The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is helping the U.S. Forest Service fight wildfires out west.
A total of 17 Iowans have been deployed in the past month, working wildfires in California, Colorado, Idaho and Montana. With the extremely damaging and deadly fires in these states this year, the DNR’s state wildland fire supervisor Gail Kantak says it’s important that Iowa has resources to send.
“All the firefighters are trained really well,” Kantak says. “They go out and they get experience in fire behavior that they can’t get in Iowa. Not only are they helping by supporting the national fire program, but they’re also gaining experience and knowledge and skills that they couldn’t get at home.” Kantak says they’ll bring those skills back to Iowa, which helps improve Iowa’s fire programs.