Fire protection specialists with the Kansas Forest Service load supplies and personal equipment for what could be as much as a 21-day assignment.
Kansas Forest Service sends firefighters to help in South Dakota
First-of-its-kind-in-Kansas team dispatched as dry, windy conditions increase fire risk
June 18, 2021
MANHATTAN, Kan. – A 10-person group of Kansas Forest Service wildland firefighters departed Wednesday for South Dakota in anticipation of increased wildfire starts there.
Wildland fire-suppression specialists are grouped and assigned in “modules.” The newly formed Kansas State Fire Module was requested to pre-position in the Black Hills National Forest for as many as three weeks.
The module’s South Dakota assignment is its first.
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Chris Hanson, Kansas Forest Service suppression module leader, briefs firefighters on the assignment and travel plans. |
“This has been a work in progress over the last year and a half,” said Chris Hanson, northwest district fire management officer for the Kansas Forest Service. “It’s nice to see this project come to fruition and get the module out.” Hanson will serve as the leader for the assignment.
Suppression modules focus on assisting with wildfire suppression, removing vegetation to lessen the threat of wildfire, and other fire-management duties. The module is also equipped to provide the initial response if a new fire starts.
When weather conditions are favorable for new wildfires, fire-management officials can request resources for a severity assignment – similar to the way severe weather warnings are issued – to allow for the staging of resources in an area that is expected to need additional help.
A severity assignment was requested for western South Dakota because a combination of above-normal temperatures, gusty winds and low humidity have combined to create elevated fire weather conditions that make controlling a wildfire more difficult.
Hanson said the formation of the suppression module and resulting assignments provides Kansas firefighters a valuable opportunity to work on training that they otherwise might not be able to receive.
“I can definitely see this module being used more in the state of Kansas and nationally. We saw, last year, more fire-suppression modules being ordered – the module gives our firefighters the opportunity to get more training they can bring back to the state,” Hanson said.
The suppression module is made up of full-time KFS staff members along with fire-protection specialists who work on-call for the Kansas Forest Service.
“KFS wildland fire staff took the initiative then dedicated their time and energy to create the suppression module” said State Forester Jason Hartman. “We are very excited to see that hard work be put to use helping others.”
According to the National Interagency Fire Center, 33 large fires have burned more than 360,000 acres across 10 states as of June 16. As fire activity increases, personnel, equipment and firefighting resources become scarcer. This results in a shortage of needed resources to meet fire-management objectives.
“As what used to be fire season becomes a fire year, resources like the KFS suppression module become more and more important,” Hartman said. “I hope the module has a safe and productive assignment, and we look forward to their return home.”
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About the Kansas Forest Service
The Kansas Forest Service is the nation’s fifth oldest state forestry agency. The agency serves rural landowners, communities, rural fire districts, forest and arboriculture industries, and citizens of the state through its Conservation Tree and Shrub Planting, Fire Management, Community Forestry, Rural Forestry, Marketing and Utilization, and Forest Health programs. The Kansas Forest Service state office is located in Manhattan, Kansas, just west of the campus of Kansas State University. The Kansas Forest Service is housed as an independent agency within K-State Research and Extension. The agency receives its direction from a mission statement that reads: “Care of natural resources and service to people through forestry.”
