Firefighters appreciate support

FROM PAUL BROYLES
INCIDENT COMMANDER
GREAT BASIN NATIONAL INCIDENT MANAGEMENT TEAM

As Incident Commander of the Iron and Alps Complexes, I want to express sincere gratitude for your steadfast support while we have managed these fires over the last three weeks.

As Trinity County residents, I know many of you have been through this before, but I also know experience doesn't make it any easier. The fires have disrupted your daily lives, your peace of mind, and your livelihoods. Yet despite your concerns, you have offered us hospitality and encouragement, always expressing consideration for the welfare of the firefighters.

I hope you will continue to support incoming fire managers. Like you, I am concerned that your fire season started so early this year, and I realize it will be difficult to maintain patience as the season continues and firefighting resources are strained. If you communicate with incoming fire managers as well as you have communicated with us, everyone will benefit. Your feedback is important, and a necessary part of success.

As you know, fire management is very complex. We balance modern technology (meteorology, and fire progression predictions) with good, old-fashioned firefighting experience, grit, and hard work. Where possible, we always choose to attack a fire directly. In steep terrain, where rolling, burning debris, and extreme fire behavior/ weather mean it would be foolish to use "direct attack" tactics, we employ other methods. Please know that we have not made tactical decisions lightly.

I encourage you to hold safety as the top priority. The safety of our firefighters on the steep slopes of the Trinity Alps is certainly important to all of us. Your safety is also an overriding concern in all fire management decisions, whether you are driving in smoky conditions or contemplating evacuation. Please continue to cooperate with your local officials in their efforts to protect you.

Finally, with today's increasing wildfires, I urge you to take action regarding the "survivability" of your home. There are numerous things you can do to prevent losing your home to wildland fire, and many of them are quite simple. Visit www.firesafecouncil.org or www. firewise.org, for helpful tips and other information.

Again, we on the Great Basin National Incident Management Team thank you for your understanding and courage through this incident. We appreciate your concern, we value your support, and we will keep you in our thoughts as we move through the balance of the 2008 fire season.