Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Lending a helping hand and hose

Valley firefighters head to California

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By JON DUVAL
Express Staff Writer

Barring any last-minute bureaucratic delays, six firefighters from departments in the Wood River Valley could be heading west today to lend a hand in California, where hundreds of wildfires have been raging in the northern part of the state since last month.

Ketchum Fire Chief Mike Elle said Monday that a total of six firefighters from the Ketchum, Hailey and Sun Valley fire departments, along with engines from both Hailey and Sun Valley, would soon be on the way to help battle the blazes.

On Tuesday afternoon, Hailey Assistant Chief Carl Hjelm said the Idaho Department of Lands was working with its Californian counterpart to ensure that all the paperwork was in order and that there were signed contracts telling the firefighters where they were headed.

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Hailey's Brandon Rasmussen would be joined by Slater Storey and Reed Black from Sun Valley, and Gary Robrahn, Noah Tunney and Mike Witthar from Ketchum.

Hjelm said the plan was to drive the engines to Shoshone, where they would then be transported by flatbed truck while the firefighters flew to the airport nearest their fire destination.