Firefighters travel to help other areas

More than half the staff of the Tribe’s wildland firefighters are currently dispatched to help fight fires across the region, according to Fire Management and Protection Program Manager Andrew Puerini.

“The remaining 16 staff are primarily local militia and continue to be available for local fire support if the need arises,” he said. “There are five additional regular wildfire staff that have not yet completed the red card process. We will have 60 total red carded staff this season.”

An initial crew of 22 firefighters are working at the Pomas Fire in northwest Washington.

“The Pomas Fire is in extremely rugged terrain, with several communities threatened but progress is being made here,” Puerini said.

Eight firefighters are working at a fire in Roseburg, while “two of our type-six engines with six total staff are providing support to the Bureau of Indian Affairs Southwest Region assisting Tribes with wildfire support in New Mexico,” Puerini said.

He added that another engine with three staff have recently returned from New Mexico and are resting.

He noted that, “We are thankfully far away from the recent active shooter situation that occurred in Idaho,” calling the ambush of firefighters near Coeur d’Alene in late June “an unexpected and scary nightmare.”

The motive for the attack remains unclear, as the gunman was found dead, having apparently taken his own life after shooting three firefighters responding to a fire he had started. Two of the firefighters were killed; a third remains hospitalized.