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BLM Kemmerer sends Gavin Lovell to Australia to help battle wildfires

By Lorraine Keith, Public Affairs Specialist, High Desert District

Gavin Lovell (l) & Richard Putnam observing a fire near Kemmerer. Carl Benzanson (l) & Gavin Lovell observing a fire near Kemmerer.

An employee from the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Kemmerer Field Office was deployed to Australia to help battle wildfires on February 13, 2009.

Gavin Lovell, a wildland firefighter, was among 60 firefighters deployed to help battle wildfires in Victoria State, Australia. Lovell and 28 other experienced fire-fighters worked with 31 other wildland fire-fighters, logistics personnel and emergency crews that were already in Australia. Lovell was deployed for 35 days.

The United States and Australia signed a mutual assistance agreement in 2001, and since that time, Australian and the United States firefighters have assisted one another.

Kemmerer Field Manager John Christensen, said, “We are very proud to be able to have Gavin Lovell, one of our most experienced firefighter and fuels specialists, assisting the people in Victoria during this devastating time of need.”

Department of the Interior wildland firefighters deployed to Australia include18 from BLM; five from the National Park Service; three from the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and three from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.