The contingent of Oregon firefighters who had been dispatching their services to the beleaguered state of California have at last returned to their homeland, following a concerted battle against the wildfires that continue to ravage Los Angeles. Having spent upwards of two weeks on grueling shifts amidst an inferno, these firefighters carry back with them not only soot and the stench of char but the heavy knowledge of a terrain forever altered by nature's indifferent hand.
"Most of the area was already burned through, so we were coming through afterwards, just seeing the destruction," Lieutenant Anthony Foster of Gresham Fire told KGW during an interview. Foster, a member of the Multnomah County OSFM Engine Strike Team 12, found the devastation upon their arrival in the southern California town to be "pretty shocking." He revealed his impressions upon seeing first-hand what fellow firefighters had been contending with in their mission to quell the relentless conflagration.
The area, as described by Kestin Kim-Proudfoot, another battalion chief with Gresham Fire, was a sight of destitution. According to KGW, Kim-Proudfoot spoke of "a lot of chaos," where entire neighborhoods had been incinerated, commercial buildings laid to waste, and subdivisions were annihilated. The scale of ruin brings to stark relief the power of wildfires to wholly erase what once teemed with community and commerce.
The firefighters admittedly come home bearing a breadth of emotions, weary from their 17-day stretch of unceasing firefighting endeavors. And while they may now seek solace in the arms of their loved ones and the familiarity of their homes, their thoughts linger with those who cannot "just to leave." Gresham firefighter Anthony Foster reflected on this to KPTV, "We get to leave it and come back, and you’re surrounded by that destruction for two weeks. That’s their home. That’s where they live. Those people, they don’t get to leave. We’re still thinking of them.” Even as they return, four Oregon firefighting strike teams continue to face down the blaze still tearing through California, a stark reminder of the ongoing plight just states away.
