Holiday delayed for firefighters
—Courtesy photo Six Idaho Department of Lands firefighters from Sandpoint were among a group of 20 members of the "Panhandle Crew" that spent Thanksgiving, and much of the month of November, in North Carolina battling the Party Rock Fire, which was one of many fires plaguing the southeast.
—Courtesy photo Six Idaho Department of Lands firefighters from Sandpoint were among a group of 20 members of the "Panhandle Crew" that spent Thanksgiving, and much of the month of November, in North Carolina battling the Party Rock Fire, which was one of many fires plaguing the southeast.
—Courtesy photo Adam Reynolds is one of Six Idaho Department of Lands firefighters from Sandpoint who spent Thanksgiving, and much of the month of November, in North Carolina battling the Party Rock Fire, which was one of many fires plaguing the southeast.
SANDPOINT — Six local Idaho Department of Lands firefighters, among many others across the Northwest, gave up Thanksgiving with their families to help battle the many fires plaguing the Southeast.
Adam Reynolds, Sandpoint IDL firefighter, not only spent the holiday away from his family, but his new bride as well.
"My wife and I were married two weeks before I left," Reynolds said, adding that she texted him, from 2,700 miles away, to wish him a happy one-month anniversary. "She was good about it — she still loves me, so that's good."
On Tuesday, Reynolds said because his family and his wife's family live in the Sandpoint area, they planned to celebrate Thanksgiving that evening.
Reynolds was one of about 20 members of the "Panhandle crew" who flew out on Nov. 11 and returned Nov. 27. Five others in the crew are from the Sandpoint IDL, including Eric Valiquette, Cole Lindsay, Brent Sisko, Jason Wilkerson and Alex Benson. Others in his crew came from Priest Lake Forest Service and Department of Lands, Coeur d'Alene Department of Lands, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, and one each from Bonners Ferry, Colville and Cataldo. The crew flew out of Missoula with with another crew from Idaho and two from Montana.
While each gave spending the holiday with family, Reynolds said his crew had a good time, kept it light and enjoyed a "Thanksgiving type dinner."
"We didn't have turkey, but we had chicken supplement, which was pretty good," he said.
They also had green beans and stuffing, and a Christmas tree decorated the room, Reynolds said. They also played a game where the loser wore a turkey balloon that said "Happy Thanksgiving" tied to his pack the entire game.
"So he is walking through the woods and here is this turkey bobbing along behind him," Reynolds said. "That was our highlight of Thanksgiving Day."
Between prolonged droughts in North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida and Georgia, as well as arson, Reynolds said about 40 fires made the news but estimated that more than 100 actually burned in the area.
"There was fires everywhere," Reynolds said. "We drove past three fires just to get to where we were going."
Reynolds and his crew were assigned to the Party Rock Fire in North Carolina, which was one of the larger fires burning in the area. The Party Rock Fire, which Reynolds said is suspected arson, burned more than 7,000 acres and on Wednesday was reported to be 100 percent contained.
The fire was burning "leaf litter" along the ground, he said, which is leaves fallen from deciduous trees for the year. While it was partially contained, concern remained over the dry leaves still falling from the trees. After upwards of 70 days with no rain, Reynolds said the Southeast is expected to see five to ten inches of rainfall this week.
"They were setting records for how dry it was," he said. "The (firefighters) that live there and have worked there for their entire careers said they have never seen it this bad for fires and how dry it is, lack of rain, and the amount of fires, too."