FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 22, 2015) – Less than 24 hours after receiving a request for firefighter support, 21 Kentucky Division of Forestry (KDF) firefighters are on their way to Alaska. The 16 full-time and five seasonal KDF firefighters will be leaving from Knoxville, Tennessee, this afternoon and are heading to Alaska, where they will be assigned to a fire. There are currently seven large fires burning in Alaska. KDF firefighters volunteer for this duty, take leave from their regular duties and join the United States Fire Service workforce for their 14-day assignment. KDF received the request through the Kentucky Interagency Coordination Center of the Daniel Boone National Forest, which coordinates the mobilization of federal and state resources to incident needs throughout the United States. KDF firefighters will join with federal personnel from the Daniel Boone National Forest, Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area, Great Onyx Job Corps and Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area to form two crews. Although wildfires have not posed a problem for Kentucky this summer, forestry officials want to remind private landowners, public land managers and homeowners to help prevent wildland fires. To find out how you can prevent a wildfire from striking your home, visit the Kentucky Division of Forestry website at http://forestry.ky.gov/. For more information about national wildfires, visit http://www.nifc.gov.
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