Firefighters' response appreciated

I would like to thank the U.S. Forest Service fire crews for their quick and decisive response to the Parmenter fire.

This fire presented a very real and immediate threat to many homes in the area including Woodway Park and Parmenter Creek homes had it not been controlled quickly. The fire crews were on the scene within minutes of the report that a fire was in progress. The fire began to advance very rapidly because of the warm temperatures and fairly high winds that were blowing that afternoon.

Had the fire jumped to the south side of the creek, there were a number of homes that were just minutes away from disaster given the speed that the fire was advancing. The fire response team was very quick to call into service aerial water tenders and slurry drops. Although the fire provided some spectacular viewing out our living room window, it was extremely unnerving to know that because someone had either been very careless or intentionally started this fire that folks could be faced with losing their homes within just minutes. And as always fire response personnel were put in jeopardy of injury or even death along with the costs associated with fighting the fire because of some careless individual or individuals.

Fortunately much of the area that was on Plum Creek land had been logged, so the fire mostly occurred in low brush and grasses. So, there was not a large loss of valuable timber resources.

I realize that there will always be a potential threat of fire, whether man-caused or not. For those of us that choose to live in forested areas, this fire serves as a reminder as to just how quickly a fire can advance under the right conditions. It should also serve as a reminder that we should all be “fire-wise” and do the very best that we can to provide enough clear space to at least provide fire crews with a fighting chance to save structures, lives, etc., in the event of a wildfire.

Again, the Forest Service fire crews deserve our thanks for their timely response and quick actions taken in responding to this fire that could have had a rather different and disastrous outcome.

Thank you all!

(Ralph Heinert is the state representative for State House District No. 1. He can be reached by mail at: P.O. Box 577, Libby, MT 59923-0577; by telephone at 293-9843 or by e-mail at rheinert@frontiernet.net .)