Oregon Forest Service response teams play an important coordination role during the difficult wildfire season

SALEM, Oregon (KTVZ) – This week was the 12th.^th Deployment in 2024 for the Oregon Department of Forestry's Incident Management Teams (IMTs) – 11 during fire season and one following the ice storm earlier this year.

An IMT is a group of specially trained and qualified personnel who work together to provide the type of highly adaptable and coordinated infrastructure needed to handle elements related to all types of emergencies. ODF's three Type 1 IMTs are qualified to handle the most complex incidents and are deployed throughout Oregon, as well as domestically and internationally, to provide assistance when it is urgently needed.

The 1955 fire season revealed a gap in Oregon's wildfire-fighting capacity: it lacked trained, skilled teams capable of fighting large fires when crisis management demands exceeded the capacity of local resources. In 1956, the ODF's first crisis management team was created for exactly that purpose.

Since then, ODF's three IMTs have been deployed nearly 200 times in the state, with about a quarter of those deployments occurring in the last decade alone, reflecting the increasing complexity and intensity of the wildfires we are experiencing in Oregon.

While most team deployments have been due to wildfire incidents, ODF's IMTs are all-hazards qualified and have responded to a variety of other emergencies. In recent years, the agency has supported Curry County's response to a cybersecurity incident and Lane County's response to last February's ice storm. At the start of the pandemic, our team members were tasked with helping to establish the incident command structure needed to sustain the state's response to COVID-19.

“The professionalism, expertise and adaptability of our IMTs mean we can answer the call to help our fellow Oregonians and their communities with more than just wildfires,” said Chris Cline, ODF Protection Division Chief.

In fact, this week's effort is not just to fight wildfires. This fire season has been particularly intense in Eastern Oregon, and the work doesn't stop when the fire is under control. Once the flames are out, efforts to repair the damage caused by the firefighting efforts begin. ODF Team 3 was called in to provide the complex logistical and organizational support needed to assess more than 500 miles of fire line for firefighting repair needs and begin that work.

Working on an IMT requires a high level of commitment, especially during fire season. Standard deployments last 14 days in a stressful, harsh environment. Employees typically work 16 hours a day and then head to a tent, field or parking lot to get some sleep.

“ODF response teams are made up of individuals who are committed to something bigger than themselves,” said Blake Ellis, ODF Fire Department Chief of Operations.

But the bigger sacrifice is the birthdays, anniversaries, summer holidays and other precious times with family and friends missed year after year.

“The worst part is not the long hours and days, but being separated from loved ones and sometimes missing important moments,” said Jennifer Erdmann, ODF IMT 1's planning director. “But we know that when we commit ourselves as part of a team, in a way we are committing our families as well.”