X

St. Lawrence County man returns from fighting wildfires out west

Posted 8/26/15

A St. Lawrence County man has returned from fighting wildfires in the Western U.S. Aaron Graves of Potsdam, an employee of the DEC's Lands and Forests Division, was part of a 20-member crew of DEC …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

St. Lawrence County man returns from fighting wildfires out west

Posted

A St. Lawrence County man has returned from fighting wildfires in the Western U.S.

Aaron Graves of Potsdam, an employee of the DEC's Lands and Forests Division, was part of a 20-member crew of DEC rangers, employees and volunteers who joined 1,000 other firefighters battling the 25,324-acre Stouts Creek Fire, near Milo, Ore., for the past two weeks.

This not the first time Graves has been out West to help with wildfires there. He has gone West several times in the last several years, including one trip earlier this year.

The Oregon fire started on July 30 by a lawn mower used during prohibited hours. It was contained on Aug. 21, but exceptionally dry conditions required crews to maintain a constant presence in order to keep the fire contained.

The team assisted in creating control lines to contain the wildfires, clearing materials from the path of the fires and completing burnout operations in which crews set land within the control line on fire in order to remove fuel from the path of the larger fire.

During their time, the crew worked in rough terrain and endured daily high temperatures.