Spokane County Fire District 8 was one of five districts in the country to be selected to attend a Fire Department Exchange event hosted by the International Association of Fire Chiefs earlier this month.
The districts gathered to discuss fighting wildland fires, which firefighters are battling with what seems like increasing frequency. “It’s really just an exchange of ideas,” said Fire Chief Tony Nielsen.
Division Chiefs Marty Long and Tom Hatley attended the session in Boise. Other agencies in attendance hailed from Texas, Colorado, California and South Carolina.
“We got to see some of the stuff they’ve been working on,” Long said. “It was real world learning what they’ve been doing on wildfire mitigation. Every area in the country, they have their own wildland urban interface.”
Long was particularly inspired by a program run by the Colorado Springs Fire Department, which actively goes out in the community and does fuel reduction work.