West Tennesseans help fight California wildfires
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GOLDEN POND, Ky. — As we experience some of the best weather of summer, the West Coast is seeing what some are calling the worst fire season the area has ever seen. Volunteers from around the country are flying out to help, including some West Tennesseans.
Four National Forest Service workers from Land Between the Lakes left for Northern California over the weekend. Although they are not physically dousing the flames of the wildfires, their work on the administrative side is the key to saving lives. Jennifer Wheatley’s son Andrew is an intern with the U.S. Forestry Service at Land Between the Lakes, sent to Hayfork, Calif., to assist. But he is not your typical firefighter. “They are managing payroll and all of the administrative services that have to happen behind 852 people going to a new work site,” Wheatley said. It is behind the scenes work that is not often recognized, but the firefight could not be done without it. “If someone doesn’t order that piece of equipment and get it there on a certain day, then someone’s house could burn down,” Tina Tilley with the U.S. Forestry Service said. But with the work Andrew and his team are doing, many lives and homes have been saved, including a former West Tennessean who reached out to Wheatley in a Facebook message with gratitude. “I could tell that it was meaningful to him,” Wheatley said. “It was no longer an impersonal job — it was ‘I am taking care of her home.'” With words from a far-away stranger hitting so close to home, Wheatley said this firefight her son is on could not be more meaningful. “He is one tiny part of a great big team,” Wheatley said. “He is there to accomplish good, and I am just proud that he’s doing his part.” The team members will be on the scene for at least two weeks. Leaders at Land Between the Lakes said it has many of its employees at other wildfire scenes throughout the country right now as well.
