A mile from the sweat and grime of the fire line the Castle Rock fire camp operates like a well-oiled machine. The parking lots of River Run Lodge now contain a mobile-city: a sea of tents and trailers, filled with yellow, green and blue clad worker bees buzzing along the newly created streets.
River Run Lodge itself no longer resembles the jovial après-ski rendezvous it was mere months ago, where steaming mugs of hot chocolate warmed frost bitten hands in front of a roaring fire. Instead, laptops, telephones and printers litter the tables, brightly colored maps and Post-it notes cover the now muted fireplace, and the worker bees forge on quietly in their attempts to extinguish a fire that threatens the very soul of this ski-town community.
Currently operating at 1,640 people (just under half the population of Ketchum) the Castle Rock fire camp has an infrastructure most cities would be proud of. And it all sprung up in a matter of hours.
So just how did our new "River Run City" come into being?
In the 1970s, a series of catastrophic fires swept through California's urban interface, killing people and destroying property. Reviews of these disasters concluded that, more often than not, inadequate management caused the scale of the destruction.
So was born the Incident Command System (ICS). Developed by the United States Forest Service, the basic premise of ICS is a management plan that can apply to any situation, from a three-car pile up on Highway 75 to an unprecedented natural disaster such as 2005's Hurricane Katrina.
The California Team 3 that is managing the Castle Rock Fire is a Type 1 Incident Management Team, Type 1 being the highest level of disaster. They use the ICS system to quickly establish a tried and tested management system at any emergency, swiftly integrating facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures and communications. Put into non-government speak—with ICS, every one is on the same page.
When the 59 members of California Team 3, whose assignments have ranged from wildfires to Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, arrived in Ketchum on Sunday, Aug. 19, they went straight into action.
"When we get deployed we have a pre-order of equipment and personnel that is automatically activated," explained Larry Savage, Deputy Logistics Section Chief.
The Logistics Section is one of four sections that make up a complicated ICS organizational chart, headed up by the Incident Commander—Jeanne Pincha-Tulley. Each section—Operations, Planning, Finance and Logistics—plays an integral part in managing and controlling whatever disaster the team is dropped into.
"The primary role of the Logistics Section is to support the firefighters on the line," explained Savage on Monday, as he stood in front of River Run Lodge, a radio in both hands, dodging the stray sprinkler stream currently wetting down the roof of the highly combustible lodge.
The Logistics Section creates the fire camp. A glimpse into the inner workings of Ketchum's new River Run City is best achieved by talking to those who put it together, Savage, John Olney (the Logistics Section Chief) and their team of over 150 people.
It all starts with the Facilities Unit.
"Basically we come into someone's town find a property and build a city," said Darren Taylor, Facilities Unit Leader. "We have a standard checklist that we use in order to provide the basic requirements of living: safety, food, restrooms, disposal, fresh water, power, a post office, lost and found and so one."
In under three days, River Run City created its own medical clinic, supermarket, 911-style dispatch center, restaurant, gas station, mechanic shop, post office, Kinko's-type copy shop, bath house, laundry service, police force, city dump and of course, housing.
But these are no run-of-the-mill facilities. The Food Unit, headed up by Danny Fox, sent 245 hot dinners out to firefighters on the line last night, via helicopter. They then served 1,280 meals at the camp, after dishing out 3,350 sandwiches at lunch.
"Today we served 13,000lbs of food," explained Ray Keener, owner of Incident Catering Services of Seattle. "At breakfast we went through 500lbs of eggs and 450lbs of sausage."
Dinner tonight is lasagna, and the smell of tomatoes and garlic wafting from the kitchen in Upper River Run parking lot is a welcome respite from the constant charred smell of burning trees.
"You have to have a passion to feed people, take care of people," explained Keener, when asked how he manages his demanding role. "Or else you have to be nuts!"
Just up the road from the restaurant is River Run City's very own Wal-Mart. An outdoor warehouse, this is the Supply Unit. Headed up by Brian Gaddis, the Supply Unit is the heart of the camp.
"Everything you see here," said Gaddis, as he gestures towards the expanse of River Run City, "everything came across our desk at one point. From tents and tables to people and engines."
In less than seven days the Supply Unit has doled out over 500,000 feet of wildland fire hose, and that's just a glimpse into the voracious appetite of River Run City and its inhabitants.
"Our biggest challenge is with the coyote camps (the firefighters who sleep out on the line). They need fresh sleeping bags, toilet paper and food every night and it has to get to them, no matter where they are.
"I've been to a lot of fires and this is in the top three or four in terms of complexity," he continued.
Back down the road, towards the lodge, sit four, neat beige yurts, representing River Run City's hospital. But there are no doctors in comfy leather chairs to be found here. Paramedic Mike Hazlett, the Medical Unit Leader, just got back from a week with Division Alpha, camped out 8,500 feet up in the Smokey's, south east of Mahoney Butte.
"I was supporting four hotshot crews," said Hazlett. "We place medical people on the fire lines in order to treat the crews and stabilize any major injuries as needed."
Back in camp he and his team oversee 160 patients a day who require attention ranging from treatment of blisters to severe dehydration.
"We have four beds set up here and they've been full for the duration," said Anna Yates, an EMT with the Hailey Fire Department.
The biggest threat to a camp in terms of health is Camp Crud.
"It's an upper respiratory issue, due to exhaustion, smoke, change in temps and not enough rest," said Hazlett. In a camp of close to 1,700 people contagious diseases like Camp Crud will spread, well, like wildfire.
As with any city, there is always a dark side. And, according to Savage, "We do have to police our own."
Scott Cockrum is the camp's Security Unit Leader. While most of his job entails working with local agencies to assist with roadblocks and evacuations, he is also River Run City's sheriff. Thankfully, there haven't been many security incidents at the camp, but there are two camp raiders giving Cockram some headaches.
"We are trying to catch a bear," he said. "He's gotten into a few tents, and we had to chase him away from a dumpster the other day. He's also got a yearling with him, they've been hanging around all week."
For the bears, River Run City must seem like Christmas has come early. But for the residents of Ketchum, as happy as we are to have Savage and his team serving the 1,640 firefighters who are protecting our city, it is certainly time to pray for some early snow.
Inside River Run Lodge, skiing is a distant memory as an army of office workers takes over, running everything from the finance to the operations of Castle Rock Fire. They are all pleasantly surprised to find themselves in such plush surroundings. Their last camp was in a field. Photo by Willy Cook
