by Chase Rogers

While Americans commemorated the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks Friday, Sept. 11, and amid a nation fractured by the novel coronavirus, six Hays County firefighters began a two-day drive to face another looming crisis in progress – catastrophic wildfires laying waste to large areas of the West Coast.

The six firefighters come from two of the county’s six fire departments: Captain Brandon Kitchens, Lieutenant Aaron Crain and Firefighter Kyle Guerra from Kyle’s fire department and Assistant Chief Chas Humphrey and firefighters Corby Kokemoor and Michael Wyche from North Hays County Fire Rescue in Dripping Springs.

As part of a strike team comprised of firefighters from Round Rock, Austin and Bryan, the Hays County firefighters have been assigned to the Creek Fire – a wildfire spanning 248,296 acres approximately 30 miles away from Fresno, California, in Fresno County and affecting large portions of the Sierra National Forest.

North Hays County Fire Rescue Chief Scott Collard said he tries to speak with his firefighters on the ground in California daily, recounting the challenging circumstances faced by the team.

“They’re dealing with huge trees that have burned and haven’t yet fallen down, so situational awareness is paramount — watching out for limbs that could fall or trees that could fall over and wild animals escaping the fire,” Collard said. “Not to mention all of the smoke, which most people have seen in the pictures. It’s tough.”

Collard describes the shifts as long and grueling with assignments varying from day to day for the team.

“They’re working 24 hours on the fireline and then they have 24 hours off. It’s a long cycle,” Collard said. “They’ve done many different things varying by day – running hose lines up through containment lines where dozers have cleared paths, help protect areas where there’s a bunch of large houses. They’ve done a lot of different jobs since they’ve been out there and they’ll continue to do so.”

Parallel with the challenges on the ground are challenges that come with leaving home, with large areas of the affected areas in California having lost cellular service, sometimes preventing the firefighters from contacting their families back in Hays County.

“I know my guys have been in quite a few areas where they have no cell phone service while they’re out. So, they don’t always get to just call the wife or kids and say goodnight or hi or anything like that,” Collard said. “It’s definitely stressful for them as well, I am sure.”

The Hays County firefighters were deployed originally for a two-week rotation that, according to Kyle Fire Department Chief Kyle Taylor, could be extended an additional week depending on needs in the area.

Gov. Greg Abbott released a statement Sept. 11 outlining the deployment of approximately 190 firefighters, 50 fire trucks and 10 command vehicles from 56 fire departments in the state to help contain the fires out west, adding to a previous deployment of 44 firefighters, 10 fire trucks and two command vehicles in late August.

“Texas is ready to answer the call for help when disaster strikes — whether it’s here in the Lone Star State or across the country,” writes Gov. Abbott. “I thank the brave men and women serving in our fire departments across Texas for stepping up to help Californians in need as these fires continue to burn.”

Affecting primarily the states of California, Oregon and Washington, the fires have led wildfire experts to call this an unprecedented event in modern times. At the time of this story, the Creek Fire is 25% contained with a projected containment date of Oct. 15, according to InciWeb – a government-operated national incident information system providing daily updates on the wildfires.

The six firefighters are halfway through a two-week deployment and, at the end of the two weeks, their respective departments are poised to fly out replacements to allow them to return home.

Daily updates on the Creek Fire are posted to InciWeb’s website and on Sierra National Forest’s official Facebook page.