25-03-2025
Oregon sends crew to help battle North Carolina wildfires
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Twenty-six Oregon firefighters were sent by the Oregon Department of Forestry to help battle the wildfires in North Carolina.
According to the Oregon Department of Forestry, most of the 26 firefighters as well as two agency representatives, arrived in North Carolina and are currently helping the Black Cove fire.
In 2024, officials said that North Carolina sent almost an entire incident management team to assist in Oregon and this is Oregon's chance to return the favor.
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'Being able to have an additional incident management team made it so we did not have to make the hard choice of prioritizing one fire over another,' said Blake Ellis, Fire Operations Manager. 'At the time, we had two fires in need of an IMT and only one ODF team available. We were able to fill both incidents' needs due to the extra support from our North Carolina partners.'
Oregon is part of several mutual assistance agreements within the U.S. and with some Northwest Canadian territories, which ODF said helps to create 'a larger, faster, comprehensive fire management system.'
'These agreements help bolster the complete and coordinated fire protection system and create a cache of reciprocal resources for all of us to call on when needed,' Michael Curran, ODF's Fire Protection Division Chief, said.
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