Reservists help battle Oklahoma wildfires

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Rich Curry
  • 507th Air Refueling Wing
Tinker Air Force Base --  As the wildfire threat continues to alarm citizens across Oklahoma, Air Force Reservists are rolling up their sleeves to join the ranks of hundreds of people volunteering their time to help their neighbors. 

Meet Tecumseh resident Master Sgt. Michael Holford. Sergeant Holford, the 507th Air Refueling Wing Pneudraulic Shop Chief, has been with the unit for the past two years. While normally he says enjoys his quiet country living setting, that changed on a Sunday evening during Thanksgiving weekend. “Fire got within 50 feet from my elderly neighbor’s house,” he said. “When I realized the fire was coming their way, I went there to help.” 

Sergeant Holford isn’t unfamiliar to volunteering his time to his community. He has been a volunteer policeman for more than 10 years and has over 6,000 hours of volunteer police work. 

Using a garden hose and shovel, Sergeant Holford battled the fire, eventually linking up with area firefighters. “We kept the fire away from my neighbor’s house, thank goodness,” he said adding that the blaze also came within a half mile to his own home.
Sergeant Holford then helped the firemen by describing the country roads in the area. “I was able to help them by pointing out the quickest way to access other people’s property and get to the blaze,” he said. “That was a good sized fire. I believe two houses and several out buildings were destroyed,” he said. 

A similar story was learned about Tech. Sgt. Chad Ginzl, also a member of the 507th ARW’s Hydraulics Shop. A Chandler, Oklahoma, resident, Sergeant Ginzl drove from his home to Sparks, Oklahoma last week to volunteer his time operating a back hoe to create fire breaks in the Sparks area. 

As thousands of acres have burned across the state since November, both full-time firemen and volunteers from the more than 900 volunteer departments state-wide have rallied to the cause. 

Master Sgt. John Hansen, NCOIC of the 507th ARW aircraft accessories shop and a full-time Oklahoma City fireman, has also been fighting fires in the metro area this past week. “Since my job is with the HAZMAT response team, we aren’t dispatched as often as the other teams,” the 16-year veteran fireman said. 

“But we did respond to 3 fires on New Years Eve that we believe were fireworks-related and we’ve responded to several grass fires in the neighborhood around the station,” he said. 

For Master Sgt. Courtney Powell, Air Force Reservist with the 513th Air Control Group and full-time Edmond fireman, a lot of the area fires efforts cmight have been avoidable. 

“We fought a fire last Sunday in Edmond that threatened several commercial structures and a bank,” he said. Sergeant Powell, a computer display maintenance technician in the reserve, has been an Edmond fireman for two years. “People need to be careful when disposing smoking materials,” he said, adding that many incidents are started when people ignore the state-wide burning ban. 

People can also lessen the impact of a potential fire, Sergeant Powell said adding that people with large acreages need to keep their property maintained, free of debris, hire professionals to keep tree limbs away from power lines and keep grass cut short. “It’s a lot easer to put out a fire in short grass than one burning in tall weeds,” he said.