The Park City Fire District has sent a three-person crew to Oregon to help combat wildfires there, according to a district spokesperson.
Zane Thompson, Jeff Pauline and Logan Rodriguez were deployed for a 14-day mission, said Michelle Andersen, a district spokesperson.
Anderson said on Wednesday the trio was deployed near Sunriver, Oregon, which is about 15 miles southwest of Bend, Oregon, and 20 miles east of Mt. Bachelor.
“They are working to triage, prep and scout out the critical and high risk areas,” Andersen wrote in an email to The Park Record. “They have stated the vegetation is very dry and the fires move fast.”
Oregon is home to five large fires, the district wrote in a social media post, including the Bootleg Fire, which is the largest fire burning in the country.
The Bootleg Fire merged with another large blaze on Monday, pushing the combined size of the conflagration to 400,000 acres as of Thursday, according to InciWeb, a national incident-reporting database that tracks wildfires.
Sunriver, where the crew was stationed, is about 70 miles north of the heat perimeter of the Bootleg Fire, according to an InciWeb map.
Oregon officials requested assistance from Utah through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, according to the district. The compact is a federally authorized agreement for states to share resources during emergencies.
The district wrote that many other Utah fire departments have responded to Oregon, as well.
“The residents of the area are very grateful to have the Utah departments … helping in the area,” Andersen said.