Prescribed Fire Training Exchanges (TREX) address one of the most fundamental ways to shift fire culture: giving more people the opportunity to work with fire. At its core, a TREX is a locally organized experiential training event focused on learning primarily through the application of live fire. TREX—and the staff and partners who organize and manage them—facilitate training, information sharing and cross-boundary relationship building for people who want to work with fire. TREX events serve those looking to advance their skills, including formal qualifications, and connect place-based fire practitioners with training, burning opportunities, and each other.
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Prescribed Fire Training Exchanges provide experiential training that builds robust local capacity for fire management and offers fire practitioners a more holistic perspective—while implementing treatments that support community and landscape objectives.
TREX is one model of training that can be used in service of achieving goals such as creating a local culture of cooperative burning or developing skills and qualifications for partners. It is also inherently flexible – with different formats that can serve the needs of different partners, including federal and state agencies, private landowners and contractors, tribes, academics, and international partners—while incorporating local values and issues to build the right kinds of capacity in the right places.
“Fire is local, and the workforce ultimately must be local, and people need to be able to say, ‘Today is a good burn day, call the neighbors, let’s go to work.”
— Jeremy Bailey, Prescribed Fire Training Director, The Nature Conservancy
History
TREX originated in Fire Learning Network landscapes in the Great Plains in 2008 as two-week events run using the Incident Command System (ICS) as a way to address critical training bottlenecks that limited the ability to conduct prescribed burns at needed scales. Since then, it has grown, spread, and been adapted to a wide range of geographies, landscape types, and local needs. By 2025, over 170 TREX events have trained more than 4,900 people while treating nearly 200,000 acres with fire.
This expansion has included the development of many different varieties of TREX. Many partners still use the original format – a two-week event modelled after US federal wildfire suppression assignments using ICS. Some have chosen to host shorter, one-week events, while others use an on-call model where participants agree to be available during a set period when conditions are right to burn. Some organizers require participants to be qualified under National Wildfire Coordinating Group standards. Some events focus on building local capacity with partners from within a region, while other accept participants from across the US and other countries. There are endless ways to adapt TREX events to local needs, resources, and conditions.
Trex FAQs
Get a quick understanding of TREX—what it is, how it works, and how to get involved.
What is a TREX?
Fundamentally, a TREX is a locally organized experiential training event focused on learning primarily through the application of live fire. A TREX event may be organized in many ways. Originally, a two-week format similar to wildfire assignments was used, but organizers have evolved and expanded the program to fit local needs.
While each event is unique, all TREX events should address three program delivery components – training, treatment, and outreach.
Training includes experiential opportunities to build skills in prescribed fire implementation, equipment use, monitoring, and adjacent skills. This may include progressing qualifications and task books within the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) framework or another formal qualification system.
Treatment results from the hands-on work that is implemented, whether acres or piles burned, hazardous fuels reduced, distance of fire line created or something else.
Outreach involves engaging with the media and surrounding communities to share important messaging, such as the importance of fire to local ecosystems and people, training that fire practitioners receive in order to implement fire safely and effectively, and why burning collaboratively across boundaries and organizations is important.
What does the TREX program do?
The TREX program, and the staff who support it provide coaching and connection for current and prospective organizers, funding for certain events connected to Fire Networks priorities, resources to assist local organizers, and track program growth and accomplishments.
How do I organize a TREX?
No permission is needed to host a TREX, and staff who support the TREX program do not oversee or directly help with planning every TREX event.
If you are interested in planning a TREX, it is strongly recommended that you at minimum attend an event that uses a format similar to the one you are considering. Helping to plan a TREX, serving on a TREX planning or event leadership team, and connecting with other organizers can provide a deeper level of understanding about what it takes to host a successful TREX.
The most important thing to consider when deciding whether to host a TREX is why. TREX events are most impactful when implemented as part of a strategy to achieve a larger goal, such as fostering a local culture of collaborative burning, or developing skills and qualifications for partners. Carefully consider how hosting a TREX fits into your goals and decide from there what type of event best suits your needs.
How do I attend a TREX?
Many TREX events use an application process, while others are open to anyone who registers. Most TREX events are listed on the Fire Networks events page. The TREX Facebook page also posts updates, particularly when save the dates or applications open for specific events.
How do TREX events handle food, lodging, qualifications, etc.? How much does it cost to host a TREX?
Every TREX is unique, and so the answer is always it depends. The best way to handle logistics, cost, and other aspects of organizing will all depend on what type of event you choose to host. Connecting with organizers who host an event similar to the one you have in mind is the best way to understand approximate costs and other needs.