Most of the Oregon fire strike teams sent to California to help fight the fires that destroyed thousands of homes have returned. Central Oregon Daily News caught up with one of the local firefighters Tuesday who were mobilized.
Five fire engines and crews from Bend, Redmond, Sisters, Jefferson County and Alfalfa were dispatched to southern California to help battle the Palisades and Eaton Fires.
“We saw mass amounts of devastation in Detroit and Idanha in the 2020 Labor Day Fire, but this was on a whole another level. Whole communities wiped out. Schools, grocery stores all gone on the Sunset area,” said Jared Earnest, Jefferson County Fire & EMS deputy chief.
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“The fire went from the top of the ridge about two or three miles all the way down to the beach in about 15 minutes. I think no matter what kind of prep they were doing, that was just the perfect storm that happened in SoCal,” Earnest said.
Oregon crews cut fire lines through thick chaparral to help prevent the spread of fire. They went into burned areas to extinguish hotspots to prevent fires from flaring back to life, and they helped restore utility services.Â
“Here in Central Oregon, there’s always areas for improvement and now is the perfect time, in winter, for us to get out, start removing that brush,” Earnest said. “Get prepared for spring time. You’ll be less worried come summer if we take a good, proactive approach now.”Â
The Oregon crews worked 24 hour shifts — one day on, one day off — for 14 days. Counting four days of travel time, they were gone 18 days.Â
“People were just glad to see firefighters. We did everything we could to make people comfortable while we were down there,” Earnest said.
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