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WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS PARTICIPATE IN HONOR GUARD

 

Wildland firefighters who attended the National Fallen Firefighter Memorial held in Emmitsburg,
Maryland over the weekend of October 8-9, 2005. 
(Back row, left to right:  Craig Romine,
Wade DeBraal, Megan Helm, Scott Boatman, Pat Shorre.  Kneeling in front:  Scott Kleeman and Mike Baybado).

The Wildland Firefighter Foundation, along with the generous support of one of our survivor families, hosted the above firefighters to attend the National Fallen Firefighter Memorial in Emmitsburg, Maryland over the weekend of October 8 and 9, 2005.  Click for more photos!

The seven firefighters served on the same crew as five firefighters (Bart Bailey, Jacob Martindale, Dan Rama, Retha Shirley and Zach Zigich) who were killed on June 21, 2002, in a van accident while working on the Hayman Fire in Colorado.  Participating in the events of the weekend provided some healing and comraderie for the crewmembers.

This was the first year the Foundation had a staff member attend and the first time wildland firefighters were represented on the Honor Guard wearing traditional wildland firefighting gear.  The Foundation plans to participate again next year, and for many years to come.  The experience was a very good one.  Thanks to Judy and Dave Rama and the firefighters who attended for your help!

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MEMORIAL TO HONOR SHANE HEATH AND JEFF ALLEN

Summer 2005, Vicki Minor attended Shane Heath and Jeff Allen’s groundbreaking ceremony for the memorial that will be placed at the Indianola Helibase outside of Salmon next year.  It was such an honor and such a somber time to remember those two young firefighters. 

The Salmon Challis National Forest and the Indianola Helibase did a great job in hosting the gathering.  Mike Dudley, USFS, spoke about flying Shane home with the same pilot who flew with him in taking Doug Dunbar home.  His message will stay with Vicki for a long time.  Kit Kimball, Director of Inter-Governmental Affairs and External Affairs US Dept of Interior attended from the D.C. office on behalf of Gail Norton, Secretary of the Interior.  Kit grew up with Jeff Allen’s mom, so she brought a real personal touch.

It was very moving to see Jodi Heath lean into her husband and blow a kiss up to the helicopter that did a fly-over.  These families showed so much love and appreciation to the community.

We hope that you will mark July 22nd on your calendars next year for the unveiling of the statue at the Indianola Helibase outside of Salmon, Idaho.  There will be two statues of repellers.  The artist did a tremendous job depicting Shane and Jeff repelling to the ground. 

   

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THANK YOU MAFFS!

  
On Tuesday, August 16, 2005, Vicki Minor (middle) was presented with a donation from the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) crew from sales of a t-shirt (being held) sold by crewmembers.  MAFFS is a combination of military personnel who operate as a wildland fire program, not a military program.   The MAFFS unit is currently deployed at the airport in Boise and is comprised of the 145th Airlift Wing, North Carolina Air National Guard based at Charlotte, NC and the 153rd Airlift Wing, Wyoming Air National Guard based in Cheyenne WY.
  

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NWSA STRONG SUPPORTER OF WFF AND FIREFIGHTERS

 
The National Wildfire Supression Association (see photo of Vicki with their Board members) has donated, through their annual membership meeting and auction, more than $90,000 to the WFF.  Through their tireless efforts, we have been able to support and help numbers of wildland firefighters and their families.  We also were able to install the wildland firefighter statue at the Boise Airport.  We wanted to give a big THANK YOU to these fine folks!  

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