By SARA FURLONG

s.furlong@bradfordera.com

The District 15 Wildfire Support Group, comprising about 25 firefighters from McKean and Potter counties, has been dispatched this week to assist with multiple wildfires in southeastern Pennsylvania.

A group of eight men — Tim Crissman and Scott Gibbs with Rew, Steve Mackey of Duke Center, Andy Wermuth of Lafayette, Jim Menderler Firefighters… page A-8

Packerton fire near Jim Thorpe.

Facebook photo of Shinglehouse and Dylan Goodreau, Jim Maze and Ben Sera of Bradford Township — was dispatched Monday to Jim Thorpe to assist with what’s called the Packerton fire, on Bear Mountain.

Crissman said the group conducted hand lines and burnouts along with felling snags for two days to help bring the fire under control.

Hand lines are manually cleared paths that act as barriers to a spreading wildfire, used most often in terrain that machinery can’t access. Burnouts are intentionally set controlled fires that consume vegetation and other fuels ahead of the main fire, creating a buffer zone. Snags are dead or dying trees that can catch fire and spread embers that could potentially start new fires.

Dozer lines and aerial water drops were also used to control the Bear Mountain fire, which started Saturday and burned approximately 560 acres.

“I can’t believe how dry it is in southern Pennsylvania,” Crissman declared. “We were cutting trees Monday — dead snags — and the exhaust from the chainsaw was igniting the side of the snag.

“I”ve never had that happen ever before, anywhere. I’ve been fighting fire a long time, even out west, and never had that happen. It’s kind of scary.”

The District 15 Wildfire Support Group is dispatched by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Division of Forest Fire Protection in Harrisburg. The division is part of Pennsylvania’s Bureau of Forestry.

The Carbon County Emergency Management Agency shared late Thursday that the Bureau of Forestry’s Incident Management Team had officially announced that the fire was finally 100% contained. Crews were set to return to patrol status to monitor for any smoke or flare-ups.

“We spent two days there and returned home Tuesday around 10 p.m.,” Crissman reported, adding that Orous at 70 Broadway offered free dinners to the firefighters. “We took advantage of that; it was awesome.

“The local community was highly impacted by this fire,” Crissman continued. “There’s a picture on Facebook, a storefront owner walked out into Main Street and at the end of Main Street there was nothing but a wall of fire. But there were no structures lost and the fire is now contained.”

Early Friday, another District 15 group was dispatched for a wildfire raging in Michaux State Forest near Chambersburg. This time, Bradford Township Volunteer Fire Department Chief Dan Burkhouse accompanied Mackey, Wermuth, Menderler, Goodreau and Gibbs.

Crissman noted that both fires are being managed by DCNR’s Type 3 Incident Management Team and officials have evacuated some homes near the state forest. He added that the crew dispatched Friday is also committed for two shifts.

“There are multiple fires burning in the state forest and they need people bad,” Crissman stated, explaining that District 15 support crews are staffed based on availability around other commitments, like work, at the time.

“Back in the day we would not get called this far away for a 500-acre fire,” he pointed out. “It would have to be a really big fire for us to get called to go that far away in the state. The fires are smaller and we’re getting called still — I attribute that to lack of people. It’s a statewide problem.”

Crissman said that DCNR pays wildfire crews for their support, and time commitments are kept to a minimum.

“We support the DCNR Bureau of Forestry and they support us with training and equipment. It’s a give-give kind of situation. We have to meet physical fitness standards and of course the training standards.

“We do an annual firefighting refresher, annual physical test and an annual training – that’s all we do. No fundraising, we keep it as simple as possible.”

Anyone interested in getting involved can contact Crissman at (814) 598-7540.