By Kevin Miller
Bangor Daily News (Maine)
Copyright 2006 Bangor Daily News
Twenty wildlands firefighters from throughout Maine packed up their survival gear Wednesday and left to help battle one of the nearly 60 major forest fires burning in Central and Western states.
The crew of Maine Forest Service rangers and trained civilian firefighters are headed to the Minnesota-Canada border to help suppress the 32,000-acre Cavity Lake fire burning in the Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness.
This is the fourth wildlands firefighting crew organized by the Maine Forest Service so far this fire season, with the three other groups all dispatched to battle blazes in Quebec. Several individual Forest Service employees have also joined fire suppression teams in the West.
“As long as things aren’t busy around here, we usually mobilize quite a few folks every year” for fires elsewhere, said Mark Rousseau, the forest ranger leading the Maine crew.
The Cavity Lake fire was roughly 80 percent contained as of Wednesday afternoon. Sparked by a lightning strike, the fire has burned for nearly three weeks in the popular wilderness canoe park.
Rousseau said the crew will likely help “mop up” by extinguishing hot spots, patrolling the fire lines and breaking down equipment. While not necessarily the most glamorous part of the job, it’s a necessary part of fighting any major forest fire, Rousseau said.
“There is a group that goes out every year with us, so we have a pretty experienced crew,” he said.
Before leaving for Minnesota on Wednesday afternoon, the firefighters received a safety refresher course and went over logistics. They also spent part of the afternoon in the sweltering summer heat practicing techniques that could save their lives if conditions on the fire line suddenly turn from dangerous to disastrous.
All wildlands firefighters carry an emergency “fire shelter” to be employed only if all other escape options are exhausted. The shelter, which is folded compactly to about the size of a child’s shoebox, is essentially a specialized heat shield that resembles a tapered tinfoil blanket.
Firefighters crawl underneath the shelter with their feet pointed toward the approaching flames, making sure to tuck the blanket on all sides. Although not a guaranteed lifesaver, a properly deployed foil shelter can help deflect up to 90 percent of a fire’s heat, firefighters said.
Even so, firefighters who are unfortunate enough to find themselves in need of the shelter — but fortunate enough to survive the experience — often emerge with severe burns on the legs, arms and sides.
Despite the risks, the crew appeared ready and eager to deploy Wednesday afternoon.
Bob Peterson, a member of the Hancock Fire Department, said he was interested in fighting forest fires in part for the experience and because he wanted to help fill the need. Peterson, a longtime fighter of structure fires, said he finally found the time to complete the wildlands firefighting training.
“I just finished training two to three weeks ago and here I am ready to go out west,” Peterson said.
Mike Daigle, a Maine Forest Service ranger from St. Agatha, was one of the veteran wildland firefighters in the group, having deployed more than a dozen times throughout the West as well as into the Southern United States and Canada.
Daigle said a spruce fire in Quebec is much different than a forest fire in Utah or Idaho, so firefighters must rely on their training to stay safe.
The Maine Forest Service crew has been called up to spend 14 days in Minnesota, although the actual length may be longer or shorter depending on the conditions. Several firefighters said it is not uncommon to leave home headed for one forest fire only to be recalled or diverted to another blaze.