Blair volunteer firefighters brace for longer, tougher wildfire season
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Firefighters are preparing for what’s expected to be a longer, tougher wildfire season around the Omaha metro.
Very high fire danger is forecast for Douglas and Lancaster Counties through midweek.
Chief Joe Leonard with Blair Volunteer Fire and Rescue said he’s hoping for the best this wildfire season, but he’s prepared for the worst.
“We’re as ready as we can be. We make sure that all our apparatuses and equipment are maintained,” he said.
Leonard says most of Nebraska is in very high or extreme fire danger due to a lack of meaningful precipitation.
“We haven’t seen this type of conditions in a while,” he said. “I know it’s been a few years. We did have some weather like this before. But this here is very uncommon for this type of event to unfold.”
First Assistant Chief David Aten agrees.
“It’s getting more complex, vegetation is getting drier, we don’t have near as much rain as we have in the past,” he said. “We got a lot of undergrowth that helps fuel the fire and makes it harder to contain.”
Adding even more fuel to the fire is a nationwide lack of volunteers.
“Right now, our membership, we’re sitting at 46 members,” Leonard said. “We’re allowed 80 at this department. We’re always trying constantly to recruit new members. And the big issue to recruit new members is the amount of time it takes to train.”
To help fill those spots, Blair VFD is trying to make it easier for people to volunteer.
“Right now we’re looking at working with people to extend our training requirements to where you don’t have to have them within a certain amount of time,” Leonard said. “We’re looking at possibly opening our requirements of where you have to live.”
Leonard said there is always room to do something. He says people who are interested should ask their local fire department.
“Just come up and speak to them and see where you can fit in. There’s always an opportunity to volunteer doing something.”
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