Westport firefighter Mike Kronick spent two weeks fighting forest fires in Oregon with the state’s forest fire team. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo
It’s been over a decade since there was a forest fire in Connecticut, but the state’s forest fire crew—which includes a Westport firefighter—stands ready to fight them across the country.
Mike Kronick, an eight-year veteran of the Westport Fire Department, recently returned from a trip to Oregon with a 20-member crew of forest firefighters from across the state. It is his third deployment to help battle forest fires.
“It’s certainly not a vacation, but it is a lot of fun,” said Kronick, who has been on the team since 2002. “It’s hard work, but it’s enjoyable hard work.”
He and the crew fought two forest fires at Black Crater, which is in Sister, Ore., and the Maxwell Fire in Ochoco National Forest during the 14 days they were on the ground.
Kronick said the Black Crater fire was an urgent situation because the 9,400-acre fire was threatening the town.
“If the fire got across the road, they would need to evacuate the town,” he said. “We were working to prevent that from happening.”
On that one day, he said, the number of people fighting the fire went from 300 to 1,200. The National Forest Fire used five percent of its fire assets on the fire in that one day, he said.
A firefighter from Trumbull on the Connecticut forest fire crew stands outside one of the fires the crew fought on its two-week trip to Oregon. Westport firefighter Mike Kronick was on the crew. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo
Firefighters burned the brush in front of the fire, he said, as a way to control the forest fire itself.
Burning the brush would consume the fuel so the fores fire could not spread, Kronick said, and altered the wind patterns.
Firefighters worked from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. on the fire, he said, and it was no longer a threat at the end of the day.
“It was contained, but not controlled,” he said.
Over the next six days, the crew put out hot spots and took down burnt trees that posed a danger, he said.
The fire was a type 1—the worst type of fire—when the crew arrived, Kronick said, but by the time the crew left it had been downgraded to a type 3.
“It’s still burning, but it’s maintained,” he said. “It will keep burning until the first snow.”
The Maxwell Fire was not as much of a threat, Kronick said, because it was not located near any homes.
The 20-person crew of Connecticut forest fighters posed for a photo during its trip to fight fires in Oregon. Westport firefighter Mike Kronick was on the team. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo
For two days, the Connecticut crew worked with one from Alaska to cut down trees and put out hot spots, he said.
“It wasn’t as exciting as Black Crater because there was no threat,” he said. “There was no sense of urgency.”
Over the 17 days he was gone, he said, he worked 230 hours fighting fires.
Since arriving home, Connecticut was called for a trip to Wyoming to help with fires there, but Kronick did not go on that trip.
“It’s been a busy year,” he said. “The average for the last 10 years is for 3.5 million acres to burn. This year so far there has already been 6.5 acres burned.”
It’s healthy for forests to burn, Kronick said, and some plants, especially out west, need fire in order to survive.
Unfortunately, there has been a policy to extinguish every fire, he said, which has caused for fires to be more intense than before and cause more harm than good.
“No region is immune from forest fires,” he said. “Out west, there is a 10-year cycle of when fires are needed.”
Connecticut has the highest percentage in the country of population exposed to harm if there is a forest fire, he said, but the potential for one in the state is very low.
Kronick said he had a general interest in forest firefighting since college, but never tried it until 2002.
Each year, he and other forest firefighters have to past a series of tests, including a pack test.
Kronick said each person has to carry 45 pounds of weight over three times in 35-45 minutes.
“They don’t want you to run,” he said. “They want to make sure you can carry the load.”
Each firefighter brings their own protective equipment, which includes custom-made boots for woodland firefighting, hard hats, protective shirts and pants and water, he said.
The protective pants and shirts are made of the same material as the traditional firefighting coats and pants, but they are light-weight, he said.
Once out at the fire, the firefighters are each given shovels, axes, fire rakes and chainsaws.
“It works out to less than 45 pounds,” he said. “I try to carry as little as possible.”
Each person also brings under 65 pounds of personal things, which includes clothes, a tent and sleeping bag, he said.
“They give us cases of water and Gatorade and MREs (field meals),” he said. “They do that because we might have to go right to work.”
Fighting a fire in Westport is like a 100-yard dash, Kronick said, compared to the marathon of a forest fire.
“Here we have an hour at most where we’re working to put out a fire,” he said. “You give all out at once. If you did that when you hit the line at a forest fire, you would not finish the day.”
While the experiences are different, Kronick said, there are aspects he can bring back to the Westport department, including the National Forest Service’s incident command structure.
“They’ve been doing it for over 30 years,” he said. “I bring back what is pertinent to my job.”