Photo By Gunnery Sgt. Paris Capers | Quantico Fire Department and Emergency Rescue Services responded to a fire crawling...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. – More than 200 firefighters from the Marine Corps Base Quantico Fire Department and response units from communities surrounding the base responded to wildfires that crept across more than 3,400 acres of training areas on the west side of base for more than 72 hours last week. Dry conditions and a steady wind fanned the fires that were initially isolated to a single training area into the largest fire base firefighting officials have seen in 25 years.
The MCB Quantico Fire Department received the first notification of the fire on April 8, 2013.
The firefighters employed back-burning technique and bulldozing of firebreaks to control and contain the fire to Training Area 11. However, the fire leaped into Training Areas 8, 10, 13 and 14. At no time was private property at risk; the interior woodlands affected were not near the base’s perimeter.
The first responders were members of the MCBQ Fire Department, who are trained to respond to numerous emergency situations, acted swiftly to prevent the fire from escalating.
More than 30 units from more than five regional jurisdictions assisted the MCB Quantico Fire Department in containing the blaze.
“When there’s an emergency, the names on our coats are secondary to our mission,” said Chief Kevin McGee, Prince William County Fire and Rescue. “We are neighbors and we were glad to help.”
The efforts of each of the units contributed to their success.
“It was a great effort put forth by our department and all of the departments that rendered aid,” said Chief Raymond Loving, MCB Quantico Fire Department. “The crews rotated in eight-hour shifts due to the long hours we were out there.”
Three base responders were sent to Stafford Hospital to be treated for heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation. They were treated and released.
Loving attributed the rainfall received the morning of April 12, 2013, with helping to extinguish the blaze, yet firefighters and rescue personnel worked around-the-clock until the flames were out. The chance of the fire reemerging is slim; however, he said the affected areas will be under surveillance to ensure the fire is fully extinguished.
“Everyone in the Quantico Fire Department was committed and performed superbly,” said Col. Barry Neulen, Security Battalion’s commanding officer. “We could not have gotten the fires under control as quickly as we did without the tremendous relationship we have our community partners through mutual aid."
| Date Taken: | 04.12.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 04.16.2013 13:58 |
| Story ID: | 105282 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 89 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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