona. PAWUIC was born from a community "chipper day" when residents got together once a month to do fire mitigation. Residents helped each other get piles of slash to a central location. According to Roysdon, "the old guys would man the chipper and the young guys would do the heavy work." PAWUIC formally began when an MOU was signed in 1990 among PAWUIC, City of Prescott, Yavapai County, Central Yavapai Fire District, Arizona State Land Department, and the Prescott National Forest. The reality of two major fires inspired their slogan, "Living on the Edge."
Since becoming involved with PAWUIC in 2004, Roysdon has taken the cause of fire mitigation to heart. "I live in the forest, I love the forest. If it burned I wouldn't want to live here, so I do what I can to keep that from happening," he said.
Initially, Roysdon took the Assessment Class at AWIMA, because, he explains, "I wanted to know how to help my neighbors make their property FIREWISE." This year he's taking the S-130/190 class "so I know how to communicate with fire professionals in their own language." But he's not stopping there. Roysdon is determined to get his Red Card because "if in spite of all our preparation we get a fire, I don't want to just sit and watch, I want to be able to help."
