Boone County firefighters deployed, snowed in
Five firefighters were sent home before getting to help.
Published Dec. 7, 2007
When firefighters battling a blaze in the George Washington National Forest called for backup, five Boone County Fire Protection District firefighters went to Virginia to pitch in.
But the day they arrived, snow and ice prevented them from doing any fieldwork. On Thursday, with the fire mostly contained, the team headed home again.
Chief Greg Rush, Capt. John Timmermann, Lt. Kyle Smith, Lt. Tyler Beauchamp and firefighter David Davenport, all members of the district's Fire Protection Team, went to Rolla on Wednesday to check in before driving to Virginia.
The firefighters joined 120 others at the Smith Flats Fire near Lexington, Va. Since Dec. 1, the fire spread to 681 acres, but was stifled by snow and temperatures as low as 18 degrees, said Annie Downing, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service district ranger.
"We were really thrilled to have them," she said. "It was great, but we weren't able to get them out there."
She said slippery terrain prevented firefighters from engaging in any fieldwork Wednesday. The conditions helped control the fire, and on Thursday, it was turned back over to the local district. The Boone County team was headed home by noon.
"Mother Nature impacted their ability to help us," Downing said.
BCFPD firefighter Jake Waller said he talked to Davenport on Wednesday morning after they arrived in Virginia. He said he was told the fire was 70 percent contained.
"They just called to tell me that it was snowing on them and that I wasn't missing much," he said.
Before the firefighters returned, BCFPD spokesman Gale Blomenkamp said although firefighters can be deployed for up to 14 working days and additional days for travel, he believed the conditions would help contain the fire.
"I don't anticipate these guys being out there too long," he said Tuesday.
Blomenkamp said the Boone County Fire District Wildland Firefighters are often deployed to help fight fires across the nation. This year alone, he said the BCFPD had deployed firefighters to Idaho, Oregon and Montana. Some of their firefighters fought four other fires on private contracts, he said.
He said the first firefighters this year were deployed on July 10.
Blomenkamp said when local fire districts are faced with a fire they can't fight alone, they reach out to the National Interagency Coordination Center. That center will contact regional coordination centers, like the Missouri/Iowa Interagency Coordination Center, which will examine the resources available to them and contact local agencies.
Blomenkamp said that although the firefighters are mostly volunteers, they are compensated for this trip.
"When they get deployed on these types of responses, they get paid for their work," he said.
Waller said BCFPD provides equipment for firefighters, but that when they are deployed, they can't take all of their gear with them because they often fly commercially. This equipment is provided when they reach their destination.
The Wildland Firefighters undergo both standard firefighter training and wildfire training classes in fire behavior, Waller said.
Blomenkamp said the wildland fire training includes safety rules, information on lookouts, terrain and how fires move.
"It's above and beyond training that a structural firefighter would get," he said. "Obviously, house fires are different from forest fires."
