Because of their training, spirit and organization, Pennsylvania’s volunteer wildfire fighters continue to get the call this summer as the going gets rough with forest and brush fires across the country.

(Photo: DCNR Secretary Richard Allan (left) sends-off PA wildfire crew members.)

Most recently, 60 men and women from Pennsylvania volunteer fire companies and Bureau of Forestry districts and offices flew from Harrisburg to California on August 8. They will be assigned to fight wildfires during their two-week deployment—specifically at the Sequoia National Forest, midway between Sacramento and Los Angeles.

As they boarded a jetliner after loading their gear, the volunteers—along with a 20-person crew from New Jersey—were greeted and thanked by DCNR Secretary Richard Allan. Many of firefighters, in turn, thanked the secretary for the send-off, some asking their buddies to take their photo as they posed with the secretary.

Over the years, Pennsylvania’s wildfire fighters regularly have received high reviews for their training, attitude and knowledge, Allan noted.

“After training and their out-of-state assignments, these firefighters bring home more than the satisfaction of giving 100 percent,” the secretary said. “They bring back first-hand knowledge to help them fight large fires in our own woodlands. They know how to work as a team in the face of impending disasters.

“There is a strong underlying ‘You help me, I’ll help you’ approach to this cooperative effort. If we ever face a major wildfire in Pennsylvania, we know help is just a phone call away.”

So far, almost 200 bureau staffers and volunteer firefighters have been assigned to Western and Southern states fires. In past years, the bureau has dispatched as many as 300 volunteers a year to help other states.

Pennsylvania over the years has provided both crews and highly specialized individuals to wildfires in many Eastern states and every state west of the Mississippi. Most assignments involve firefighters traveling as part of a 20-person crew.

All volunteers from Pennsylvania have received intensive training at a Bureau of Forestry training camp that dates back 26 years. The three-day camp duplicates real-life firefighting experiences found across the nation.

(Reprinted from the August 15 DCNR Resource newsletter.)

8/20/2012