100 Firefighters Head West To Battle Wildfires

100 Firefighters Head West To Battle Wildfires

7 August 2009

published by www.fox43.com

USA — Five groups of twenty firefighters from Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Ohio and Maryland are heading to Utah to battle a 2200 acre blaze.

The specially trained men and women will be gone for 14 days, often waking at 6:00AM and working for 16 hours straight. They are only allowed to take 55 pounds of gear with them. That includes boots, fire protection, and a sleeping bag. Some people had to get rid of things like shaving cream before leaving to meet the weight requirement.

This is the first call-up of the summer for this group. But Chris Sturm, who has been on 18 of these missions, says it won’t be his last. “You see the country. You get to help people out and meet people. The camaraderie among guys is great, and people are really appreciative.”