"Our personnel have to be prepared at all times, and continue to train in spite of the amount of rain and snow we've had lately," said Rick Merinar, district forester for the Cumberland Forestry District.

"If a wildland firefighter becomes complacent because of the [recently experienced] wet weather, then that crew member can become a liability to the rest of the crew. Being prepared is paramount in our agency."

The Division of Forestry responded to 619 wildfires across the state during calendar year 2015. Those fires burned 8581.4 acres for an average of 13.9 acres per wildfire. This was the lowest year for wildfire occurrence on record since 1922 and 1923, according to state forestry officials.

"2015 was not representative of the typical wildland fire activity that we normally see across the state" said Jim Dale, assistant district forester. "Over the past 50 years, Tennessee has averaged 2,817 wildfires per year and 32,245 acres burned.

"Since 1960, over 1.8 million acres of forests and grasslands have been burned in the state, with a high of 112,459 acres in 1987 alone. Prior to 1960, the highest recorded calendar year loss due to wildfires was in 1952 when over one million acres of Tennessee forests and grasslands burned," Dale said.


Preparing for wildfires in Tennessee forests and grasslands is not the only thing on the minds of firefighters these days. The state is slowly becoming less rural every year as more people move to and call the state home.

The 6-Gun – a super-sized monitor capable of firing 22,500 litres of water and foam per minute – was unveiled at a commissioning ceremony at Thames Enterprise Park in Coryton on Wednesday, March 2.

Representatives from five Essex energy firms were given a demonstration of the new monitor in action by Essex County Fire and Rescue Service during the ceremony.

Keeping firefighter numbers down in hazardous areas during an incident is critical; the upgraded monitor only requires 15 firefighters to set up and operate.

During hazardous materials incidents at COMAH (control of major accident hazards) sites, the monitor is powered by a trailer mounted pumping system with water supplied though large-diameter hoses or through ECFRS pumping appliances.

Divisional Officer Mark Samuels, the petrochemical lead for the County, said: “The petrochemical programme has certainly come of age and now includes all eight top tier petrochemical COMAH sites in Essex.

Cedar Rapids public safety spokesman Greg Buelow said Cedar Rapids police took a report Monday of a Ford F350 with fire department logos and a light bar parked in the area of 29th Avenue and Huxley Lane SW. Residents told police the truck could have been there as long as a week.

The truck turned out to be one reported stolen last week by the Lorimor Fire Department. Lorimor is located in Union County, southwest of Des Moines.

Buelow said volunteers with the Lorimor Fire Department came to Cedar Rapids and got the truck Tuesday morning. They reported that the truck -- used as a grass or field firetruck -- was not damaged and the keys were still inside. The truck and fire fighting equipment was valued at approximately $15,000, Buelow said.

"Those that have some experience with volunteer fire departments know they're not usually flush with cash," Buelow said, noting this time of year can start to see an uptick in brush fires with high winds and warm, dry temperatures. "You hate to see a small town department without their apparatus because you can't take fire engines off-road."

Buelow said there are no suspects at this time, nor any indication of why the truck was stolen. Anyone with information is asked to call the police department.

Moorhead Assistant Fire Chief Greg Doeden says Moorhead residents will get their money's worth. "We run close to 3,500 runs a year, so we put a lot of hours on our trucks" Doeden said. "Our plan is to put (fire trucks) into the frontline for 10 years, then we move it into a backup role for 10 years and then we sell them after 20 years."

The new truck is able to haul up to 800 gallons of water and pump about 1,250 gallons per minute. It carries a crew of five, along with a large assortment of extrication tools and water rescue equipment.