Greenville Indian Rancheria receives new replacement engine
By Beth Rose Middleton/Meg Upton
On Tuesday, Aug. 17 a group of US Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Tribal fire crew members met at the Plumas National Forest Supervisors’ Office in Quincy to celebrate the arrival of a Type 4, Model 52 fire engine to re-supply the Greenville Indian Rancheria (GIR) fire crew.
Just two weeks prior, on Aug. 4, the Dixie Fire stormed through Greenville, charring the GIR fire and fuels crew office and all equipment, including their new Type 3 Model 62 engine.
“We lost everything, we didn’t have equipment to fight the fire,” explained GIR Asst. Fire Chief Danny Manning, describing the impact on his crew of 12 mostly Native American firefighters. Some of the crew members also lost their homes and nearly all are currently evacuated from Greenville, with no established date when they may return.
In light of this tragedy, the new engine provides a ray of hope, and a testament to the power of mutual support among federal, tribal and state fire agencies.
“We are all fighting the same fire, on the same fire lines, with the same goals,” said Aaron Grove, Forest Fire Management Officer, Plumas National Forest. “We are glad to step up, and we know you would do the same if we were in need.”
The new engine was inspected, repaired, and driven up from Sacramento by Matt Flying, BIA Pacific Regional Fire Operations. CalFIRE provided support to BIA with engine repair. The Plumas National Forest (PNF) is providing the equipment to outfit the new engine, including hoses, pack pumps, fuel, and other necessary gear. PNF is also providing a chase truck to follow the engine, and Manning recently acquired a Suburban through the federal excess property program—both vehicles will provide additional seats and room for equipment. The PNF chase truck, engine gear, and the BIA engine are all on loan to the GIR crew for at least the rest of the season, or until the Tribe obtains a new engine and equipment.
According to Manning, seven of his crew members will be back to continue fighting the Dixie Fire, which is still raging through Maidu homelands.
“We are coming back together as a crew to continue this fire fight,” he said. In his remarks to the group of PNF, BIA, and tribal representatives, he underscored the importance of ensuring the crew of local men can continue to work in their homelands, support their families, and contribute to landscape and forest health. “It took a joint effort by everyone to make this happen,” he explained, thanking the federal and state agencies that outfitted the Tribal crew after their equipment was lost.
Some of the crew members that will head out with the new engine later this week do not know if they will have homes to come back to—despite this painful reality, they are eager to get back out to help save lands and lives throughout the region.
“It really shows how strong and brave these guys are,” said Manning. “It shows the resiliency of the crew.” Crew members that can’t fit on this engine will go out with other interagency crews where they are needed—and the need is indeed great this fire season in northern California, with new or growing blazes almost daily and unprecedented aridity.
Manning, Grove, PNF Fire Management Officer Jeff Dupras and PNF Supervisor Chris Carlton all reiterated their common goals—“…we are fighting on the same fire lines side-by-side, even though we wear different patches and uniforms; we are out there with the same tools and engines, fighting on the same mountains together.”
