Twenty-one New York wildfire fighters, including three from Steuben County, have returned to the Empire State after two weeks of deployments in Montana and Oregon. A 20-person crew, including Lawrence Day of Hammondsport, Jonanthan Cleveland of Corning and Eric Egger of Hornell, helped extinguish the Grouse Fire in Montana. An additional forest ranger was assigned to the Eastern Area Incident Management Team to assist with extinguishing the Red Fire in Oregon.
The Grouse Fire has burned more than 3,000 acres in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest since it started on July 25. The New York State task force joined forces with more than 200 firefighters from across the country. Robert Praczkajlo, a forest ranger with the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), served as foreman during the two-week operation, along with seven other rangers, 11 highly trained DEC wildland firefighters from the Lands and Forests and Fish and Wildlife divisions, and a DEC fire supervisor. These task forces focused on holding the fire line, looking for hot spots, and looking for potential threats to structures.
New York State Forest Ranger Michael Burkholder was the Facilities Unit Chief for the Red Fire, which has burned nearly 500 acres in the Deschutes National Forest since it started on July 17 after a lightning strike. Ranger Burkholder conducted facility inspections and managed a large camp for more than 250 firefighters and support personnel.
Returning crew:
Michael Burkholder – Facility Manager – Forester, Norwich
Robert Praczkajlo – Foreman – Forester, Saranac Lake
James Canevari – Land and Forests, Hermon
Gregor Cerne – Fish and Wildlife, New Place
Joshua Choquette – Fish and Wildlife, Bovina Center
Jonathan Cleveland – Land and Forests, Corning
Lawrence Day – Fire Safety Officer, Hammondsport
Eric Egger – Lands and Forests, Hornell
Aaron Graves – Lands and Forests, Potsdam
Lincoln Hanno – Forester, Croghan
Scott Hicks – Forester, Ronkonkoma
Steven Jackson – Forester, Johnsonville
Eric Kasza – Land and Forests, Cherry Valley
Chandler Kwaczala – Land and Forests, Albany
Chester Lunt – Forester, Fabius
Jamison Martin – Forester, North Hudson
Peter Morehouse – Forester, Chestertown
Michael Putnam Fish and Wildlife Museum, Syracuse
Logan Quinn – Forester, North Hudson
Daniel Welcome – Land and Forests, Sherburne
Timothy Yeatts – Land and Forests, Accord
Three more DEC wildfire fighters were deployed to Montana this week, and more are expected to deploy to the West in the coming weeks to support ongoing firefighting efforts. In 1979, New York deployed its first firefighting crew to assist the western states with major wildfires. On average, one or two crews are deployed each year to fight wildfires as needed. In addition to helping contain wildfires and minimize damage, these crews gain valuable experience that will be used in fighting wildfires and managing all-risk accidents in New York. All personnel and travel expenses of New York crews are either paid directly by the U.S. Forest Service or reimbursed to New York State based on a mutual assistance agreement between the states and federal land agencies.
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