 The IDNR-sponsored Type 2 Initial Attack Wildland Fire Crew included
nine IDNR staff, four staff from the Shawnee National Forest in
southern Illinois, four local community firefighters, a U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers employee, a city forester from Homewood and a
natural resources management contractor from Geneseo.Deployment
expenses for the Illinois crew (and all other state crews) are
reimbursed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Type 2 Initial Attack Crew members, all of whom have specialized
training in wildland firefighting, typically use hand equipment
including shovels and chain saws to dig fire lines and clear brush
and fallen trees that could provide fuel to the advancing wildfire,
providing a fire line barrier to the further advance of a fire.
"We are proud of the hardworking, dedicated individuals on this
team for answering the call to the Western fires deployment this
summer," said IDNR Director Marc Miller. "Our IDNR staff and other
members of this well-trained firefighting crew spent two weeks
enduring long days doing hot, dusty, smoky work to assist partner
agencies in battling a dangerous wildland fire in the Pacific
Northwest."
The Illinois crew, at the request of the National Interagency
Fire Center, joined other crews from Missouri, Indiana and Ohio in
departing for Salt Lake City on July 22. Concerns of
lightning-sparked fires in Utah and Idaho did not materialize,
resulting in the Illinois crew being dispatched to help battle the
Labrador Fire in Oregon.
From a base in Selma, Ore., the Illinois Type 2 crew spent nine
days preparing fire lines prior to ending the deployment and
returning to Illinois earlier this month.
"The ability to deploy staff to large wildland fires has provided
Illinois and the IDNR with highly qualified and experienced
firefighters. These trained crew members, in turn, assist in
wildland fire protection and prescribed fire operations here in
Illinois," said Tom Wilson, manager of the IDNR Forest Protection
Program.
Nationally, the Forest Service reports there are more than 35
uncontained wildland fires, mostly in the western U.S., which have
burned more than 750,000 acres this year.
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The IDNR has been training and sponsoring qualified "red-carded"
wildland firefighters since 2004, sending crews to assist other
agencies on fires in Illinois, Minnesota, Georgia, Arizona,
California, Idaho and Oregon. To be a qualified red-carded,
entry-level wildland firefighter, individuals must take specific
wildland firefighting courses, pass work-capacity tests annually
(3-mile walk with a 45-pound vest in less than 45 minutes) and
attend an annual fire refresher course. There are approximately
10,000 red-carded wildland firefighters in the U.S.
Members of the IDNR-sponsored Type 2 Initial Attack Crew who
deployed to the Labrador Fire in Oregon:
-
Wade Bloemer, IDNR
Division of Forest Resources
-
Stefanie Fitzsimmons,
IDNR Office of Realty and Environmental Planning
-
Tom Gargrave, IDNR
Division of Forest Resources
-
Dave Griffith, IDNR
Division of Forest Resources
-
Rich Lewis, IDNR
Office of Realty and Environmental Planning
-
Bob Lindsay, IDNR
Division of Natural Heritage
-
Bob Massey, IDNR
Division of Wildlife Resources
-
Jay Massey, IDNR
Office of Land Management
-
Tom Wilson, IDNR
Division of Forest Resources
-
Lance Brown, Shawnee
National Forest
-
Mike Hancock, Shawnee
National Forest
-
Allen Johnston,
Shawnee National Forest
-
Cody Mann, Shawnee
National Forest
-
Chris Hopfinger, U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers
-
Eric Heimos, West
County EMS and Fire (Missouri)
-
Curt Martin, Fox Lake
Fire Department
-
Hector Trimmer,
Freeport Fire Department
-
Jason Sartin, LaSalle
Fire Dept.
-
Jim Tresouthic,
Homewood village forester
-
Matt Schramm, Geneseo, Thunder Paws
Prescribed Fire Management
[Text from
Illinois Department of
Natural Resources
file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information]
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