Revving up help for Montana firefighters

A Coeur d’Alene man, with a penchant for cars and a large network of young, like-minded auto-lovers, is putting his passion to work to help firefighters battling the massive wildfires burning in western Montana.

Grant Fischer is organizing a car meet Sunday at 6 p.m. at Higgens Point in Coeur d’Alene, and he’s asking everyone who comes to bring supplies to donate to the men and women fighting the fires.

Fischer, 27, decided he had to take action after visiting Montana last weekend.

What he saw, broke his heart, he said.

“I had no idea how bad things really were,” Fischer said.

While over there, he got permission to go past a roadblock and went into one of the firefighter camps.

“I spoke to some of the guys, and they’re just beat down,” he said. “They’re so low on supplies that they’re just filling their bottles out of the creeks.”

There are more than 40 active wildfires in Montana right now, many of them in the western forests and Glacier National Park. The 11 fires burning Wednesday in Lolo National Forest, which borders Idaho and spreads past Missoula, cover roughly 320,000 acres.

“There’s no reason these guys should be running out of supplies,” Fischer said. “It’s time for us to step forward. You don’t have to be a superhero to make a difference. I’m just a simple kid who likes cars.”

Helping the firefighters through a car meet, Fischer said, is also an opportunity for people to see that young members of the car community have something to offer; they’re not troublemakers.

Fischer, who is now attending North Idaho College and is in the auto collision repair program, acknowledged his own past includes a stint in prison.

“I do everything in my power now to turn it into something positive, to show people you don’t have to stay that way,” he said. “People can turn themselves around. We want to set an example for the younger generation.”

He said Sunday’s meet is for cars, trucks, motorcycles and anyone who wants to come and see the cars and donate a needed item.

Fischer is also asking all who come to bring American flags. Before the car meet breaks up, he plans to lead a prayer while the flags are flying.

“I want to show America Idaho cares,” Fischer said.

A big need for the firefighters, Fischer said, is cases of bottled water. The firefighters have also asked for postcards and pens.

“They can’t call home easily, and they can carry postcards with them,” he said.

Non-perishable, easy to carry, individually wrapped snacks, toiletries and Gatorade are also needed.

Fischer said the firefighters have also asked for packages of baby wipes.

He said he spoke to Lolo fire officials and the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office - the agencies any cash donations received will be given to - and was told cash donations will be given to a church that has housed and fed evacuees. Monetary donations will also go to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation to help the families of firefighters who have died - two have already perished while battling fires in Montana this year - or to help any fire personnel who are injured.

Fischer said that with the help of volunteers, he will do whatever it takes to deliver the donated items to firefighter camps throughout the affected region - near Kalispell, Missoula and Libby. He’ll load truck beds with bottled water and other supplies and drive it over to Montana on Sunday, Sept. 17.

For information, email Fischer at motocross.idaho@gmail.com.