Ames – As wild fires continue to rage in parts of the west, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources fire program has started to dispatch wildland firefighters to northern California and other places in need.
The fire program recently sent three wildland firefighters from Iowa to the Iron Complex (27 fires) in northern California. The three were part of a 20 person Type 2 Iowa crew, dispatched out of the Missouri Iowa Coordination Center out of Rolla, Mo. The crew is made up of interagency crewmembers from the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Missouri Department of Conservation and Iowa DNR representatives.
Of the three firefighters that went to California, two are experienced at fighting fires in several different states. Two are also from the heavily damaged area of Parkersburg. One lost his family home and car and the other lost his car while working at a local business and led people into a safe area in the building as the tornado struck.
“It amazes me to see these two young men, going to fight fire in another state as their own property was destroyed by a tornado, just a few short weeks ago,” said Ryan Schlater, fire specialist, with the Iowa DNR’s Forestry Bureau.
The fire program also organizes local recovery efforts as well, sending a saw crew to Parkersburg for a week and helping with flooding activities across Iowa.
Sending wildland firefighters to national incidents is not new to the Iowa DNR fire program, as they have been sending people for several years.
“Last year we sent 36 firefighters on 47 different deployments across the nation,” said Schlater. “This year looks to be busier with multiple fires burning in northern California, with most of the fire season still ahead of us.”
For more information, contact Ryan Schlater or any fire staff at 515-233-1161.
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Iowa Outdoors
http://www.iowaoutdoors.org/article.php/20080701130016816