NEWS ABOUT SAN JUAN COUNTY FIRE DISTRICT NO. 3
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Local firefighters home from eastern Washington
posted 08/28/01
San Juan County firefighters returned from the wildfires in Eastern Washington Sunday, Aug. 26. Max Jones, Kim Thomas, Mike Conners and Pam Conners from Orcas Island worked on brush engines alongside Noel Monin and Claire Vedder from San Juan Island. The firefighters worked as part of a Western Washington strike team under San Juan Fire Chief Bill McLaughlin. A strike team is a group of five brush engines who work together under a strike team leader.
The strike team, which was called up on August 13, consisted of brush engines from King County and Snohomish County as well as one brush truck from San Juan. The strike team was initially dispatched to the fires near Brewster, WA. There the firefighters assisted in controlling the 590 acre Indian Dan Fire and the 5800 acre Gamble Mill Fire. On the 19th, the strike team was released from Brewster to Tonasket, where they spent 6 days fighting the Bailey Mountain Fire, which was close to containment at 3190 acres on Saturday.
The firefighters worked an average of 14 hours each day fighting the fires in temperatures that soared over 100 degrees at times. Heat, dense smoke and steep terrain challenged the firefighters throughout the firefighter efforts. The welcome rains last week helped speed containment of many of the fires. Fire season is far from over, however, and San Juan crews are busy regrouping to assist State and Federal crews if called out again.
