4 April 2023
DERBY, Kan. (KSNW) — Kansas fire departments were preparing for Tuesday’s fire weather warnings.
Derby Fire Chief John Turner said they work with neighboring departments every day, so on days with high fire danger, they know what to expect.
“When extreme fire weather conditions occur like they are today, it really helps us out because we’re very familiar with equipment,” Turner said. “We’re familiar with personnel, and we operate almost like one big fire department when you need a lot of resources.”
He says everyone is an asset, from the paid departments to the volunteers.
“Some of the more rural departments have more off-road experiences, especially some of those members may have grown up on ranches or farms where they burn routinely, and they have that experience which is helpful,” Turner said.
Mulvane Deputy Chief Lowell Ester says training never stops in fire service. Improving communication and networking is one of the most important things.
“Firefighting is networking,” Ester said. “The firefighters have to know the firefighters from the adjoining communities. They have to know the people at the state level. We have to communicate and know what’s going on and keep abreast of the situation.”
About five years ago, Sedgwick and Sumner County created task forces to determine what resources in the county can be sent where if another area requests help.
Ester says the task forces started to form after the Anderson Creek Fire over five years ago when the response wasn’t very organized.
When a fire happens, and an agency needs more assistance, the state will call in help from a task force.
Then the task force will determine what resources, if any, they can send so they can make sure their home is still protected.
“Each department is able to send one truck, so you don’t completely deplete your department on a deployment,” Ester said. “You send one truck with a couple guys. Some departments can send a couple, three. Obviously, the City of Wichita has three or four sometimes, just depends on the day and then staffing and the level.”
After the county task force is created for an incident, they arrive as a team and work together because they know the capabilities of one another and the equipment.
He also says there is someone on the scene who will coordinate efforts among local departments and the task forces arriving.