8 community march1 2018 Into the Inferno “In 2007 after the flood the State Emer- gency Management team that deploys us came here to Vernonia for almost three weeks,” says Davis. It’s a big deal for me that Vernonia has personally benefit- ted when we had resources from all over the state here. We had firefighters from all over the state come here and man our station so our firefighters could go home and take care of their own families and properties. That’s personally why I am happy to go on these assignments, be- cause I’ve personally benefitted from them, and I know the importance of it. And we saw it firsthand when we rolled in to some of those small towns in Cal- ifornia where their own fire department is either over- whelmed or personally ef- fected and had to be evacu- ated themselves.” Davis says he has been deployed to about eight different wildfires during his years as a fire- fighter, working on fires in Baker City, in The Dalles on several occasions, Troy, Oregon, and now Califor- nia. Steinweg has been deployed to Warm Springs, and also spent time work- ing for the Oregon Department of For- estry where he fought wildfires in Baker City, Vale, and Caynonville, Oregon. Steinweg says a lot of thought and planning goes into deciding who to send and which resources can go when a request comes from the state for a de- continued from page 7 ployment. “We did have questions from our community this summer when fire danger was so high here and we had re- sources out of District,” says Steinweg. “We always have a game plan for how we are going to fight a local fire if we send resources away. We don’t take something out of District if it’s going to hurt the community.” Davis adds that a lot of thought and planning happens between all the County agencies when assembling a strike team for deployment. “Typically they might send a tender from Mist, a smaller engine from Vernonia, and some bigger engines from Scappoose, and Co- lumbia River because they don’t want to deplete any one agency of personnel or resources. They try to balance it among the agencies.” Steinweg adds that Ver- nonia will contact other regional agen- JOBS IN THE FOREST PRODUCTS INDUSTRY Production workers wanted for entry level sawmill positions Lumber is our business - since 1971 • Competitive wages and benefit package • Starting at $15/hr depending on experience • Must be able to pass drug screen • Must have current driver’s license Apply in person at Olympic Forest Products 69480 Banzer Rd. Mist, OR 97016 Monday - Friday 7:00 am - 3:00 pm Absolute MARBLE QUALITY FABRICATION & INSTALLATION MARBLE GRANITE TRAVERTINE FREE ESTIMATES Kitchen Countertops Fireplace & Furniture Tubs & Vanities CCB#204480 Phone 503-429-2617 AbsoluteMarble@frontier.com cies, like Banks or Mist and let them know they are short handed and which apparatus they might need in the event of a local fire. Davis and Steinweg say the makeup of a strike team can depend on a num- ber of factors, including who is available, their past experience and familiarity with particular apparatus as- signed to the deployment, and the need to get experi- ence in a par- ticular role on a strike team. Da- vis explained that, like struc- tural firefight- ing, wildland firefighting and management requires the personnel to show hands- on understanding and pro- ficiency in certain skills under the guidance of a trainer before they can as- sume certain roles on a team. As an example, Da- vis says that at a wildland fire in The Dalles, he served as the Engine Boss on a Vernonia fire en- gine, while Vernonia Chief Smith served as the engine operator while complet- ing tasks that would allow him to serve as Engine Boss. “Vernonia didn’t have anyone qualified to serve as Engine Boss at that time, so I was placed on the Verno- nia engine to sign off on the skills Chief Smith needed for certification,” explains Davis. “That’s actually very common. In California this December Captain Steinweg was riding with a Lieutenant from Columbia River and had a chance to train and gain experience towards cer- tification in other wildland applications. Once you get activated the County has to assemble a team based on who has qualifications for what, and our rank at our home agency can shift based on the training and experience fighting wild- fires of each individual.” “It’s a great training experience because we don’t normally see those kinds of wildland situations around here,” says Steinweg. “As a resident of Vernonia it’s important to me that we get people like Will and Chief Smith and some of our volunteers out working on these wild- fires because there is really no other way to get that training and experience,” adds Davis. “If we ever do have that type of fire activity around here you have some- one who has seen it before and has some kind of experience, which will make things go so much smoother here.” Davis notes that VRFPD could send personnel and pay for them to re- ceive training in fighting wildland fires. Instead, when local firefighters are de- ployed on wildfires, Oregon Emergency Management foots the bill for invaluable hands-on training. Steinweg points to the 30 acre fire just outside Clatskanie last summer as an example. “We just don’t see that many fires like that in Columbia County, but there certainly is the potential for it to happen,” says Steinweg. “When we do, the officers and firefighters that show up and do a good job handling it are ones that have been on these strike teams and have seen it before, and instead of being faced with something they’ve never seen before, they know what to do and can develop a plan to handle it,” adds Davis.