BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — Active-duty military personnel are being deployed to Idaho to assist with fighting wildfires burning across the State.
More than 250 active-duty personnel from the 14th Brigade Engineer Battalion at Joint Base Lewis-McChord will be arriving at the National Interagency Fire Center on Saturday, August 17, according to NIFC.
The personnel being deployed are military firefighters, and NIFC says they will be deployed to the Boise and Payette National Forests to assist with suppression efforts. According to InciWeb there are at least 11 active fires burning between the two National Forests, including the Snag Fire which is currently burning more than 19,600 acres near Cascade. Boise Firefighters have also been deployed to assist with the Snag Fire.
This is not the first time active-duty military personnel have been deployed to NIFC to aid in wildfire suppression. Military firefighters from the same detachment, the 14th Brigade Engineer Battalion, were deployed to Idaho in 2018. In fact, according to NIFC, the US Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior have an interagency agreement with the Department of Defense to provide firefighting support to the wildland fire management agencies when needed.
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