SMYRNA – Responding to a spike in wildfire activity in the West that has increased the National Fire Preparedness Level to 4 on a 5-point scale, Delaware has joined forces with neighboring Mid-Atlantic states to dispatch a module of five crews, a total of 100 firefighters, to battle fires for the Great Basin’s Geographic Area Coordination Center. The crews departed Harrisburg, PA on August 25 and flew to Salt Lake City, Utah. Delaware has been assigned to the Henry’s Creek Fire near Idaho Falls, Idaho, which was listed at 52,511 acres in size and 37% contained. A total of 350 personnel are currently assigned to the incident. http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4982/
As an example of the pressing need for firefighters and equipment, the Pioneer Fire in Idaho alone has scorched more than 100,000 acres and was only 38 percent contained on August 25. More than 1,800 fire personnel were battling the fire that had already cost more than $66 million. Five crews from the East are already assigned to that major incident.
This is the second crew that Delaware has sent out this summer. The Delaware Forest Service dispatched firefighters to Colorado on July 25. They battled the 492-acre Milk Fire near Craig, Colorado and the 1,287-acre Tokewanna Fire near Mountain View, Wyoming. They finished up on the 12,276-acre Whit Fire, east of Yellowstone National Park near Cody, Wyoming.
Contact: Kyle Hoyd, Delaware Forest Service, (302) 698-4548 or kyle.hoyd@delaware.gov.
Photos on the Delaware Department of Agriculture’s Flickr Page: https://www.flickr.com/gp/agriculturede/AKH4A9
For more information or updates on the Delaware crew, follow @DelWildfire or @DelForestService on Facebook.
