C.O. firefighters work to create culture of safety

A firefighter from New Mexico forced to deploy her fire shelter while fighting the flames in southern Oregon, and a firefighter’s death in Idaho come as a reminder these men and women put their lives on the line each summer.

Before they hit the fire line, everyone must go through a vigorous round of training, especially when it comes to safety.

For the last few years, the Deschutes National Forest has been working to create a culture of safety.

“Creating that culture, and making it stronger — it takes time. Iit takes a lot of time,” said Tim Hoiness, fire training and safety manager for the Deschutes National Forest. “We’ve seen that occur, and we want to work harder to make that stronger and to keep it around.”

Each spring rookie, firefighters go through what’s called Guard School, where the learn the basics of fighting wildfires. They are also given their equipment and shown how to use it properly.

Also in the spring, veteran firefighters are given a refresher course on safety issues. At that time, they also go over what could be done differently.

“There might be some hot topics due to the previous year or a trend that we’re seeing and kind of try and address those,” said Hoiness.

Over the last few years, safety has become one of the top priorities for the Forest Service.

“It’s a delicate balance of, ‘Yeah we want to put the fire out’ — and then, at the same time, ‘But we want to do it safely — and if we can’t do it safely, then we are not going to do certain things.” said Hoiness.

As Central Oregon waits for its next round of storms, the Deschutes National Forest says their firefighters are ready and will always have safety at the forefront of their mind.