More Guard members to help with fires
<p>Idaho National Guard members deploy from Gowen Field in Boise on Friday to support firefighting operations in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest.</p>
More Idaho National Guard personnel joined firefighting efforts on Friday in support of crews battling the Grizzly Complex Fire in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest.
The Idaho Emergency Operations Center at the Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security - the agency responsible for coordinating the support - received the request Wednesday afternoon for additional personnel on the fire in the Coeur d'Alene River Ranger District.
At the direction of Gov. Butch Otter, more than 20 airmen of the Idaho Air National Guard departed Gowen Field in Boise Friday morning en route to the Idaho Panhandle National Forest.
They will provide key support to the firefighting operations by assisting fire managers with communicating emergency wildfire closure information to the local population.
"These additional resources will help alleviate some of the critical staffing shortages that the forest is facing," said Chad Hudson, Coeur d'Alene River District ranger.
This activation is in addition to Idaho Army National Guard personnel and equipment conducting helicopter operations at the Clearwater Complex Fire in north-central Idaho and Idaho Air National Guard personnel near Nordman, Idaho, assisting with the Tower Fire burning near the Washington-Idaho border.
The Idaho Emergency Operations Center is activated and continues to monitor the situation, process requests for assistance, and issue mission assignments to support the ongoing fire suppression efforts. The activation and the missions are made possible through Otter's disaster declaration issued Aug. 13.
A primary function of the Idaho National Guard is to respond to state emergencies at the request of the governor. Idaho National Guard operations in support of the Grizzly Fire are tentatively scheduled to end mid-September.