Kootenai County firefighters lend a hand with Oregon wildfire

On Saturday night, the state of Oregon requested the state of Idaho send firefighters to help with the Durkee Fire in eastern Oregon.  

By 5 a.m. Sunday, volunteers from Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, Timberlake Fire Protection District and Hauser Lake Fire Protection District and Worley Fire District mobilized to lend their assistance with battling the blaze. Each North Idaho department sent two firefighters and a brush truck to fulfil the request.  

“We were only sending two people, and we had a lot of people willing to go," said Kootenai County Fire Chief Chris Way. "We're very proud to send help. We also recognize while we're the ones sending help today, we may be the people needing help in the future."

When the local firefighters departed, the Durkee Fire had burned around 78,000 acres. The blaze was sparked by a lightning strike July 17. As of press time Wednesday, the fire had grown to 244,842 acres and is at 0% containment.  

Way said the deployment for the North Idaho departments is 14 days long. Firefighting officials in Oregon, however, are looking at months rather than days or weeks to contain and fully suppress the fire. 

Way said it’s been a few years since the last major out-of-state deployment. A crew was deployed days earlier with two paramedics and a Utility Terrain Vehicle to help with the Texas Fire in Idaho.

The requests are voluntary missions. Weighing the practicality of what equipment and hands the department can spare while keeping a robust outfit at home, always factors into the decision. The departments are later reimbursed for personnel costs and use of the equipment. 

“We never know when Idaho is going to need help from another state, so we feel like if we can fill the request, it's our obligation to help. Because at some point, it will be Idaho that needs help," Way said. 

Timberlake Fire Protection District Fire Chief Brandon Hermenet said the two Timberlake firefighters deployed have been concentrating on structure protection, prepping houses to make them less susceptible to burning.      

“They're making sure when the fire goes through there, they're defensible,” Hermenet said. 

He received an update Tuesday that they had been able to successfully prepare a 110-year-old barn in the line of the wildland fire.    

“They're pretty excited about that,” Hermenet said. 

Hauser Lake Fire Chief James Neils said 24-hour deployments are more common for nearby fires in Idaho and Washington, but another Hauser Lake firefighter has been helping in Oregon and California.  

Neils also sees the wildland aid as a neighborly duty the department provides. 

“If something big happens here, that help comes from the other direction. We're all in the same boat and we all have to work together,” Neils said. 

    Timberlake firefighters Jack Duclos and Matthew McLeod deployed to the Durkee fire in Oregon Sunday morning along with firefighters from Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, Hauser Lake Protection District and Worley Fire Protection District.
  

    Firefighters from Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, Timberlake Fire Protection District and Hauser Lake Fire Protection District and Worley Fire Protection District were deployed Sunday morning to help fight the Durkee fire in Oregon. By Tuesday at press time, the fire had grown to 239,255 acres with 0% containment.