Over the course of the 30-hour drive from Fergus Falls to Cave Junction, Ore., Eden Prairie firefighter Ward Parker kept focus, reading or talking on the phone to learn as much as he could about fighting wildfires as he prepped to lead a two-week mission into a raging, mountain hot zone.
If he'd wanted to gaze out the window, Parker said there wasn't much to be seen because smoke clouded the view from western North Dakota, through Montana, Idaho and Washington state.
"We couldn't see any mountains; it was like you're driving at dusk," Parker said, adding later, "With how smoky it was, it just amped up the anticipation of what we were doing."
He focused on a self-directed crash course on fighting mountain wildfires, prepping himself as one of two leaders in a 29-man crew of Minnesota responders accustomed to flat land and structure fires. He led 15 of the men; Bemidji Fire Chief Dave Hoefer helmed a similarly sized crew.
Parker spoke Wednesday about the experience at a news conference with several of the firefighters from across the state who spent two weeks in September fighting the Slater Fire on Oregon's southern border with California.
The Slater Fire has seared 155,000 acres and is only two-thirds contained. The amount of land destroyed is equivalent to a third of Hennepin County, State Fire Marshal Jim Smith said.
Oregon had requested help from across the country through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, and Gov. Tim Walz approved two teams from Minnesota, which included equipment and personnel from Bemidji, Brainerd, Crosslake, Eden Prairie, Fisher, Motley and the Spring Lake Park/Blaine/Mounds View departments.
The Minnesota group met up Sept. 15 in Fergus Falls to caravan across the country with nine vehicles, including four large engines and a giant tender that can carry 2,000 gallons of water. The men pitched their tents at a Cave Junction fire camp for some 1,200 firefighters from across the country.