Angeles National Forest Wildland Explorer Academy cadets trained in wildland firefighting are graduating after weeks of training. 

The ceremony is set for noon Feb. 8 at the Biedebach Regional Training Center, 12371 N. Little Tujunga Canyon Road, Angeles National Forest.

The event is about five miles north of the 210 freeway. 

The 46 cadets of the Angeles National Forest Wildland Explorer Academy #21 have met both physical and academic challenges, completing a rigorous 120-hour program. 

Training areas included firefighter training, fire behavior, land navigation, live-fire and hose-laying drills and wildland fire investigation and prevention.

In addition to the Angeles, the cadets represent the Ventura County Fire Department, Costa Mesa Fire Department, Oxnard Fire Department, Montebello Fire Department, Riverside County/Cal Fire, Los Angeles County Fire Department and the Kern County Fire Department.

Established in 1995, the Angeles National Forest Explorer Academy for men and women ages 16 to 21 is the only Explorer program in the nation specific to wildland firefighting.

The program introduces its trainees to wildland-firefighting techniques and the potential for a career with the Forest Service or similar agencies in Southern California.

Graduates have been placed in temporary and permanent jobs all over the nation.

About the U.S. Forest Service:

The mission of the Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world. Public lands the Forest Service manages contribute more than $13 billion to the economy each year through visitor spending alone. Those same lands provide 20 percent of the nation’s clean water supply, a value estimated at $7.2 billion per year. The agency has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 80 percent of the 850 million forested acres within the U.S., of which 100 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live.