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Local Chief Reacts to Deadly WildFire

It’s a day of mourning for firefighters all across the country after 19 firefighters were killed in an Arizona wildfire. Davenport’s Fire Chief Lynn Washb...

It's a day of mourning for firefighters all across the country after 19 firefighters were killed in an Arizona wildfire.

Davenport’s Fire Chief Lynn Washburn says firefighters share a close bond no matter where they are located.  Washburn says her immediate reaction is to offer any help they can to the departments in Arizona.

“Many times, the way that you assist is by taking action,” Washburn says. “Not saying this is too dangerous for us but using what we have learned to make ourselves better and we do that in honor and recognition for those who have died.”

Though our local departments may never be faced with a wild-fire of this size, they still fight unpredictable fires on a daily basis.

“When the dispatcher tells you it’s a structure fire, it could be a very small one or it could be a very involved house fire.  You just don’t know.”

One thing Chief Washburn says she does know is that her department will arrive on the scene together, as a team

That is why, though it is many miles away, the impact of the 19 fire service members lost is felt here in the Quad Cities.

“It is like they are members of your own family,” Washburn says.

Since the 9/11 attacks, more than 1000 firefighters have been killed in the line of duty.  Washburn says there is a constant effort to improve firefighting techniques to keep fire crews safe.

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