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If you don’t understand something, it’s hard to tell if it’s right or wrong.

There has been a lot of stress and tension over the management of the Thorne Creek fire. I’ve been to the public meetings and heard the concerns. I can see the fire creeping across the mountain in my backyard. I’ve watched it burn close to friends’ properties and them not able to do anything about it.

People are concerned with the techniques used to manage the fire. It’s burning a lot of land. Tens of thousands of acres now. It’s heartbreaking to see our beautiful area burn like that. The crews have used back burns to help the fire burn in a more controlled manner. You see those aerial ignitions light up a hillside and it’s sickening.

It wasn’t until the public meeting on Friday and asking questions of the fire commanders that I really began to understand the stresses on these crews and the lack of resources that were available. Over the weekend, three additional units came to Thompson Falls to join the efforts to control the Thorne Creek fire. That additional manpower and air support that crews needed is finally here.

I’m not a firefighter. I’m not a forest manager. I don’t know what it takes to be in that rugged terrain and come face-to-face with a wildfire. I don’t know specifically what the wind or weather does to fuel a fire. I only know what I see from here.

It’s hard to put your trust in people, especially when homes and lives are at risk. But these fire crews are putting themselves at risk every day. The managers are responsible not only for each member of the crews, but every person in our community who has property in the path of this massive wildfire. Just like you trust a surgeon or dentist or any other expert to do the right thing and make the right decision, we have to put our faith in these fire crews and the incident commanders to do the right thing for all of us.

So thank you to all those firefighters from across the country who are here keeping us safe, the fire managers who are making those difficult decisions every day, and the community who are supporting each other.