BORING, Ore. — Clackamas Fire District #1 showed off a new firefighting tool on Wednesday that will combat wildfires. It's a seasonal hand crew that is funded by a federal grant.
Crew 30 is stationed at Clackamas Fire's fire station and training center in Boring. The 20-person hand crew is ready to dig fire lines and stop fires from spreading.
“The right tool for the right job is always going to get the best results. This 20-person crew is one of those tools,” said Battalion Chief Brent Olson.
Olson oversees the crew and all the gear they have to do their work,
from saws and hand tools to the transport trucks they call “buggies." The light green color of the large vehicles gives them away as former U.S. Forest Service rigs.
Most of the young people on the crew are new to firefighting, but they are trained and ready take on wildfires.
“Oh they're great. The men and women of Crew 30 are high-caliber people, and I just can't say enough about them. They're intrinsically motivated, they're ready to be here, they're ready to learn and (they) show up every day,” said Matthew Mumaw.
Mumaw does have wildland firefighting experience. He's leading the crew on the ground.
So far this year, Crew 30 has spent its time doing recovery work on land damaged by previous fires. In fact, that is the primary reason the crew exists — through a national displaced workers grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.
But with 2021's fire season off to a hot start, their first call to the fire lines is coming.
“This is definitely unusual for us at this time of the year. We are seeing fire indices here in June like we usually see in August, even the first of September. So it's very concerning,” said Olson.
“From a crew boss’s perspective, I'm concerned about my men and women,” said Mumaw. “But at the same time, this is what they're here for. This is what they signed up for. We signed up for fires, so we're excited to get out there and get put to work.”
Crew 30 will serve Clackamas County but is ready to respond to requests for help from other agencies anywhere in Oregon.