A firefighting team from the N.C. Forest Service District Eight offices based in Whiteville is heading for Louisiana to help battle the Ida Fire in the Kisatchie National Forest near Leesville.
While North Carolina, especially NCFS District Eight, is preparing for flooding conditions, much of Louisiana has been in an extended drought. Unusually dry conditions have led to a number of large fires in several parts of the state, notably in the western plains area.
Four personnel and two bulldozers are en route to the fire.
The local fire team will be on duty in Louisiana for three weeks, unless conditions improve. The mutual aid is part of a national wildland fire assistance program that deploys firefighters, equipment operators and other specially trained personnel to any cooperator state during an emergency. Local fire personnel have fought fires on the West Coast and elsewhere in recent years.
