QUILCENE — A team of Quilcene Fire Rescue firefighters is ready to deploy and join other North Olympic Peninsula personnel in helping to protect homes from the raging wildfires that have engulfed areas of Eastern Washington.
The engine crew has been selected and was waiting for assignment Sunday, said Clallam County Fire District No. 3 Chief Ben Andrews.
As soon as four to six additional engine teams are assembled from other departments across the state and a strike team commander is identified, the Quilcene team will be assigned to one of the many fires burning east of the Cascades, Andrews said.
At least 19 first responders from Clallam and Jefferson counties are now battling wildfires or resultant structure blazes in Eastern Washington.
In most bad fire years, the larger fire departments in the county — from Sequim and Port Angeles — send firefighters to assist at blazes in other parts of the state.
Both fire departments maintain wildland fire training for their crews, and they have their “red card” wildland firefighter certification prepared as needed.
Most North Olympic Peninsula firefighters are trained only for structure fires, which is different than wildland firefighting and typically requires different gear and different fire engines, Andrews said.
Wildland fire training requires 40 hours for certification, and many of the smaller fire departments that rely on volunteers have been unable to schedule the time-consuming training, he said.
However, he said, this is not a typical year, and qualified, experienced firefighters are in great demand.
Andrews, who is preparing to deploy Tuesday to the Kettle Complex for field training as a type 3 incident commander, said he is planning to organize training for at least one experienced structure fire crew and possibly offer training to others in the North Olympic Peninsula.
Not all qualified crews will be deployed. Some crews will remain home to be available for fires that may break out on the North Olympic Peninsula, he said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
