21 Kentucky firefighters helping fight wildfires in Alaska

"A friend asked me if my husband was more nervous or excited. I could easily tell her he’s more excited. But for myself, I’m more on the nervous side of that. It’s definitely a dangerous job," says Crystal Brothers, whose husband Chad is one of the firefighters who made the trip.   

Brothers says her husband will be gone nearly three weeks and that her routine will change. "I woke up this morning and I just thought, who is going to take out the trash?  I’m really spoiled. He always takes out the trash and mows the yard," laughed Brothers.

The Kentucky Division of Forestry says there are an estimated 85 wildfires burning in Alaska, where nearly 30-homes have been burned.  Some 3,000 firefighters from 48 states and Canada have answered Alaska’s call for help. 

Twenty year Kentucky Forestry veteran Floyd Willis says this time of year wildfires in the west are common in the bone dry west.  He says Kentucky’s dry season is in spring and fall, while western states experience it in the summer. 

Willis says he has been to many states to fight wildfires and that right now, he’s thinking of his forestry brothers during this time. "It’s an opportunity for more experience fighting fire," says Willis.

As for the families of those firefighters, they are hoping for safe and speedy return. "It is a dangerous thing. It’s worrisome. I trust the Lord in his training and hope everything will be okay," says Brothers.