Charlie Kludt is secretary and training officer for the Viborg Volunteer FD, Viborg, SD, and captain and inspector at Joe Foss Field, Sioux Falls, SD. He is an on-call EMT for the Viborg Ambulance service. He has over 30 years in fire suppression, rescue, prevention, and inspection activities. He is President of the South Dakota Firefighters Association. He has certifications as Rescue Technician, driver-operator, inspector, instructor, and NWCG wildland.

In 2015, he was appointed NVFC State Director for South Dakota and is currently serving as Wildland committee member. He and his wife, Dawn, are members of the South Dakota-Local Assistance State Team (SD-LAST). Prior to a firefighting career, he was a Jr/Sr High School vocational instructor, coach, and Administrator. He served as mayor for 14 years; Planning and Zoning Chairman; School Board member; and church committee member (which has a “forever” term limit).

He brings a mix of seriousness and lightheartedness to his training. He likes to capitalize on the knowledge and experiences of attendees in the room. "I'm not the smartest guy in the room. I instigate and facilitate the intellect others have." His belief is that fire is the same, but fires are never the same. A majority of the fires we face are farm and rangeland related wildfires. People don’t think of agricultural related fires as wildland. Wildland fires are as different as the fuels and terrain across the country. Farm and range fires are an entirely different tactic than mountains and forests. Which means, how we fight them is different, as well. In this course, you will gain insight as to the similarities and differences between fighting wildfires in the mountains and forests versus farm and rangeland, with the intent to pass along ideas from everyone in the room.