200 active duty military personnel mobilized to fight wildfires

National Guard In Cargo Truck
File photo of firefighters being hauled in a California National Guard truck in Yreka, California, August 14, 2014. Photo by Bill Gabbert.

For the first time since 2006, the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Boise, Idaho is mobilizing active duty military personnel to serve as firefighters to assist with wildfire suppression efforts. Currently, approximately 95 large wildfires are burning about 1.1 million acres in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, California, Nevada, and Colorado.

The National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group (NMAC) at NIFC requested the Department of Defense (DOD) to provide 200 active duty military personnel to assist with firefighting efforts. The DOD has approved the request and identified the 17th Field Artillery Brigade, 7th Infantry Division, Army located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in Washington to provide the active duty military personnel. The Soldiers will be organized into ten crews of 20 persons each, all of which will be sent to the same wildfire, which is in the process of being identified.

“We are committed to continuing to do everything we can to provide the firefighters, aircraft, engines, and other wildfire suppression assets that Incident Commanders need to protect lives, property, and valuable natural and cultural resources to suppress the most challenging wildfires we’ve experienced in several years,” said Aitor Bidaburu, Chair of NMAC. “The U.S. military has been a key partner in wildland firefighting for decades and we greatly appreciate their willingness to provide us with Soldiers to serve as firefighters as well as C-130s equipped with Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems (MAFFS) to serve as large air tankers to help with wildfire suppression efforts.”

The Soldiers will be trained by wildland fire agency personnel, including the Bureau of Land Management Vegas Valley Crew comprised entirely of military veterans, at JBLM beginning this Wednesday, August 19th. The training is expected to conclude by Saturday, August 22nd, and the Soldiers are expected to begin working on a wildfire on Sunday, August 23rd.

The training will consist of one day of classroom training at JBLM and one to two days of field training at the wildfire that the Soldiers will be assigned to.

Since 1987, active duty military personnel have been mobilized to serve as wildland firefighters a total of 35 times. The last time was in 2006 when a battalion from JBLM was mobilized to work on the Tripod Complex Fires on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in Washington.  Currently, several states – including California, Washington, and Oregon – have mobilized National Guard personnel to serve as wildland firefighters and helicopters to assist with wildfire suppression efforts. For example, 100 soldiers from the Washington National Guard who previously received wildland firefighter training, began working on the Reach Fire at Chelan, Washington on August 17.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

One thought on “200 active duty military personnel mobilized to fight wildfires”

  1. Just a little perspective on the use of military troops, from someone who has used them since 1987> there are now 25,000 or so folks on the fireline, all trained and now well experienced. 200 newly trained rookies from the Military need top-level supervision in order to contribute to the effort. Lots of PR involved, and that’s not all bad, but this is surely not a “game changer”> Only Mother Nature can provide us with that!

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