Tag Archive: Emergency Response

Field Notes

Tales from the Fireline

September 7, 2022 - Contributors: Delaney Beattie, VDOF Riparian Buffer Specialist- James River Buffer Program; Chad Briggs, VDOF Forest Technician; Jack Colyer, VDOF Forest Technician; Bill Perry, VDOF Area Forester; Travis Tindell, VDOF Area Forester; compiled by Ellen Powell, VDOF Conservation Education Coordinator   While Virginians enjoyed a fairly normal summer, the national news told of wildfires raging in other parts of the country. Virginia Department of Forestry personnel often provide fire suppression assistance to other states,... Read More

Field Notes
Wildland firefighters in Texasprepare to begin defensive work.

National Wildfire Deployments: A POV

September 2, 2022 - By Kinner Ingram, VDOF Rappahannock Senior Area Forester As a forester for the Virginia Department of Forestry, our phones go off at all times of the day (and night), and we generally never know who it is, unless it’s a weekend or evening. While calls during work hours are generally coworkers or landowners, calls outside of work hours generally lead to some kind of fire response. Those are the calls... Read More

Field Notes

Witnessing a Miracle

May 24, 2021 - By Sarah Parmelee, VDOF Forestland Conservation Coordinator This spring I didn’t go to many tree plantings, but I was able to take part in something very important, and in a way, miraculous. I am a country mouse if ever there was one, and even though Washington D.C. is just a an hour away, it feels like traveling to another country to leave the hills of Warrenton and make the trek... Read More

Field Notes

Field Notes: Virginia Wildland Fire Academy 2018

June 13, 2018 - by Fred Turck Prevention – Program Manager- Emergency Response Branch  The Virginia Wildland Fire Academy 2018 is now just a memory for more than 320 folks. Students, instructors and staff put in many hours of work in the classroom and field to better prepare themselves and those they were instructing to be safer and more effective emergency responders. Smokey Bear knows all too well that we cannot prevent every wildfire... Read More

Stories

VDOF Sends Help to TX and OK

April 18, 2018 - A very long siege of wildfire activity, which shows no signs of coming to an end, is taking its toll on firefighting resources in Texas and Oklahoma. Hundreds of thousands of acres have burned, homes have been lost and there have been several injuries and fatalities over the last several weeks. Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) Chief of Operations Ed Zimmer said, “Our friends in the Southwest are on their... Read More

Stories

VDOF Responds to Hundreds of Wind-Related Fires

March 5, 2018 - Spring wildfire season, which began February 15, is in full swing and the high winds that raged across Virginia since Thursday only made conditions more dangerous. Governor Northam declared a State of Emergency Friday afternoon as a result of extreme weather conditions which resulted in hundreds of wildfires throughout the Commonwealth. Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) firefighters have responded to fires in the counties of Albemarle, Amherst, Amelia, Appomattox, Bedford,... Read More