But team members, who returned Thursday, told this newspaper they’ve never seen a natural disaster like the swift-moving forest fire in Colorado, which has destroyed hundreds of homes and killed at least two people.
“You would see houses burnt down to the foundation. The smell is indistinguishable for miles and you could see everything in a specific direction was just charred, everything black,” said Matt Haverkos, Butler County EMA Operations Manager.
“A forest fire around here would be two or three acres,” Monroe firefighter Todd Waddell said. “This fire we had out there was at one point in time — I heard a number of 15,500 acres — about a third (the size) of Butler County.”
While the Butler County team did not engage in any fire suppression efforts, the did receive some valuable training and insights that, they say, will protect residents in southwest Ohio. Haverkos, Waddell and Monroe firefighter John Day were three of the eight team members in Colorado for the training operation.
Haverkos said a large scale disaster such as a tornado or flood could possibly impact a wide portion of Butler County calling for a similar response. The team got to see how to logistically put together a base camp of operations and coordinate agencies coming in from other areas.
“Training opportunities like this are important for us to really grasp what to deal with when a disaster hits,” Haverkos said.
“I don’t care what color your fire truck is, or what uniform you wear,” Day said. “We will certainly be able to work cooperatively with other agencies as a result of the training and experiences we received out in Colorado.”
Haverkos, Waddell and Day were each assigned to a different division to work with in Colorado.
Haverkos was in the liaison officer section.
“My main responsibilities were working with elected officials, the three fire chiefs involved…EMA office and local sheriffs office,” he said.
Day helped in the planning section.
“I was involved in the pre-planning meetings, morning briefs… and had to gather intelligence and information. One of our goals was to produce an incident management plan,” Day said.
And Waddell was a safety officer.
“I helped with hazard mitigation, writing safety messages for the incident action plan and completing incident safety analysis,” said Waddell.
Members were also trained in operations, logistics and medical. They worked 15 hour days and slept in tents.
Haverkos said one of the most memorable moments of the training exercise was when a woman presented a cross to the incident commander.
“A lady made a cross from some of the logs from a previous fire they had in Waldo. She thanked him for what the team had done for the folks the previous year and was confident this team would do the same… (She) cried and hugged him and was definitely showing her support for firefighters and what they were doing,” he said.
“For all eight of us, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, one that we all took a lot back from. At the same time, it was humbling to see something so devastating. Hopefully, we helped in a little way,” Haverkos said.
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