Our short team arrived safely into Colorado Springs this afternoon. We were introduced to the Deputy Incident Commander Paul Broyles who gave us our in-briefing on what was going on, who we would be working with, and what we would be doing. The team we're working with is a Type I IMT from the Great Basin. Many are from Boise, Idaho. They're a squared away bunch who take a lot of pride in working for the firefighters on the line who are putting the boots on the ground and fighting the fire. We set up our camp today on the south side of the base camp. It was pretty funny to watch. The sea of tents in the picture is only a fraction of those around our base camp. There are many many more as there are close to 1000 firefighters plus overhead personnel who are being billeted here.  The view from our camp is unreal. It's unfortunate we're not here under better circumstances but I could definitely get used to waking up to this view...   The fire conditions have been favorable and crews have made great progress in establishing control lines. Re-entry of evacuated occupants has begun and more will continue tomorrow. The weather has been very cooperative and looks to continue tomorrow. We're watching out for a constant chance of storms but as of right now the temperature, RH, and occasional precipitation have greatly assisted fire crews. Tonight coming back into camp the locals have gathered at the entry point to our BOO with signs, flags, banners, etc. They cheer loudly for every piece of fire equipment that comes in and are incredibly thankful for the service of the firefighters to their region. It's really cool to see people reaching out to show their appreciation for the sacrifices these guys make and the risks they take.  The guys are doing great and are settling into their positions well. Everyone here has been very helpful to us getting settled, oriented, and organized. Ok...Morning briefing is at 0600 Mountain Time (that's 0800 for you east coast folks). |
State of Ohio | Butler County - Incident Management Team > Deployments > Black Forest Wildfire >