Inside the Gates: JBER firefighters use controlled burn as training

Every spring, crews on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson light the training ranges on fire, to prevent fires later in the year.
“It’s a lot of work. Wild land is not easy and it’s a lot of grass. A lot of acreage that we gotta burn down,” said Grant Kopplin, a firefighter with the JBER Fire Department.
It’s Kopplin’s third year with the department, which is teaming up with the Forest Service and the Division of Forestry, who are experts in wildland fire manageme