Delaware sends 20-person crew to battle wildfire near North Pole, Alaska

Contact: John Petersen, Delaware Forest Service, 302-233-8180 (cell)

 

Back row (from left): Crew Boss Erich T. Burkentine of Milton, Andrew Douglas Rawlings of Newark, Patrick Gilchrist of Townsend, Robert Baldwin of Chestertown, MD, Tyler Torres of Smyrna, Jonathan E. Stave of Newark, William Seybold of Dover, Brian K. Ward of Houston, James Charney of Felton, and Nathaniel J. Sommers of Smyrna Front row: (from left), Brian McDonald of Bethany Beach, Chris Skrobot of Wilmington, Adam Keever of Port Penn, Nikki Testa of Wilmington, Jonathan Richardville of Claymont, Amber DeCarlo of Felton, Jennifer Decarlo of Felton, Guy Cooper of Millville, Todd Shaffer of Atglen, PA, and Jeff Wilson of Clayton.
Back row (from left): Crew Boss Erich T. Burkentine of Milton, Andrew Douglas Rawlings of Newark, Patrick Gilchrist of Townsend, Robert Baldwin of Chestertown, MD, Tyler Torres of Smyrna, Jonathan E. Stave of Newark, William Seybold of Dover, Brian K. Ward of Houston, James Charney of Felton, and Nathaniel J. Sommers of Smyrna
Front row: (from left), Brian McDonald of Bethany Beach, Chris Skrobot of Wilmington, Adam Keever of Port Penn, Nikki Testa of Wilmington, Jonathan Richardville of Claymont, Amber DeCarlo of Felton, Jennifer Decarlo of Felton, Guy Cooper of Millville, Todd Shaffer of Atglen, PA, and Jeff Wilson of Clayton.

A crew of 20 wildland firefighters under the direction of the Delaware Forest Service that departed on Friday, July 5 from Blackbird State Forest in Smyrna has joined over 680 personnel working on the 65,000-acre Stuart Creek 2 fire, located 25 miles east of North Pole, Alaska. The blaze is only 5 percent contained and burning through a mix of hardwoods and black spruce. The crew is assigned to a “remote spike camp” and tasked with preparing their own meals from “fresh food boxes” issued by fire officials. Delaware’s firefighters are also making the adjustment to the long hours of daylight typical to an Alaskan summer. Their first operational day on the fire was scheduled to be Monday, July 8.

According to a Monday update from the Eastern Area Coordination Center EACC, “The crew is still in staging at the “Tirebase” spike camp. Morale is high. Daytime temperatures have been in the seventies with nighttime temperatures in the fifties. Precipitation is forecasted for this afternoon and evening.”

Crews typically serve 14 days on the fire line before traveling home.

The National Preparedness Level is now at 3 on a 5-point scale.

The latest fire information on Stuart Creek 2: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/3468/

Delaware’s Eastern Area Inter-Agency Resource Representative (IARR) Crew Report:
DES#1: http://gacc.nifc.gov/eacc/logistics/crews/crews_files/iarr_report.pdf

National Incident Management Situation Report: http://www.nifc.gov/nicc/sitreprt.pdf

Image of the 65,000-acre blaze burning near North Pole, Alaska.
Image of the 65,000-acre blaze burning near North Pole, Alaska.

Selected photos from crew mobilization at Blackbird State Forest:

From left, Mother and daughter Jennifer DeCarlo and Amber DeCarlo of Felton are part of the team of 20 firefighters from Delaware battling a 65,000-acre wildfire in Alaska.
(from left) Mother and daughter Jennifer DeCarlo and Amber DeCarlo of Felton are part of the team of 20 firefighters from Delaware now battling a 65,000-acre wildfire in Alaska.

Jeffrey Wilson of Clayton preps his gear for the trip to Alaska as his young son Jeff, daughter Olivia, and wife Theresa look on.
Jeffrey Wilson of Clayton preps his gear for the trip to Alaska as his young son Jeff, daughter Olivia, and wife Theresa look on.

 

(from left) Amber DeCarlo of Felton, Chris Skrobot of Wilmington, Andy "Doug" Rawlings of Newark, and Jim Charney of Felton as they departed from Blackbird State Forest for the trip to battle a wildfire near North Pole, Alaska.
(from left) Amber DeCarlo of Felton, Chris Skrobot of Wilmington, Andy “Doug” Rawlings of Newark, and Jim Charney of Felton get ready to depart from Blackbird State Forest for the trip to battle a wildfire near North Pole, Alaska.

(from left) Adam Keever of Port Penn, Brian McDonald of Bethany Beach, Patrick Gilchrist of Twonsend, and Nikki Testa of Wilmington loaded their gear on a bus before departing for a flight to Alaska to battle a 65,000-acre wildfire.
(from left) Adam Keever of Port Penn, Brian McDonald of Bethany Beach, Patrick Gilchrist of Townsend, and Nikki Testa of Wilmington loaded their gear on a bus before departing for a flight to Alaska to battle a 65,000-acre wildfire near the town of North Pole.

Jonathan Stave of Newark prepares his gear for a two-week assignment with a team of Delaware firefighters battling a 65,000-acre blaze near North Pole, Alaska.
Jonathan Stave of Newark prepares his gear for a two-week assignment with a team of Delaware firefighters battling a 65,000-acre blaze near North Pole, Alaska.