Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
BLM honors relationship with local firefighters through gift of new engine
Doug Leis accepts the keys to the engine from the BLM's Paul Hohn. Pictured with Commissioner Fred Devish, Fire Warden Charlie Harrison and Commission Bob Latham.
Crook County Volunteer Fire Department has been gifted a piece of equipment that is expected to prove invaluable to wildland fires of all types and locations.
The 2015 Type 6 Wildland Firefighting Engine previously belonged to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and was stationed in Buffalo. Now, says Fire Warden Charlie Harrison, it will be located at the fire cache as an addition to the fleet.
Along with Harrison and Doug Leis, who got the ball rolling on the exchange while he was himself serving as fire warden, County Commissioners Fred Devish and Bob Latham were present to express their appreciation for the gift.
An engine of this type could easily have set the county back between $150,000 and $200,000 at auction, and that's pretty much the budget for the year, commented County Commissioner Bob Latham.
"BLM has a program that has been endorsed and approved by Congress called the Rural Fire Readiness Program. In it, BLM were able to give safety equipment, firefighting equipment, clothing, tools and apparatus to our county cooperators," says Paul Hohn, BLM Wyoming State Fire Management Officer, who traveled to Crook County on Thursday along with several other BLM representatives to hand the keys and title to the firefighters.
The program honors the tight-knit firefighting community in Wyoming, Hohn says, and how closely the different agencies work together.
"We all respond to fires together in Wyoming. It doesn't matter what jurisdiction it is, the closest folks respond and do what they can to suppress the fire," he says.
The closest BLM station is in Buffalo so, when a fire burns onto BLM land, it can take time for personnel to respond.
"It made perfect sense to us to get them an engine because they're an awesome partner and they respond to our fires when it takes us a while to get here," Hohn says.
The engine features a pump and hose and is suitable for several types of application.
"You can do a mobile attack where you travel on lighter fuel loads and spray water out onto the fire's edge as you go," says Hohn.
"If it's on a heavier fuel type, like in timber, an engine of this size can usually navigate the two-track roads and get a little closer to the fire and get firefighters closer in where they can run hose off the engine or grab a chainsaw and some tools and start digging hand line and cutting in fire line."
