Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Mark Blazejak, Ed McGuire, and Tim Baird at the Tellico Ranger District
There are many fires that are caught early and kept small by the various resources in the area, but due to the drought conditions and the terrain within this region, any start has the potential to grow quickly. This was the case with the Quarry Creek fire that began in the night of 11/16. The crew responded early in the morning, and began by providing structure protection for a number of houses near the fire perimeter and then conducted small burn out operations around those structures to secure the fire perimeter.

As the crew was one of the few engines on the fire they were integral in providing water and mop-up tools to the hand crews, and at the same time continuing to hold and mop-up along a forest road.
The crew continued working on this fire for numerous shifts, but finished off their assignment by returning to Initial Attack and responding to small fires as needed by the district. On Thanksgiving Day the crew was served a delicious turkey dinner provided by some gracious local residents at the 1996 Olympic Canoe and Kayak venue on the Ocoee River in the Cherokee National Forest. The crew returned home on November 25.