Oregon Department of Forestry Incident Management Team 2

Information Contact:

541-943-3513

541-576-2654

Thanks from Winter Fire

July 31, 2002

To the People of Summer Lake and Paisley --

The Oregon Department of Forestry Incident Management Team that’s been living at Paisley School for the last 20 days would like to thank the communities of Paisley and Summer Lake for the outstanding reception we received.

Never have we experienced a better location for a fire camp. The availability of the school and the willingness of the community to assist the firefighters in every possible way made our stay here as pleasurable as possible under the circumstances. In spite of the stress brought on by the fire and by the large number of firefighters, community members remained friendly, supportive, and encouraging.

As we leave, we will be replaced by a National Team that will have responsibility for the management of the Winter, Toolbox, Silver, and Lava fires. We know they will enjoy your generous hospitality as we have. Please have patience with them as they get to know the local communities and the surrounding land.

Thank you all very much for your kindness to us as we did our best to work with you in extinguishing the Winter Fire. Your cohesiveness in times of emergency is an important model to the rest of our state. We will always remember the way you came to the aid of your neighbors when they were in need, and the way you supported us as we joined the fight.

Sincerely,

Jim Mair

Incident Commander

Oregon Department of Forestry