|
Residents want more communication during wildfires |
|
Friday, 06 July 2012 15:40 |
|
South Dakota Senator John Thune heard the complaints of local firefighters and ranchers in the Edgemont area Friday morning about how the White Draw Fire was handled. They say the Forest Service doesn't consult with local residents who know the terrain and are familiar with local resources.
Black Hills Fox reporter Al Van Zee has the story. The local residents told Senator Thune that the White Draw Fire turned out to be much larger than it had to be as a result of what they call Forest Service "arrogance." They said there were cases when Forest Service fire managers were unfamiliar with locations where a successful fire fight could be staged. And would often ignore advice from local firefighters who had spent their entire live fighting fires in the terrain around Edgemont. Mark Hollenbeck says, "The biggest concern that everybody had was the lack of communication between the feds and locals. The federal government didn't work with our local Chief of Fire. He could have showed them where the resources were. They know the lay of the land. And I think all of the problems as a result of that." Later in the morning, Thune also met with Forest Service officials and firefighters to get their take on the management of the fire. Sen. John Thune says, "It was a good opportunity for me to see this and a reminder, I think, that its always a challenge when you've got this many folks involved, when you've got federal, state, and local authorities working together, that it's a big challenge. And we heard some of those challenges and concerns today from the landowners and some of the local officials. And if anything come out of this, I think, what we need is, as best we can, communicate well." Black Hills National Forest Supervisor Craig Bobzien said after the meetings that the Forest Service goes to great lengths to take stock of local expertise and local resources. Craig Bobzien says, "And we had our district ranger and an additional district ranger making personal, public contacts with the local ranchers at their homes as well as team members with that to explain what was occurring out there on the fire. They started with the people that were most directly affected." Disputes like these are common following major wildfires. Major changes were made following the very active fire season in the year 2000. Those changes involved new cooperative mechanisms between federal, state and local firefighting agencies. It also involved new means of communications such as common radio frequencies. It also involved new ways for local firefighters to qualify for duty on wildfires on federal land. Al Van Zee, Black Hills Fox News. |
