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Federal Way recognizes South King Fire crew that fought Los Angeles-area wildfires
Summary
The Federal Way City Council on Feb. 18 recognized four South King Fire personnel who traveled to Southern California to assist with recent wildfires, praising their service and inviting the crew to describe their experiences.
The Federal Way City Council on Feb. 18 recognized four South King Fire personnel who traveled to Southern California to assist with recent wildfires, praising their service and inviting the crew to describe their experiences.
Mayor (unnamed in the meeting transcript) introduced the crew and said the city was “very fortunate to have a tremendous world class fire department,” before calling Lieutenant Greg Willett, Engineer Ryan DuPra, Firefighter Tyler Morris and Firefighter Chris Clark to the podium.
Lieutenant Greg Willett described arriving as part of a Washington strike team that “stuck together, which was, 5 engines and a battalion chief,” and said crews protected vulnerable homes in Manville Canyon and other Palisades neighborhoods. “It was pretty… organized chaos at first,” Willett said, describing a two-day drive to the region, rolling 24-hour shifts, and stretches he estimated at “about from the time we got up that morning to the point where we got time off was about 36 hours.”
Willett said the scale of the operation was enormous: “It seems like there were about a thousand fire engines there. It was the biggest operation I’ve ever seen.” He described aerial water drops and winds in some places of 75 to 100 miles per hour that made hose streams difficult to hold on target. The crew described doing structure protection, mop-up operations and neighborhood triage across multiple assignments while deployed.
Council members and the mayor thanked the firefighters and their families for serving neighbors in another region. The council took a group photo with the crew and applauded their service.
Speakers quoted in this report were identified in the meeting as Lieutenant Greg Willett and members of the South King Fire crew, together with the Mayor and council members who offered thanks and recognition.
Ending: Councilors said the city is grateful for South King Fire’s mutual-aid deployment and suggested inviting the crew back for further remarks or recognition at a future community event.
