A non-profit organization called Torchbearr (yes, with a double r) formed in 2021 to help close
this capacity gap and empower people to burn together.

The new group aims to make a brighter fire future for all. To do that, the organization will create a mobile training center, build
partnerships, and seek opportunities to burn at small and large scales with partners. Torchbearr
also intends to develop a workforce that can begin to reintroduce fire on our landscapes
strategically on a meaningful scale. And, Torchbearr plans to develop and maintain a
clearinghouse of prescribed fire training, experience, and qualifications that will issue, hold, and
deactivate purple cards for prescribed burn practitioners specifically.
While Torchbearr is in the final stages of forming its organization, with 501 (c)3 tax exempt
recognition from the IRS pending, the group is launching some early initiatives in collaboration
with the Siskiyou Prescribed Burn Association, Scott River Watershed Council and the Quartz
Valley Indian Reservation. Torchbearr Operations Director Scot Steinbring has announced a
2022 training schedule which can be found on Torcbearr’s website: www.torchbearr.org
If we’re going to undo the damage one hundred years of fire suppression has done, we’ll need
accessible training and students of fire from many backgrounds – not just fire agencies -
stepping up and leveling up. Whether you need basic fire school, a fire safety refresher, a work
capacity test, or a more specialized session in operating equipment like pumps, hoses and fire
engines, here’s a chance to develop your fire awareness and skills and get involved in the
movement to bring prescribed fire back to our land. Be a torchbearr, not a torch barrier! Let’s
manage fire with fire instead of fear!