201212_UTMinuteman_W.. - Keep Trees

Utah National Guard
Responds to Quail Fire
Story by Sgt. 1st Class Brock Jones
ALPINE, Utah — The Utah National Guard was directed by
Governor Gary Herbert to provide two Blackhawk helicopters to
assist local, state and U.S. Forest Service fi refi ghters in their efforts
to control a blaze that started July 3 in the hills above Alpine.
Second Battalion, 211th Aviation, Utah Army National Guard,
was given the assignment and provided the helicopters, pilots
and crewmembers to fulfi ll the governor’s request. Other
personnel worked behind the scenes, performing leadership,
liaison and support roles to make sure helicopter crews could
do what they were called in to do: drop bucketfuls of water
Utah Guard Soldiers help local authorities
extinguish the Quail Fire in Alpine, Utah, July 3.
on hotspots as directed by fi refi ghters on the
ground.
By the morning of July 5, fi refi ghting crews
had gotten better control of the fi re with help
from rain and lower temperatures, and the Utah
Guard was told their mission was complete. In
all, Blackhawk crews dropped 263 buckets of
water on the fi re.
Investigators believed the fi re was caused
by a trackhoe working in the area, but weren’t
sure whether sparks from the track or bucket
hitting rocks or heat from the machine’s engine
or exhaust had sparked the fi re. Homes at the
base of the mountain were threatened and
suffered heat damage, and in some cases were
even surrounded by fi re, but the only building
that burned was a barn.
Utah Minuteman 33