by Clark Corbin, Washington State Standard
September 16, 2024
LAVA FIRE, BOISE NATIONAL FOREST – One of the last things U.S. Army Capt. Bison Carcelli did before wrapping up his 30-day mission helping fight wildfires in Idaho was haul hoses up and down mountain roads to protect evacuated homes near Lake Cascade.
Since Aug. 19, about 250 U.S. Army soldiers from the 14th Brigade Engineer Battalion and 117th Infantry Battalion based out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington have been helping fight a series of wildfires burning near Cascade.
Carcelli, who had never fought a wildfire before, said he loved the entire assignment and learning new skills. But he said it was especially important serving as a last line of defense helping protect people’s homes and property they love.
“It’s just been super exciting being able to have something completely different from our normal job,” Carcelli told the Idaho Capital Sun on Wednesday. “Everyone thinks about how we go overseas to defend our country, but it’s been great to have an impact on home, like back here in the United States. So I think that, for me, has been the coolest aspect.”
On Tuesday and Wednesday, soldiers focused on protecting homes that had been evacuated near the southwest tip of Lake Cascade. As ash rained down on them and the Lava Fire burned on the hillside above them, soldiers and firefighters hauled and connected about half a mile of hoses along Brenda Drive, the farthest west road close to the fire perimeter.
Crews arranged lateral hoses on the ground around homes, cabins and other structures and connected the hoses to giant orange inflatable water tanks called pumpkins. The pumpkins were connected by more hoses to pumps and a nearby creek, creating a connected system that allows them to move water.
“We’re just plumbing this area so we can defend it if necessary,” said Alex Barrera, a U.S. Forest Service fire captain from the Sequoia National Forest who was working with Army soldiers. “The sprinkler systems aren’t for the initial suppression factor. It’s for in the event we actually have to leave this area, we simply engage our system that we installed ourselves, and we got sprinklers here, protecting (these homes and buildings).”
On Wednesday Barrera drove an Idaho Capital Sun reporter in a side-by-side utility vehicle through dense smoke along Brenda Drive to show the work the soldiers had done and how close the Lava Fire was to homes. Alex Barrera, a U.S. Forest Service fire captain working with U.S. Army soldiers, drives past buildings firefighters are trying to protect near Lake Cascade. An inflatable water tank called a pumpkin is visible in the background. (Clark Corbin/Idaho Capital Sun)
“And so, so you can see the importance of how close the fire could potentially get to this community, and why we’re actually out here doing what we’re doing,” Barrera said as he drove past lines of water hoses on Brenda Drive.
U.S. soldiers helping out after Lave Fire exhibited extreme fire behavior last week
With wildfire resources stretched thin across the country, U.S. Army soldiers were called in to support the more than 1,000 people, including U.S. Forest Service wildland firefighters, who are fighting wildfires near Cascade as part of the West Mountain Complex fires and the Lava Fire.
The National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise determines if and when active duty military personnel will be requested to serve as ground firefighters, as authorized by the 2021 Interagency Agreement between the Department of Defense, U.S. Forest Service, and Department of Interior, said Kerry Greene, an emergency management specialist public information officer for the U.S. Forest Service.
The criteria pertain to the national preparedness level, the availability of ground firefighting crews and the amount of time left until fire season in the West is predicted to end, Greene said.
Active duty U.S. soldiers were mobilized in August to ensure that adequate numbers of firefighters would be available to manage all of the complex wildfires and ensure that the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies are able to maintain the capability to address new fires.
“At the time the military was activated we were at National Planning Level 5, or PL5, which means there were no or very limited wildland firefighters available to be mobilized,” Greene said. “Adding 10 handcrews comprised of U.S. Army Soldiers relieved pressure on the system.”
Some of the soldiers have fought the Snag Fire, Boulder Fire, the Middle Fork Complex fires and now the Lava Fire.
“So we started off over on the Snag Fire on the eastern side of Lake Cascade, and we were prepping that line there to control the Snag and stop its progression to the south and to the west,” Carcelli said. “And that was a great success for us. I mean, that line was able to hold, and we were able to see that controlled burn happen.”
The soldiers’ mission was for 30 days, and their last day of work was Sunday. On Tuesday, many will fly home to Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.
The Lava Fire started by lightning Sept. 2 about 12 miles southwest of Cascade, after the U.S. Army soldiers had arrived to help out on the nearby West Mountain Complex fires, which started by lighting Aug. 5.
U.S. Forest Service officials said the Lava Fire exhibited extreme fire behavior on Sept. 10 and merged with the nearby Boulder Fire, creating one massive wildfire that will take on the name of the larger fire and simply be known as the Lava Fire going forward.
Put another way, on social media posts, public information officers said the Lava Fire ate the Boulder Fire. A wildfire helicopter flies over the U.S. Army wildfire base near Lake Cascade and the Lava Fire on Sept. 11. (Clark Corbin/Idaho Capital Sun)
The Lava Fire is burning on the Payette and Boise national forests and was listed Sunday at 95,746 acres with 26% of the fire’s perimeter contained, according to the Lava Fire InciWeb report. As of Friday, 746 people were assigned to the Lava Fire.
A new incident command team took over the fire Thursday morning.
Officials with the Boise National Forest and Payette National Forest have issued road and trail closures for the Lava Fire, while officials with Adams and Valley County have issued evacuation orders for specific areas and subdivisions. Check the Valley County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page and the Adams County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page for the latest evacuation orders and notices.
As mission wraps up, soldiers say fighting wildfires had a big effect on them
Sgt. First Class Juan Reaves said fighting wildfires is physically and mentally demanding. Many soldiers were used to working and training near sea level in Washington. Near Cascade, they worked in and around the mountains at 4,800 feet of elevation and up.
“You have to be mentally ready to do the labor,” Reaves said. “It’s 12-plus hours of walking miles of mountainous terrain, so you’ve just got to be mentally and physically ready.”
Reaves said it was worth it and he would gladly accept another mission to fight wildfires.
Other soldiers agreed.
“I didn’t know how complex wildfire was and how much knowledge goes into it, with the weather analysis and the fire and planning that happens around all of it,” Carcelli said.
Most of the soldiers had never fought a wildfire before, and learned on the job and during training prior to arriving in Idaho.
“I have heavy respect for firefighters,” U.S. Army Specialist Willard Utterback of the 117th Infantry Battalion said. “The stuff that they go through, you know, it’s a lot like the military. They spend a lot of time away from their families. You know, they don’t make the best pay in the world, and they are out here serving their country, just like us.”
Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: [email protected]. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on Facebook and X.
Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: [email protected]. Follow Washington State Standard on Facebook and X.