Old equipment creates problems for small fire depts. during wildfires
4 April 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Tuesday will be a high fire danger day across many parts of Kansas, according to the National Weather Service.
“Weather conditions are going to be very favorable to support dangerous wildfire conditions, so fires will be very easy to ignite,” Wichita Fire Department Battalion Chief Lane Pearman said.
Many fire departments across Kansas plan to bring in extra staff Tuesday.
In Sedgwick County, the departments are setting up a strike team to make sure resources are readily available.
“Three like units, so three brush trucks, and then they have a team leader or strike team leader,” Mulvane Fire Rescue Captain Jason Mundell said. “And what they do is they go to an incident, and they can help the incident commander for that scene with additional resources, and they stay together as a team.”
As you go south of Wichita toward more rural areas, they implement an automatic response called WAR.
WAR stands for wildland autoaid response. It makes sure departments of all sizes have crews and equipment ready to respond, especially in volunteer departments when staffing is smaller. It includes Mulvane, Cowley County Fire District IV, Sumner County Fire District 9 and Derby.
“When one of our neighboring departments, like say Udall or Bell Plaine, gets a grass fire, then we automatically respond to those incidents to assist them trying to get it under control,” Mundell said.
Pearman says days this dangerous only happen a few times a year.
“We run grass fires every day of the year throughout the year, but it’s a handful of days a year that it’s going to pose a significant problem,” Pearman said.