For the week of June 26 - July 2, 2002

Valley crews fight 
ghost fire

Training exercises help prepare 
for real deal

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By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

Wood River Valley fire fighting crews got some hands-on experience Saturday without even seeing or extinguishing a flame.

Marching into action Saturday morning, a crew of wild land firefighters prepare to suppress an artificially advancing blaze. Express photo by Willy Cook

The U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Blaine County municipal fire crews—seven fire departments in all—converged on Muldoon Canyon east of Bellevue for a drill that included fighting a massive, imaginary wildland fire that ripped through sagebrush, grass and several homes in the span of about an hour.

Such fires, when they really occur, are in what firefighters call the urban-wildland interface, an area where forests or desert mesh with homes and private properties.

An automobile fire was supposed to have triggered the imaginary fire in Muldoon Canyon Saturday. The growing fire, represented by yellow tape, quickly engulfed the entire canyon, including several homes. Express photo by Willy Cook

"I thought it worked really, really well, better than the ones in the past I have attended," said Wood River Fire and Rescue Capt. Kjell Elisson, who coordinated this year’s event. "We do it every year, just to kind of get everybody together, and practice for the worst."

At about 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning, while valley fire crews convened at a vacant lot in Bellevue for a briefing, a dispatch call arrived for fire fighting crews to respond to an imaginary automobile engine fire that had ignited some neighboring grass.

Within an hour, the rapidly spreading fire ¾ simulated by a group of children deploying yellow crime scene tape ¾ had engulfed the entire canyon, and all seven fire fighting agencies worked frantically to get things under control.

Wild land fire fighting crews scrambled Saturday to extinguish an imaginary fire in Muldoon Canyon east of Bellevue in a drill that spanned seven fire fighting agencies. The annual exercise helps firefighters learn to cooperate with other agencies and gain practice prior to the start of Idaho’s fire season. Express photo by Willy Cook

Elisson said the annual drills are intended to ferret out problems before the multiple agencies are actually trying to work together on a dangerous and spreading fire. Communication is often among the leading problems, Elisson said.

Wood River Fire and Rescue Capt. Kjell Elisson was the brains behind the planning of this year’s fire exercise. "We do it every year, just to kind of get everybody together and practice for the worst." Express photo by Willy Cook

"It can get a little frustrating for the incident command to deal with all the chatter" of seven agencies using multiple radio frequencies and performing various tasks, he said.

Also, Elisson handed fire fighters red "oh darn" cards that depicted problems fire fighters might face while fighting a real fire. Flat tires, dog bites or disillusioned personnel were among the situations posed.

"These are all things that can really, really happen in those situations," Elisson said.

Hailey Fire Chief Carl Hjelm said the annual multi-agency training drills are invaluable for all the departments involved. Cooperation and coordination are imperative to successfully contain a spreading blaze, he said.

Sun Valley Fire Chief Jeff Carnes, left, and Wood River Fire and Rescue Chief Bart Lassman coordinate the exercise at the incident command post. Express photo by Willy Cook

The skills practiced among the agencies are used frequently, too. Last summer’s blaze on the ridge above Warm Springs was an example, Sun Valley Fire Chief Jeff Carnes pointed out.

"We can get everybody familiar with everybody else’s equipment and introduce everybody to each other, just hanging out together a little bit," Carnes said.

"It gives people a chance to get out in the field without direct supervision from their usual chief," he added. "It really works well. You just let people do what they were trained to do."

 

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