Four new recruits completed their training and graduated as the new
volunteer class for the Hoodland Fire District in June.

Three, Daniel Maurer, Casey McGinty and Dana Waldron, will be firefighters
while the fourth, Valentina Galenko, will be part of the special task group that
can participate on medical calls but not fight fires.

“(Special task group members are) allowed to do certain things on the fire
scene, but they’re not full fledged firefighters,” said Scott Kline, co-director of
the training company.

The recruit class began with seven in early January, but three dropped out,
and Kline noted that the numbers vary year to year. The 2014 class, for
instance, featured 11 people signing up with seven graduates, and all seven
currently still serve the district.

The three new firefighters will all be based at the Brightwood station.

Defensible space
Kline encouraged everyone in the community to create a defensible space
around their home in preparation for the fire season. The space provides a
buffer between the forest and a home in case of a wild fire.

“A lot of people think that means clear cutting, which isn’t true,” Kline said.
He noted that within 30 feet of a house, all leaves, branches and “brown stuff”
should be cleaned up, while lower limbs of trees can be cut down. Branches
should not overhang on roofs, keep plants pruned within the 30-foot barrier,
while roofs and the ground under decks should also be cleaned up.

Between 30 and 100 feet from the house, low hanging tree limbs should be
removed (reducing “ladder fuels,” which allow a fire to spread up into the
forest canopy).

“Some neighborhoods are really good at it, other places are not so good at it,”
Kline said, adding that some neighborhoods, such as Timberline Rim and
Zigzag Village, hold cleanup days and haul debris to a central burn pile.

The defensible space could be crucial in the event of a wildfire, when
responders must assess each house and determine what resources would be
needed to save it from the fire.

“If we have a house that has prepared a defensible space around it ... we don’t
have to put much effort into trying to save that house,” Kline said.

Burn season over

Wednesday, June 15 marked the end of backyard burning in the fire district.
Recreational fires are still allowed, unless the district is under a general fire
closure. For more information, call the district’s burn line at 503-622-3463.