GREAT FALLS — The Chief Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew, based in Browning, is currently deployed to help fight a wildfire in New York.

The Jennings Creek wildfire is primarily in the Sterling Forest State Park and is boxed in by fire lines. To date, the fire has burned 5,304 acres, and is about 88% contained.

“It’s just been a pleasure working alongside of them. It’s kind of what the Hotshot crews do back home, they’re the ones that run the show, wherever we go, you know. It’s just a great opportunity to see [other firefighting agencies’] techniques of fighting fire and adding some of ours from back home,” said Birdrattler.

He explained, “We’ve been kind of comparing it to a grass fire that we’d have back home. You add the wind factor, you’re going to get a lot of fire activity with the wind. Kind of the same here with the leaf litter. That’s how we’re applying our tactics from back home to here.”


“It’s a big fire for New York, the biggest one I’ve been on. With the terrain and the weather, really steep, nasty, rocky country. Difficult to get access to the actual fire,” explained Tyler Birggs, a firefighter from Albany, New York.