North Carolina firefighters are on the frontlines as wildfires burn in American West

As dozens of wildfires rage across the American West, North Carolina firefighters are stepping up to help.

The North Carolina Forest Service has a total of 87 personnel on the ground at wildfires in Washington, Oregon, Montana and Colorado. The largest group – 69 firefighters total – is in Oregon.

“They’re dealing with some pretty extreme fire weather at times,” said Adam Greene, an Edgecombe County ranger. “I would say things are happening a little earlier this year than normal.”

Greene is part of a two-person team that drove a fire engine all the way across the country, from North Carolina to eastern Washington state. His crew arrived on July 22, and immediately faced the explosive Big Horn Fire.

“So, it’s still active right now,” said Ethan Min, a Franklin County Assistant Ranger currently serving as Greene’s crewman. “When we got there, it was 50 acres, and when we left at 1 a.m., it was 15,000 acres.”

Video that Min shot shows walls of burning brush, with flames shooting at least 15 feet into the air.

The Big Horn Fire is now 92% contained, but other fires continue to burn across the American West. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, as of July 30, there are 89 large, active wildfires being managed across the country. Those fires alone have burned 2.1 million acres.

That includes the devastating Park Fire in California, the largest active wildfire in that state. That fire has scorched more than 385,000 acres, forced evacuations and destroyed homes. The Park Fire is only 14% contained, according to Cal Fire.

In eastern Washington, dry, windy conditions have helped drive flames, making Greene’s and Min’s jobs difficult.

“A lot of times, it’s finding structures that are going to be in the fire’s path, and setting up around them to protect those structures, and really kind of catching the fire where you can catch it on the flanks,” Min said.

For Greene, this tour out west is also about paying it forward. Last year, North Carolina had a very active fire season, with more than 5,300 wildfires burning more than 76,000 acres.

“Washington, Oregon, South Dakota, Wyoming, they sent about 116 people to North Carolina to help us,” Greene said. “So, now, we’re able to return that favor.”

Min and Greene are due to rotate back to North Carolina on Aug. 4. When they do, they’ll be bringing back valuable experience ahead of this fall’s fire season in North Carolina, and leaving the West – they hope – better than they found it.