Training Before the Fire

The orange cones are set, and the clock starts running. Inside the cab of a Forest Service fire engine, a firefighter from Wyoming grips the wheel and begins running the truck backward through a course called the dogleg.

A one minute and 30 second time limit. Don’t hit the cones.

This is the Rocky Mountain Engine Academy at the City of Aurora Public Safety Training Center in Aurora, Colorado. For roughly 50 firefighters working through its paces in spring 2026, it was the most demanding week of preparation they faced before heading to wildfires this summer.