Section Chief’s Academy Creates Leaders in Incident Management

The week of workshops teaches about leading during disaster

DULUTH, Minn. — This week, a hundred people from across North America gathered to become leaders in of incident management.

The Incident Command System Section Chief’s Academy trains students in logistics, operations, planning, and more. And while event was put on by the Great Lakes Forest Fire Compact, it didn’t limit its focus to just fires, according to Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Wildland Fire Training Coordinator Taylor Schenk. Speakers and classes focused on all kinds of natural disasters and large-scale response events, such as flooding or terrorist attacks.

“The community of Duluth, they’ve been so welcoming,” Schenk said. “I hope that by putting this message out there, that the public realizes that there’s a lot that goes into preparing for disasters, should they ever occur. Nobody here ever wants anything bad to happen, but we need to be prepared for when something does.”

After the event, students will use what they’ve learned in their own communities, here in Minnesota or as far away as Alaska.