OHIO, Vinton SWCD — Dave Runkle, 33, had a change of scenery from his work at the Vinton Water and Soil Conservation District for a few weeks: he traveled to Oregon to help put out forest fires…He traveled to Oregon a few days after the fire started and was in a Type 2 initial attack crew of 20 firefighters, all from different states.
“It was basically all-hands-on-deck,” he said of his first days containing the flames. “We cut in a ring around the fire and called in a helicopter to drop water on it so we could cool it down and put it out.”
Runkle knows a lot about forestry: he carries two degrees, one an associate’s in Forest Management from Hocking College and a bachelor’s degree in plant biology from Ohio University.
He has worked for the Ohio State University Forest Service in the past, where he received training in wildfire detail. He is currently the district program administrator at the Vinton Soil and Water Conservation District.