Wednesday, September 9, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
5
UK firefighters had exceptional sojourn in Sisters
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
Five firefighters from
Great Britain are return-
ing home with a wealth of
professional information to
integrate into their work —
and many fond memories of
their two-week stay in Sisters
Country.
Sisters Camp Sherman
Fire District hosted five
firefighters from the United
Kingdom as part of an inter-
national firefighter exchange
program. The firefighters
are from the Hampshire Fire
& Rescue Service, which
provides fire protection to
Hampshire, U.K. and the Isle
of Wight.
Hampshire Fire & Rescue
intends to be among the top
units in the UK, and to do
that they are sending contin-
gents to seek out subject mat-
ter experts in various aspects
of the profession. They came
to Sisters to tap expertise in
managing wildland fire.
While Hampshire has
nothing on the scale of the
kind of fire we see in the
West, they do have fires —
and other incidents that can
benefit from advanced study
of infrastructure and logistics.
David Hodge, a station
manager with Hampshire
Fire & Rescue, noted that
his county deals with seri-
ous flooding, and what his
crew learned about incident
management on the Canyon
Creek Fire near John Day
is directly applicable to that
type of incident.
“It can be transposed from
wildland fire to any type
of incident,” he said. “It’s
the structure rather than the
incident.”
The UK firefighters vis-
ited a variety of agencies,
as well as responding to
emergency calls. The UK
crew visited the U.S. Forest
Service, Oregon Department
of Forestry and the Redmond
Air Center, and spent consid-
erable time asking detailed
questions about operations.
“Everywhere those guys
went, people were energized
and eager to share their sto-
ries with them,” said Sisters
Fire Chief Roger Johnson.
Hodge noted that the
Firewise prevention program
provided an example that
they are eager to apply.
“That will be really useful
to us also,” he said. “That’s
something that’s only in
its infancy, in Hampshire
especially.”
A c t u a l l y, t h o u g h ,
photo provided
Firefighters on an exchange program from the united Kingdom were enthusiastic about their welcome in Sisters.
Hampshire Fire & Rescue
is regarded as a leader in
providing community risk-
mitigation services, and the
Sisters fire department will be
sending two personnel to the
UK next year to focus on that
aspect of the service.
“I think that’s really where
we’re going to gain the
most, going forward,” Chief
Johnson noted. “It’s good to
look outside your immediate
area and get a broader view of
the profession.”
Johnson said that
exchanges like this give an
opportunity to see how others
do their work and to pick up
ideas that can be implemented
to enhance local service.
More than the professional
benefits they will take home
with them, the Hampshire
firefighters were struck by
how open and welcoming the
community of Sisters was.
“It was an exceptional
experience,” Hodge said.
“That’s from all five of us.
Every one of us is taking
home something special from
this… What a wonderful
place you live in. Amazing
place.”
Though they squeezed
in a rafting trip and climbed
Black Butte last Thursday, it
was a working trip and there
was little time to enjoy the
attractions of the area. Hodge
means to rectify that.
“I’ve already spoken with
my wife and said I want to
come back in the next two
years,” he said. “I don’t want
to do the big touristy things. I
just want to come to Sisters.”