The Clatsop County Firefighters Association along with Terra Helicopters and Camp Rilea will be conducting a prescribed fire training exercise, an annual training event called “Wildfire 2011”, on Saturday July 9 and Sunday July 10 at Camp Rilea near Warrenton.
Smoke will be visible Sunday west of Highway 101 in the Camp Rilea and Sunset Beach areas.
The purpose of the event is to improve fire fighting skills in a prescribed live wildland fire using the Incident Command System. This training also improves the cooperative working relationships between Clatsop County Emergency Services, local rural fire departments and Oregon Department of Forestry.
The skills and lessons learned in this event can carry over easily to emergency situations such as severe winter storms or tsunami alerts. Camp Rilea benefits from hosting this event because the prescribe fire reduces the threat of range fires.
Approximately seventy fire fighters will be training this weekend. Oregon Department of Forestry crews will drill along with Astoria, Cannon Beach, Gearhart, Knappa, Lewis & Clark, Olney, Seaside, Warrenton, Molalla and Lafayette rural fire departments, Pacific County Fire Department and Campbell Group forestland fire prevention resources will be participating.
Kevin Weeks
Oregon Department of Forestry