Flathead Hotshots Sent to Help with Hurricane Ian Relief Efforts

Almost two dozen Flathead Hotshots crew members have been deployed to Fort Myers, Fla., to assist with hurricane relief efforts that are ongoing amid the widespread destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Ian.

Since the Flathead Hotshots operate under the umbrella of the federal U.S. Forest Service, and as an interagency hotshot crew, federal disasters that open up access to federal resources mean that they can be called upon, even for hurricane responses. The Flathead Hotshots have been activated in the past to respond to other hurricanes, including Katrina, Rita and Hugo.

Shawn Borgen, the superintendent of the Flathead Hotshots, explained that while wildland firefighting is the specialty of his hotshots, the skillset they bring to bear when it comes to wildfires is applicable to a broader range of disaster response efforts.

“We’re good at a couple of things — One: surviving in the environment on our own while being nearly 100 percent self-sufficient. That means we carry our own fuel, food and water for several days if not weeks. That makes us very easy to plug into a very serious situation that, quite frankly, most people aren’t equipped to deal with,” Borgen said. “We are trained to survive in an environment without requiring hotels, or any infrastructure or other resources to take care of us; and two: we are very good at moving wood. To that end it’s the same as being on a wildland fire. The aftermath of natural disasters require the use of chainsaws and arduous labor, and hot shots are well known for being a highly reliable high production asset.”

As of last week the crew was headed toward Alabama, and ultimately a central staging area. They aren’t the only resources from Montana that have been dispatched to assist with the ongoing disaster response in Florida. Gov. Greg Gianforte announced that Montana had sent emergency response personnel to the region and state, including from the Montana National Guard and Montana Disaster and Emergency Services. Gianforte’s office announced that in response to specific requests from Florida, the state would be sending a major from the Montana National Guard and a team of 10 people from the Western Montana All Hazard Incident Management Team. Montana would also be sending an Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) Advanced Team member from Montana DES to Atlanta to work on a regional team coordinating response efforts.

At the time Borgen spoke with the Beacon, he said that the group was still awaiting specific orders, but based on past experience, Borgen was able to describe some of what the hotshots might expect by way of responsibilities.

“A lot of times they plug us into the main arteries of roads and highways and we cut them open to make sure they are passable. We cut our way through county roads, side roads, cut our way into houses, and we make sure people are OK. Our crew has several paramedics trained to render medical aid,” Borgen said. “The other thing we get involved with is handling logistics. Our incident command structure allows us to get organized rapidly and move supplies from point A to point B. We’re also trained to work with aerial resources. This stuff is right in our wheelhouse.”

 On Sept. 28, Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida, bringing with it 150 mile per hour winds and an extreme storm surge that caused widespread flooding. By Sept. 30 as the storm was progressing towards South Carolina, the Associated Press reported dozens of people died in Florida because of the storm, many of them from drowning. Additionally, thousands were trapped in their homes and an estimated 2 million people were left without power. Reports of the unfolding situation in Florida have been both tragic and surreal.

One survivor of the hurricane in Fort Myers told the Tampa Bay Times newspaper that the island “is like somebody took an atom bomb and dropped it.” Residential damage and flooding has been coupled with destroyed roads, and even boats that were pushed onto land by the power of the storm.

“It’s pretty interesting,” Borgen said. “When you are a crew of 23 people in five trucks heading south into a disaster zone, and there are 3 million people going in the other direction.”