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IONE – Two members of Fire District No. 2 recently returned from deployment to the Lane 1 Fire in Western Oregon. Fire Chief/ Paramedic Christopher Haynes and Respiratory Therapist/EMT Nickey Bye brought back valuable experience to their fire district.
The administrative staff at the district is already preparing for next year’s fire season by making adjustments to their service model to benefit both the fire assistance model and the district members who mobilize to fires.
Considering the positive changes, Fire District 2 is accepting employment applications for temporary employment next summer.
One of the features new this year already was the addition of Starlink internet connections for the medical and fire apparatus sent out on a fire. Not only does this help the remote crew stay connected to the staff back home in Ione, Wash., but it is also a welcomed service for the other mobilized departments.
“It is important for command staff to deploy to fire from time to time,” according to a press release from the fire district. “This gives the staff a break from the frontlines and gets the administration into the trenches themselves so to say while still completing their administrative tasks. It’s all hands-on deck this way and the work of bringing additional revenue in for the District is shared by all.”
Now that Chief Haynes is back in district, he shares some of his thoughts.
“This has given me a good understanding of what my frontline people are facing when they mobilize on these fire incidents. This allows me as an administrator to make adjustments within our delivery model for an enhanced performance and support for our team,” he said. “It’s given me an even more profound appreciation for my district members who deploy on these fires. They face many challenges including being far away from home for long periods of time. I’m grateful for the opportunity to have truly experienced it first-hand.”
Fire District 2 is part of state and national programs providing local resources to large, wildland fires. This drives extra revenue back into the district.
Each fire is managed by an incident management team consisting of about 50 people who manage large fires from operations, planning, logistics, medical, air operations, finance, weather, to communications. It is important for department heads to interact with these teams as these mobilizations have become vital to the revenue stream of Fire District 2. Depending on the contract, the compliment will include EMT / firefighters or paramedic / firefighters with medical or firefighting equipment.
For more information, call 509-442-2311.
To be considered for employment now or for next summer’s ‘fire season’, visit pocfd2. org and download the application form.
