IVFD called for state mutual aid support near Bridgeport

Early Friday morning around 4 a.m., the Imperial Volunteer Fire Department (IVFD) was contacted as part of a strike team for mutual aid to a fire southwest of Bridgeport in Banner County.
IVFD 2nd Asst. Chief Kelsey Weiss and firefighters Mark Bomba and Greg Dannatt went in response. In addition to the one truck from Imperial, trucks also responded from Grant, Wallace and Ogallala.
Firefighters there had been battling the blaze for about 32 hours and were exhausted, Weiss said.
“They had pretty good control when we got there, they just needed some rest,” he added.
Members of the strike team hit some hot spots that were in danger of flaring up.
Weiss, Bomba and Dannatt were sent back home around 5 p.m.
“I look forward to doing this kind of stuff,” Weiss said.
The fire was in an area with a lot of canyons and ponderosa pines, which burn easily, he added.