Firefighting crews in Utah are getting a hand from the National Guard as wildfires across the state and nation continue to stretch resources thin.
Soldiers with the Utah Army National Guard are using Black Hawk military helicopters to drop water from 530-gallon buckets to help contain the Rocky Canyon Fire burning in Summit and Morgan counties, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Wednesday.
Guard members started their firefighting mission on Aug. 5, the department said, to help slow the spread of the Black Canyon Fire in Sanpete County. They shifted to northern Utah when the Rocky Canyon Fire exploded days later. It’s now at more than 15,600 acres and 29% containment, with evacuations still in place for the small community of Henefer.
For some soldiers, the mission is personal, said Lt. Col. Penny McCarthy, commander for the 2nd Battalion, 211th General Support Aviation Regiment. Multiple members either have family in nearby communities or live there themselves.
“One of the most important things that we do on these fires, of course, is preserving life, preserving property and easing human suffering,” McCarthy said in a prepared statement. “And it just hits different when it’s our neighbors.”
She called the opportunity to aid in the firefighting efforts “a tremendous honor.”
It’s also an indicator of a demanding season in the U.S. that began with massive fires in Utah before forests in Washington state and Oregon went up in flames. The National Interagency Fire Center notes the U.S. preparedness level is at a five — its highest ranking — meaning national resources are “heavily committed.”
Speaking to reporters Tuesday about the Rocky Canyon Fire, incident spokesperson Sierra Hellstrom noted Utah’s large blazes were burning earlier than they typically do.
“We’re barely in August,” Hellstrom said. “This is usually when fire season actually starts to get big, let alone be in PL5 already.”
Other National Guard units across the country, including in Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, California and Washington, have also been tapped to help douse flames in those states.
For the soldiers pitching in, the hours are long and the work demanding — not just for the pilots spending up to eight hours in the air but for crews “turning wrenches and working overtime to get these aircraft ready to launch each morning,” said Chris Aylstock, a pilot and Army chief warrant officer, in a prepared statement.
They fly from West Jordan to a site in Morgan County each morning for a briefing with fire managers. Then it’s time to take off to support firefighting efforts with a variety of operations, including direct attack on flames; backburning operations, wherein preventive fires are set to clear out fuels; and providing protection for buildings.
Aylstock said flight days are a cycle of fueling up, fighting the fire and choking down a sandwich somewhere in between, and noted one of his shifts included 48 bucket drops.
It’s an assignment the National Guard regularly prepares and practices for, McCarthy said. Such directives come from the office of Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and through the Department of Emergency Management after local authorities ask for assistance.
This report was originally published at UtahNewsDispatch.com.
