Area firefighters train with Forestry

PALMER -- Bright orange flames ripped across the fields alongside Trunk Road on a warm Saturday morning last month and more than one hundred firefighters stood by and watched.

They were watching fire behavior. Then they put the fire out and started another one. This was a multi-agency training exercise. Firefighters from Mat-Su Borough fire departments, Houston, Chugiak, Girdwood and Anchorage participated in a joint exercise with state of Alaska

Division of Forestry wildland firefighter crews.

Much of the exercise was devoted to communication between agencies. At times the action on the ground may have looked slow, but all one had to do was stand next to a radio-toting firefighter to know that the air waves around the exercise were buzzing with activity.

"A lot of what this training is about is communications," Forestry spokesman Glen Holt said. "This gives the different departments a chance to work together."

John Muth, a captain at Central Mat-Su fire Department, called in a helicopter with bucket -- called a Bambi bucket -- to douse flames with water at one of the burns. The exercise came with pre-burn and post-burn briefings, so Muth was able to talk to the chopper pilot beforehand. Plus, he had a Forestry firefighter experienced with helicopter-assisted firefighting by his side.

The pilot and one person on the ground decide together where to dump the water, according to Muth.

"He flies over and gives a size-up from the air," Muth said. "It's a teamwork effort. He can see things from the air, but you're on the ground so you can keep him informed as to where your people are."