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Northeast Ohio firefighters on standby to help with wildfires

In one of the toughest wildfire seasons in recent memory, firefighters from Northeast Ohio are lending a hand to their comrades out west.

TALLMADGE — As hundreds of thousands of wildfires rage on out west, deployment of firefighters across the country are taking place to add additional manpower on the ground level. Those calls can happen right here in Northeast Ohio.

Several personnel from the Cuyahoga Valley National Park have recently been deployed out west, scheduled to spend two weeks with crews.

Tallmadge Fire Chief Mike Passarelli has been involved in more than 20 wildfires across the country.

Passarelli said this has been one of toughest wildfire seasons he’s followed over the years. His most recent deployment rotation ended on August 1 and while he just missed the latest call to head out west, he’s eager to get out with the team if the call comes in next month during his scheduled 3-week rotation picks back up again.

Passarelli has spent nearly 20 years working with national management teams fighting wildfires across the country. He was last deployed to Idaho during the Gibralter Ridge Fire in August of 2017.

“It’s grueling,” said Passarelli. “It’s the marathon of firefighting.”

In one wildfire mission, thousands of crews could be working in one single area. Passarelli said more than 4,700 crew members are working in northern California to tackle the Carr wildfire.

Passarelli works on the ground level with the medic and incident management teams — basically helping to form a small village for the firefighters who spend days — weeks — on the front lines.

“It’s a community like Mogadore which has 5,000 people. You’re feeding those people. You’re providing everything they need to sustain themselves and get resupplied.”

Passarelli’s next rotation for deployment is scheduled to begin September 4. He’s expecting the call, noting that wildfire season can continue through next month. Passarelli said he’s ready and eager to head out.

“Every fireman is an adrenaline junkie to some point,” said Passarelli. “It’s an adventure, I like adventures.”

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