EXPLAINER: How wildfire camps keep crews ready for battle

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Empty cow pastures on one day can be bustling with hundreds of firefighters the next as fire camps with colorful tent cities spring up.

More than 20,000 wildland firefighters are battling some 100 large wildfires in the U.S. West, and truckloads of supplies and equipment are needed to keep them effective at fighting flames for weeks on end.

“We’ll set up a small village,” said Evans Kuo, a “Type 1” incident commander assigned to the nation’s biggest and most dangerous wildfires. His incident command team has 44 members. “The main idea of the camp is to not only house the incident command team, but also house the base camp that has food, water, sleeping and showers.”

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HOW LARGE ARE FIRE CAMPS?

The size of each camp is determined by the size and complexity of the wildfire, with the largest blazes drawing more than 1,000 firefighters and support staff that are directed by Type 1 incident command teams.

U.S. Interior Department agencies, primarily the Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Forest Service supply firefighters, as do state agencies and tribes.

There also are Type 2 command teams on smaller and less complex blazes that draw from about 200 to 500 firefighters. Type 3 incidents may or may not have a fire camp.

More than 95% of all wildfires are put out quickly or within days by local firefighters, and are classified as Type 4 or 5. They typically don’t have fire camps.

Food caterers, semi-trailers with shower stalls and portable bathrooms are brought into large fire camps to make sure firefighters get enough food and a chance to wash off the dirt, ash and sweat.

“That's a huge morale boost out on the line," said Bubba Pugh, who has been fighting wildfires with the Idaho Department of...