NC Firefighters, Equipment Sent to Fight Florida Fires
RALEIGH -- Three dozen North Carolina firefighters and their equipment are being sent to Florida to help battle wildland fires raging between Tallahassee and Orlando.
The state’s Division of Forest Resources has sent 10 bulldozer-plow units to the Florida fire areas, supported by bulldozer operators, crewmen, mechanics and fire suppression supervisors. North Carolina’s response is to the Southeastern Compact, an agreement by 13 southeastern states to help each other fight major fires.
“We’ll have 36 of our personnel in or on their way to Florida by Thursday,” said Carl Johnson, fire specialist with the Division of Forest Resources. “We also expect additional requests from Florida for assistance and are ready to respond.”
The Florida Division of Forestry asked for North Carolina’s assistance. Johnson said the North Carolina Division of Forest Resources also has sent four 660-gallon buckets to be used by helicopters of the Florida National Guard fighting the fires.
He said personnel and equipment are being moved to Florida from the forestry division’s staging terminal at Kinston. Florida will reimburse North Carolina for expenses incurred, Johnson said. The North Carolina firefighters sent to Florida are expected to be there for two weeks.
“It’s been a very dry spring fire season in Florida,” Johnson said. “The fires going on now involve wildlands that are burning into urban areas where some homes already have been lost.”
Johnson said the men and equipment committed to Florida “will not hamper our fire-fighting abilities here, although our forests and woodlands are beginning to dry out rapidly. We’re ready and can handle local fires should they develop.”
For additional details, contact Carl Johnson at (919) 733-2612.
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Date Posted: June 29
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