Volunteer Firefighting Crews Helping Out In Other Ways Aside From Directly Fighting The Elk Fire

While they may no longer be battling the Elk Fire directly, many volunteer fire department members are assisting with trying to save structures from burning ahead of time, should the worst case scenario become a reality.

Crews at the town of Big Horn Volunteer Fire Department first got involved with battling the fire when it started coming down the mountain and was threatening the town of Dayton.

Eventually an incident command team took over the direct firefighting efforts, but that doesn’t mean the volunteer firefighters became useless.

Jon Warder is the Chief of the town of Big Horn Volunteer Fire Department.

He says since incident command took over, his crews have been helping to reduce fuels around various structures, so they are less likely to burn, and have helped with evacuations if needed.

Along the way, his crews have come across a lot of nervous homeowners.

“Being a home-owner in those kinds of fuels and several of them lived through the 2007 Little Goose fire, it’s nerve wracking. There’s no other word for it. They’re stressed, they want the assurance that their house will be ok, but we can’t ensure that and so it’s just working with them, trying to help them with the steps they can do to protect themselves, and to make that better decision when it comes to evacuation. What are some of the things that they can do at the last minute, to help their house be ready?”

The US Forest Service reports that structure protection has been put in place around the Big Goose Water Treatment Facility.

The fire recently crossed Big Goose Creek in the headwater area.