By Brian Bethel
The Abilene Reporter-News
DALLAS — Who names a wildfire? Depends on who gets there first.
“Usually, the first units on the scene will give it a name,” said Richard Reuse, a public information officer with the Texas Forest Service. “That name can change, depending on what they name it.”
But most often, the first name just sticks, unless it’s something that is determined to be improper or a particular community is “just opposed to the name,” he said.
Commonly, the chosen appellation has to do with geographic features, a recognizable landmark, a well-known road or a town near the blaze, Reuse said.
“Usually it’s a landowner or a marking spot that pretty much everybody in the department knows,” said Merkel Fire Department Chief Steve Cochran. “The fire we’re working right now, Trent Mesa, got named after a windmill substation.”
There is, at times, quite a bit of leeway when it comes to naming, Reuse said.
“You may have someone who notices a red truck nearby, and so you end up with the Red Truck Fire,” he said.
Cochran said that no matter the origin of a fire’s name, it ends up having important connotations.
“All the fire departments are supposed to report their fires into the (Texas) Forest Service,” he said. “They track them by name, instead of by physical addresses.”
Names become more prominent in periods where there are many fires or especially serious blazes, such as the ones area firefighters have had to contend with this year, he said.
“You really don’t hear the fire names otherwise, but basically every call - especially a wildland fire that departments roll on - we give them a name,” he said. “That way, it’s easier on us.”
A good name is especially useful, he said, since it can jog memory when discussing a particular fire or give those familiar with the area an idea of its location.
“Whenever the Forest Service comes in or you call to request them, they want a name immediately so they can start tracking for their paperwork and funding and all of that,” he said.
And in the case of mutual aid calls among departments, “they pretty much put a name on it at that point,” he said.
Though the fires themselves are serious, the names sometimes, admittedly, aren’t. Reuse, who is from Virgina, himself once named a blaze the Birthday Fire because of its ignition materials.
“Someone had a birthday party for their twin 5-year-olds,” he explained. After the celebration was over, a fateful decision to burn the wrapping paper and other such items led to the somewhat comical, but memorable, moniker.
“That had absolutely nothing to do with geography,” he said.
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