Eglin fire manager assists California wildfire suppression efforts

  • Published
  • By Jerron Barnett
  • Eglin Environmental Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  An Eglin wildland fire management specialist recently returned from assisting the U.S. Forest Service's 1,200-person wildfire suppression effort to control wildfires that have burned more than 140,000 acres in northern California.

For approximately 14 hours a day for two weeks, Roger Kennedy served as a fire engine Strike Team Leader, battling fires that were caused by lightning in the Golden State's Shasta-Trinity National Forest near Redding, Calif. Mr. Kennedy and his team's job were to provide structure protection, initial wildfire suppression attack and patrol duties on a division of the fire, roughly 50,000 acres in size.

Under Mr. Kennedy's watch, there wasn't one structure that was lost to fire in his division, but the fire suppression team did suffer losses, including a helicopter crash on Aug. 5 that left nine dead and four injured.

Though Mr. Kennedy has performed similar duties in various parts of the country in his 30 years in wildland fire management, he regards this as one of the most challenging he ever faced due to the mountainous terrain of the Shasta-Trinity forest.

"Out of all the ratings of terrain you can have, this one was rated extreme," Mr. Kennedy said, as his eyes widened during as he recounted the forest's landscape. "It was almost straight up and down."

Mr. Kennedy said this steep terrain limited the ability to suppress the fires by hand crews, so the firefighters had to rely more on engines and aerial suppression to control the fires. The last update he received was that the USFS anticipates having the fire 100 percent contained by mid-September.

Although the team of wildland fire managers in Eglin's Fire Management Section primarily carries out its duties here, Eglin wildland fire managers can assist in other places across the nation, Mr. Kennedy said. When the fire danger level on Eglin is low to moderate, that allows the fire managers to make themselves available through the USFS's Resource Order and Status System, a system that provides automated support to interagency and agency dispatch and coordination offices within the wildland fire community.

Eglin has had to tap into this resource a few times in recent memory, James Furman, chief of Eglin's Fire Management Section, said. In 1998 and 2000, two of Eglin's most severe wildfire seasons on record, Eglin's wildland fire managers have had to call in assistance from other organizations to battle the wildfires.

"It's really beneficial to share our expertise in other fire emergencies around the country as well as for our fire personnel to experience fire in different terrains with different fuel types," Mr. Furman said. "Some of the folks we work with out there may come here one day to help us."

Mr. Kennedy said the most rewarding thing about his experience in California was the high level of public communication and involvement the USFS made with the residents there.

"It was really well thought out and you could tell the residents were really glad to see us there," Mr. Kennedy said. "I was honored to be a part of such an effort."