Equipment Operators and Truck Drivers Just As Important as Firefighters in WA Wildfires

Washington State- I came across a Facebook post by a woman named Joanne Francis. Her status update made me stop and think for a minute and you know,  she’s right. Here’s her take on some things the media is missing, when sharing and discussing the Wildfires that are ravaging Washington State.  Please Note, I’ve added a couple things to her original story along the way.  

Joaane Francis writes:  The media has hundreds, if not thousands  of articles about the fires in Washington State right now. There are, interviews and pictures of ground crews, shots of bombers, endless stories of last minute evacuations and photo after photo of the destruction these fires have caused. 

 But,  there is something going on right up there on those fire lines that the media doesn’t show you.  It’s the heavy equipment operators and truck drivers. They are nowhere to be seen in most of the fire related photos being shared by the mainstream media. However, these men and woman  play a crucial role in fighting these fires. 

I’m talking about  the dozer and skidder  operators, deep in the fire. These men and women are making fire lines and breaks  and clearing pads for emergency evacuations.

 

I’m talking about the water tanker operators and truck drivers.  These men and women are spending countless hours  supplying the water to fight these fires. They are the ones that are making it possible for these ground crews to do their work. The truck drivers are standing by, ready to move all the equipment at a moments notice. 

 These drivers and operators take every bit the same risk as the firefighters and they get very little credit for the work they do.  

 

Many of these men and women also risk something else. Their livelihoods. Those are their trucks, dozers, skidders and water tankers. The rest of the year, that equipment puts food on their families tables.

 

I can’t imagine how it must feel to look down on your own equipment surrounded by fire as you are being evacuated in a helicopter because the fire took a sudden turn.

 

I can’t imagine how hard it is to go all night trapped by the fire with no way out and all you can do is hope and pray you make it out.

These are not men from far away places. These are locals who have set aside their businesses here in Nipawin, White Fox and these other areas to work on these fires.

 

All that we the friends and family ask is that those in charge step it up and ensure the safety of these men and women and that they are being treated as they should be, as heroes too.

Ironically, Joanne Writes, if we told any of these guys they are heroes they would laugh in our faces and tell us we we’re nuts, and to get out of the way because they have stuff to do.

Joanne’s Facebook post has been shared over 33,000 times since she shared it in July.

 

Sometimes it is easy to get lost in the moment on major incidents without taking the time to stop and look around and send a heartfelt Thank you to the men and women of the “support staff”.

It takes a lot of people with all kinds of different skills to successfully contain a wildfire.

 

In closing, we would like to say “Thank you to Joanne Francis and  Thank you to  the men and women providing the support staff to the firefighters on the front lines.” You might not be recognized in the mainstream media, as you should be, but without you,  doing everything you are doing, these firefighters  wouldn’t be able to do what they are doing.

All Photos are owned by the photographers with full credit going to each  of them.