Broadus Volunteer Fire Department

08/31/2026

8-30-26
So far, we've had one lightning strike fire show up from all the bolts that struck this afternoon. The lightning was accompanied by minor amounts of rain and we suspect we'll see a few sleeper fires stand up after the moisture dries tomorrow afternoon so keep your eyes on the horizons for columns so we can catch them small. This one was found by BVFD coop truck operator Hughe Fulton.

08/21/2026

9-20-26
BVFD spent yesterday afternoon and today on the lightning caused 10 acre Ten fire in the USFS and private forest off 15 mile road. Deep duff made management difficult. Areas that were knocked down with engines and water last night sprang back to life today and burnouts, handlining, bonepiling and cutting down snag trees was conducted to reduce fuels up to dozer lines. USWFS, USFS and landowners were all involved suppressing the fire. While searching for the origin lightning tree, we investigated an uncontained unattended recent campfire and even though we dont think it caused the fire, it certainly was inappropriately extinguished and certainly could have caused a fire. Not cool.

08/05/2026

8-4-26
Todays adventure had BVFD and USWFS climbing up to the rugged 12 acre hilltop Lyons fire. These are all skills fires involving a bit of engine work, lots of hiking and packing equipment, chainsaw work, some leafblower and flapper work, lots of handlining, burning out, followed by cold-trailing and bone-piling. The folks doing this daily for a living deserve a big shout-out and respect, its not for the faint of heart!

08/04/2026

8-4-26 Strong winds constantly changing direction as they have this year fan those burning coal seams like a forge and can kick off wildfires such as the1000 ac+ Griffin Fire that took off yesterday. This particular coal seam was likely ignited by the 2012 fires and smoldered along undetected until conditions were favorable for it to emerge. It took numerous local, state, federal and contract resources to get this one under control in steep rugged country but by nightfall we had it ready to begin mopup containment.

While the Griffin fire was at its busiest, another BVFD crew and a load of smokejumpers had to be dispatched to fight an equipment caused 13 acre Barrel Creek wildfire that burned into a rough forested canyon.

Both fires will continue to put up smoke as crews mop-up but no further forward progress is anticipated.

08/03/2026

Hot summer days, heavy gear, and numerous Iong wildfire responses make hydration a top priority. Thanks to and for the generous donation of DripDrop electrolyte drink mix as part of the 2026 DripDrop Hydration Giveback Campaign. This will help us fight dehydration and keep our crews at their best.

Loading up the trucks with DripDrop!

08/01/2026

7-31-26
BVFD teamed up with trucks from Belle Creek, Biddle and area ranchers to quickly contain a rangeland fire tonight. We spent extra time mopping up as there is red flag warnings, extreme heat and strong winds expected this weekend. Be very vigilant this weekend.

07/30/2026

7-29-26
BVFD and USWFS and DNRC climbed up a high forested butte to put out the lightning caused field cache fire. It was extremely hot strenuous work with several people getting sick from heat exhaustion and dehydration. Everyone responded well to treatment. This is one of first fires this year the live trees were burning.

07/29/2026

7-29-26
We were fortunate to get some rain along with all the lightning yesterday and so far only a couple fire starts. BVFD had several engines on the Middle fire in the forest and many more on the Gardner Ranch fire. With a small chance of precipitation the next 2 days, maybe we'll stay lucky, and we wont pick up any sleepers. The federal fire crews and resources are stretched thin with all the starts in the surrounding counties and the daily lightning storms have been relentless.
We really appreciate all the folks who climb the hills to look for smoke and go searching the backcountry when we call. Yesterday we had constant conversations going with at least 20 people out looking. Some folks get called or texted almost daily and the intrusion on your time is valued more than you know. It allows daily preplanning so we can anticipate where we are most likely to have trouble and prepare and preplace assets. The online home weather stations like Ambient Weather Network that many of you subscribe to is very useful as well so we know who didnt get moisture with their lightning etc. All the haze in the valleys and smokey skylines have made it difficult to get a pinpoint on the columns while theyre small but the willingness of the community to stay out late searching has paid off with most fires being caught before they get rolling.

07/28/2026