Busy week for Three Forks Fire Department

It has been a very busy week plus for the Three Forks Volunteer Fire Department, with volunteers responding to many different long-duration mutual aid calls.

According to Assistant Fire Chief Charles Eastty, it started on Sunday, September 29, when they were called out to a large wildland fire near Revenue Flats outside of Norris. He said they sent Brush 14-21, Brush 14-22, and Tender 14 to assist on the fire.

Eastty reported that on Thursday, October 3, Three Forks Fire was paged mutual aid to Amsterdam and responded with Engine 14-14 and Tender 14. The crew assisted with extinguishing a house fire.

Eastty said that one night later, Friday, October 4, they responded to a fast-moving wildland fire near US 287 and Meridian Road.

"This fire was tricky for firefighters to contain due to high and shifting winds. It is important for us to keep our firefighters as safe as we can while working wildland fires. And the incident commander did have to pull firefighters to a safe zone due to strong shifting winds before we were able to control the fire later the next morning," Eastty said.

Three Forks and the Willow Creek Volunteer Fire Department initially responded to the fire with Brush 14-21, Brush 14-22, Brush 14-24, Tender 14, Tender 4-8, Brush 4-9, Brush 4-6, and Brush 4-1.

Engine 14-14 and Brush 2-5 later arrived on the scene to assist, and with the help of a dozer, firefighters were able to control the fire around 12:50 a.m.

Eastty said when the department was about to clear from the fire, they were paged to a motor vehicle crash with entrapment, and firefighters on the scene extricated a patient from the vehicle.

"Overall, it has been a busy week, and our volunteer firefighters have risen to the occasion. I can't say enough good things about our crew. Many of them had to go to work the next morning with little to no sleep, and they did not complain," Eastty said.