05/03/05 Coordinated effort vs. wildfires, Pt.1

As the chance of drought like conditions this summer in the Northwest increase, so does the chance of devastating wildfires. Each Governor of the region's states has a story or two to tell about such wildfires state in recent years, and what it took in the form of effort to put it out. So with that in mind Christine Gregoire of Washington, Ted Kulongoski of Oregon, Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho, and Brian Schweitzer of Montana gathered in Spokane recently to discuss collaborating firefighting efforts this year. And while there is not a detailed plan per se, based in part that each state's firefighting strategies are unique, there are some common sense principals. The first one, according to Gregoire is looking out for each other. GREGOIRE: Washington State for example stands ready with all of our resources should we be called upon to help the Governor's of these three states, we're ready. And they're prepared to reciprocate. In the past, one resource that has been available to fight wildfires has been National Guard units. But with some Northwest Guard units activated and currently serving in Iraq, some Governors expressed concerns that in an extreme instance&such as the devastating Idaho wildfires five years ago or Southern Oregon's Biscuit Fire in 2002&there may not be enough Guard personnel available. But Kempthorne uses an example to show there should be adequate Guard Units and personnel available if it comes to that. KEMPTHORNE: They will never draw a National Guard within a state below fifty per cent of the personnel. Now we have the 116th Combat Brigade Team that is deployed over in Iraq. Idaho has nearly 2,000 soldiers but I still have sixty per cent of our man power that are still residing in Idaho. And according to Kempthorne, as he recalls the year 2000 wildfires in his state, the Guard played more of a support role, and that most likely would be the case this year. KEMPTHORNE: We used 700 Guard members for logistics, for support. We did not put them front line in fighting the fires. We did have two battalions from the active military, Marines and Army. We've received again this year an affirmation from NorthCom that they've pledged at least two brigades again will be available for front line duty if necessary. But the firefighting effort may not just come down to calling upon resources within the region. More on that in our next program.