Suffolk County Volunteer Firefighters To Receive Specialized Wildfire Training

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- More than 10,000 volunteer firefighters will soon receive specialized training in Suffolk County on battling brush and forest fires.

The training includes the latest in brush fire equipment with a focus on saving lives, WCBS 880 Long Island Bureau Chief Mike Xirinachs reported.

John Jordan, deputy commissioner of Suffolk's Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services, noted that 19 firefighters were killed battling a wildfire in Arizona in 2013.

"We don't want that to happen here," he said.

The training will utilize massive firefighting trucks that "are designed to actually knock trees over, to get deep into the woods," Jordan said.

In 2012, wildfire burned more than 1,100 acres in Ridge and Manorville.