Ephrata, WA - Grant County Fire Complex - August 2009

We were notified at 0653 on 8/21/09 to mobilize and deploy to Ephrata, WA to take over the "Grant County Fire Complex."  Ten team members deployed and were augmented by an Operations Section Chief and a Safety Officer.  We took over management of 5 fires from Grant County Fire District 5 at 1600 on the 21st and turned back over to FD5 at 1400 on the 22nd, when all fires were burned out and mopped up. 

The main mission was accomplished, in helping Grant 5 manage their fires. 

Skagit County Deployment - Silver Creek Incident

The NWIMT was requested by Skagit County Sheriff on September 2, 2008 to assist in the organization of the multiple crime scene investigations. The team was integrated into the unified command structure late in the evening and worked with the SMART team to get an initial IAP produced for the morning briefing. Team PIO's worked with the lead PIO to manage the significant national media interest. The team was integrated with the local resources and worked seamlessly throughout the incident and demobilization occurred on the morning of September 4th after the morning operational briefing. While the team was not officially deployed for funeral planning, several team members from the area assisted with funeral planning and support.This regional incident exemplifies the reason the NWIMT exists.

6-Day Deployment - Rock Lake Fire

Northwest Washington Incident Management Team deployed to Cheney, WA, August 19-24, 2008 to manage a wildland fire. The fire burned over 2,000 acres of grass, brush and timber in some steep and rugged terrain of eastern Washington. Seven Strike Teams and three Hand-crews were on the line. A total of 191 personnel were assigned to the fire.

Smith Lake Fire

The NWIMT was sent to the Smith Lake fire on 8/1/2008. This fire was North West of Grand  Coulee, West of the Columbia and North of Highway 174. The fire exhibited "extreme behavior" in the early hours of the event, with flames to 60' and moving rapidly. NWIMT in conjunction with the North Central Washington (NCW) Type 3 IMT from Wenatchee managed the incident with very active fire conditions to mop up operations completing on 8/4/2008.

Echo Lake / "Street of Dreams" Fire - March 2008
Scroll through images or click on single image to show in larger format

Echo Lake/Street of Dreams Deployment

NWIMT was deployed March 3, 2008 to support the overhaul and investigation of a set of fires in several residential structures in what was termed "the Street of Dreams" outside of Woodinville, WA.  Eleven team members were deployed, and supported the unified command structure that had already been established.  Unified Incident Command consisted of representatives from ATF, FBI, Snohomish County Fire Marshal's Office, and Snohomish County Fire District #7. 

August 2007 - Deployment to Wantoma Fire

Our first official team deployment is completed. On Thursday, August 16 the team and trailer were mobilized to the Wantoma (Wautoma) Fire near Richland. We were requested along with Clark County to augment the Type 3 team members from the local area to fight this rapidly expanding and dynamic fire. Eight members of the team left for deployment at approximately 10:30pm and arrived at the ICP between 2:30 and 3am. We worked through the next night before sleeping, and went through the transition to the Type 2 team, with the expectation that the fire would transition to NWIMT on Sunday for mop up operations.

The fire burned 70,000 acres and prior to transition to the Type 2 team, most of the fire was contained. It was extremely valuable experience for all of us and our trailer is rapidly becoming a precious commodity.

All team members contributed to the successful outcome and should feel really good about our team deployment capabilities in the region.