Sense of teamwork between fire crews, support staff in fire camp - KOTA Territory News

Sense of teamwork between fire crews, support staff in fire camp

As more and more firefighters head to the area, incident teams have to figure out a way to house them all.
 
Tents, portable kitchens, portable showers -- portable everything -- are all brought in to accommodate the huge influx of firefighters and support staff.

And it's all set up and ready to go in as little as a day.
 
"This year is the third time out since June with this team," said Jim Marett, the base camp manager with the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team, the group that took over the fire early Saturday morning.
 
Marett's been setting up camps for them for the last 13 years.
 
"I don't do it for a job," he said. "If it becomes a job, I don't want to do it."
 
He does it to support the firefighters.

And like most of the support staff, he sleeps in tents alongside them for as long as they're there.
 
"Everybody has a common goal, a common mission," he said. "And you all bring different talents to it."
 
"If they're sleeping in tents on the ground, we do likewise. We eat the same food they eat, live in the same conditions," added Myrtle fire public information officer Bob Summerfield.
 
All of those can be taxing when there are so many people.
 
"Before we're done here," Summerfield said, "there'll probably be at least a few to several hundred people occupying this camp for a fire this size," a staggering number for all involved.

And it ends up costing.

The finance division estimates the total cost for the Myrtle fire to date at $1.1 million, up from $750,000 on Friday.

During a similar fire in Colorado recently, camp support accounted for 14 percent of the total cost.

Then there are the emotional costs of camping for two weeks straight.
 
"Camp life is, it can be a challenge," said Summerfield. "But it's also, in some respects, fun."
 
And it's something Marett doesn't plan on giving up.
 
"Until I physically can't do it, mentally can't do it, or it becomes a job, I will do it," he said.

The catering aspect can be just as daunting.

Not only do they have to feed 500 or more people, but firefighters need upwards of 6,000 calories a day just to maintain body weight.