VIDEO: As wildfire season approaches in Oregon, the Oregon Department of Forestry is training more than 100 adults in custody (AICs) at South Fork Forest Camp to assist in this yearโs firefighting efforts.
Located within the Tillamook State Forest, South Fork is the oldest active work camp in the Pacific Northwest. It has a 75-year history of preparing incarcerated individuals to contribute to wildfire suppression across the state. Participants spend the week learning hands-on skills, including hose deployment, handline construction and hot spot cleanup.
โWe are teaching these guys to put out the last bit of heat on a wildland fire,โ said Jason Holtom, a seasonal forest officer with the Oregon Department of Forestry and a 30-year firefighting veteran. โThese crews and what they are learning can definitely help in busy fire seasons.โ
Flynn Lovejoy, currently serving a seven-year sentence, is entering his second season on the fire lines.โBasically, we are finding heat in the ground and digging it out,โ he explained. โItโs hot; itโs dirty,โ he said. โWe see guys coming back to camp after a day on the fire line and they are covered in dirt, soaked in sweat. Itโs tough out there sometimes.โ
