Windsor and Severance firefighters are helping people farther from home than usual as they respond to a fire in Oregon and hurricane recovery.
Windsor-Severance Fire Rescue's wildland team first deployed in 2012 to the High Park Fire in Colorado, said Battalion Chief Todd Vess in an email.
Now the team is fighting the High Cascades Complex Fires in Oregon until Sept. 22.
WSFR Chief Herb Brady said Engineer Mike Matzke, Lt. Kirk Bauer and Engineer Brian Coe have responded to the fire in Oregon.
Since 2012, Vess said, the team has been deployed each season across the Western U.S. The department is compensated for staff and equipment by the federal government, he said.
Firefighters in the department, Vess said, are trained up to Firefighter II National Red Card level, and have been since 2011. The yearly certification means firefighters are more prepared for wildland fires.
Battalion Chief Travis Chapman, his search and rescue dog and Lt. Kory Tope have been part of the Colorado USAR Task Force 1 team that was deployed in response to the hurricane in Florida, Brady said.
"To be invited to answer these types of calls speaks toward the quality, qualifications and professionalism of our crews," Brady said.