FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- Fort Drum firefighters training on post with New York state wildland fire experts immediately put their skills to the test last week when a real-world range fire kicked up near the north side of Antwerp Tank Trail.
Traces of smoke from Thursday afternoon's large brush fire near Training Area 12D curled in the blue sky over Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield where New York State Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers were training Fort Drum personnel in wildland fire management.
Once the call came in, radios crackled to life, and fire officials issued their orders.
"You would expect to fight fire at a later date -- not necessarily the same afternoon," said Robert A. Denney, Fort Drum Fire and Emergency Services Division assistant fire chief.
As personnel emerged from their training in the woods to find out what was happening, Denney jumped in his vehicle and headed to the scene.
He approached the fire from the south as an engine and brush truck descended from the north.
With the quick response from post firefighters and state DEC rangers, the 200-acre fire was contained and smoldering by evening.
"Wildland fires are so large that they are hard to cool all at once," Denney explained. "(So) we create 'fire breaks,' like a natural road, to make it harder for the fire to jump.
"We have incorporated into the design of our range areas a lot of natural fire breaks," he added.
Before the unexpected drama, Thursday's field training was the culminating event of a weeklong certification process for roughly 20 Fort Drum firefighters.
Denney said because Fort Drum does have a "wildland mission," such training on post follows all National Wildfire Coordinating Group tactics and techniques for wildland firefighting.
"We don't typically see some of those same extreme conditions that they might have out West," he said. "But the skills are the same and the processes are the same."
Federal regulations require NWCG training for any national incident response, according to John Scanlon, state DEC forest ranger from Region 6.
"It is our goal to bring the best possible wildland firefighter training onto Fort Drum," Scanlon stated.
"NWCG training is the wildland standard," Denney added. "(It) is the same training that wildland firefighters get across the country."
Scanlon oversaw hand line construction in the woods near the airfield, which included everything from chainsaws and pickaxes to shovels and rakes.
Denney noted that creating a fire break may mean removing a 50-foot swathe of trees in one area or just clearing out grass and leaves in another.
Firefighters also trained on a floating fire pump, which can be dropped in remote lakes or ponds where a water source in a natural setting could be used.
Like the beginning of a premonition, Scanlon discussed the flammable conditions Thursday just before the brush fire was reported.
"(This is) what we call one-hour fuels," he said, pointing to the long and thick dry grass. "These fields could be wet in the morning, but all they need is an hour of sunlight and they are dry and ready to go.
"Today is a perfect example of those types of conditions, where things are dry and we can experience very rapid rates of spread of fire," he said.
The DEC is the lead agency in New York state for wildland fire suppression.
New York state forest rangers are experts in the field, and they regularly deploy out of state to combat wildland fires, especially in the West.
Scanlon, one of more than 20 forest rangers in the Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Herkimer and Oneida counties region, said the interagency cooperation from Fort Drum was "outstanding."
"The Fort Drum fire people are top-notch professionals," he said. "It's a pleasure to work with these guys."
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