Soldiers receive wildfire training to assist firefighters

The military has been activated to assist wildfire fighters as agencies battle a number of wildfires in the state.

• Soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord are receiving wildfire training to support firefighting efforts, particularly in the Boise and Payette National Forests.
• As the national preparedness level reaches its highest alert, officials emphasize that this marks the beginning of a big push to contain the blazes.

( Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)

"The military has been activated for the first time in a couple of years to support wildfire fighters' efforts with the vast number of wildfires we have going this year," says Jennifer Rabuck, Incident Commander with the National Incident Management Organization Team.

Army soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord are undergoing thorough and expedited wildfire fighting training.

"We're just trying to give them the general training they need to be out here on the fire line. We're giving them a lot of training in a short amount of time. It's good quality training, and we're trying to get them up to speed as quickly as we can," says wildfire firefighter Michael Miller.

Lieutenant Colonel Celio Biering, Commander of the 14th Battalion, says, "We're here to help shore up some of the resources that they have here as they get ready to fight some of these fires here in the Boise National Forest."

While only some of the active military members on these crews have encountered wildfires, Michael Miller, a veteran and active firefighter training the crews, says many of the soldiers tell him they are looking forward to getting on the firelines.

"A lot of these guys, ya know, their operations are out of the country. They don’t get the opportunity to give back to their country on the stateside," says Miller.

Making it all possible: teamwork.

"The collaboration has been phenomenal. The National Interagency Fire Center comprises a lot of different agencies, but what is absolutely clear throughout all of them is their professionalism and their desire to help others. They’re here giving their best so we can help others," says Lieutenant Colonel Biering.

With the national preparedness level sitting at Level 5, which is the highest alert level, Rabuck says this is just the beginning of a month-long push.

"We do have a good 30-day push ahead of us before we even start to see things taper off and those season-ending events start to line up on the landscape for us," Rabuck said.