Rallying Troops to Fight Fires

As states in the Pacific Northwest prepare for what forecasters say could be a very bad wildfire season, forest officials are asking whether the war in Iraq will crimp their ability to call on National Guard troops for fire duty.

Guard units in some Northwest states have returned home in recent months, but the concern is whether they’ll be released from service and ready to help fight fires in the region.

Rose Davis, spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, says she’s fielded many questions regarding the availability of the National Guard, but it’s too soon to say if or where they’ll be needed.

Governors in several states are already rallying the troops.

“The Pacific Northwest, including northern Idaho and western Montana, has pretty serious water and fuel issues, so the folks in those states are being wise to look at preplanning,” Davis said.

Wildland fires burned more than 155,000 acres in 2004 in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. A preliminary outlook shows above-normal fire potential this year in the region.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer asked the Pentagon to free up some of the 1,500 Montana National Guard soldiers still on active duty because of the war in Iraq. Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said he couldn’t do that, but he promised help from other states if Schweitzer requested it.

U.S. operations in Iraq have stripped Montana of its 12 UH-60 Black Hawks, which played critical roles in 2003 when wildfires burned more than 736,800 acres. This year, 10 Black Hawks remain in the Middle East and two are set to return but must undergo inspection and maintenance.

The helicopters in the past were dispatched with 600-gallon buckets to drop water on fires, said Maj. Scott Smith, a Guard spokesman. A new option this year could be to use the Guard’s four CH-47 Chinook helicopters, each capable of carrying a 2,000-gallon water bucket, but first, flight engineers will have to be trained to serve on each four-person crew.

“It really is a matter of being prepared,” said Holly Armstrong, spokeswoman for Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who requested an assessment of National Guard resources available during the 2005 fire season.

Most of Oregon’s 8,000-plus soldiers have returned from overseas deployments. Its five Chinook helicopters have been deployed to Afghanistan, but 12 Black Hawk helicopters could be readily available, said Capt. Mike Braibish, spokesman for the Oregon National Guard.

Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire in early March declared a drought emergency and ordered the National Guard to prepare for wildfire duty this summer. At her request, the Legislature passed a measure allowing the governor to activate the Guard so that soldiers could be trained before deployment for emergencies such as wildfires.

When responding to wildfires, the Department of Natural Resource relies first on its own employees, seasonal firefighters and contract crews, as well as inmates from the Corrections Department, said Janet Pearce, spokeswoman with the department in Washington.

“We’re feeling fairly confident that we have enough available resources,” she said. The National Guard would be used only when all other avenues are exhausted, and even then it would serve only a support role -- setting up base camps and transporting firefighters.

Most of Washington’s 8,200 National Guardsmen will be available for state duty. However, the 81st Armor Brigade -- with about 3,200 soldiers normally called to respond to state emergencies -- has been trickling back from Iraq in recent months, and the state’s adjutant general has asked that it be the last deployed to fight fires.