The military has been activated to assist wildfire fighters as agencies battle a number of wildfires in the state.
- Soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord are receiving wildfire training to support firefighting efforts, particularly in the Boise and Payette National Forests.
- As the national preparedness level reaches its highest alert, officials emphasize that this marks the beginning of a big push to contain the blazes.
( Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
“The military has been activated for the first time in a couple of years to support wildfire fighters’ efforts with the vast number of wildfires we have going this year,” says Jennifer Rabuck, Incident Commander with the National Incident Management Organization Team.
Army soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord are undergoing thorough and expedited wildfire fighting training.
“We’re just trying to give them the general training they need to be out here on the fire line. We’re giving them a lot of training in a short amount of time. It’s good quality training, and we’re trying to get them up to speed as quickly as we can,” says wildfire firefighter Michael Miller.