“I’ve had a real good time”
By Ronda Nelson
Looking back on a career that has, with the exception of seven years as a log
truck driver, spanned 43 years, Gene Applington, retired Area Fire Warden for
Clearwater-Potlatch Timber Protection Association, C-PTPA, says “I’ve had a real
good time.” He has enjoyed working with “really good people” and says that he
just wants to thank them for all the help they’ve given him in his career.
Growing up in Weippe, young men had some options for summer employment, haying being a main one, but Applington wanted to do something a little different. At age 14, in the summer of 1965 he went to work for C-PTPA as a fire fighter. “I kinda lied about my age,” he says with a smile. It was the summer after his freshman year at Weippe High School.
He subsequently worked for “the Association” each summer until he went to work full time for them after graduating from WHS. Of course, full time meant seasonal work, so he spent his first few winters running dozer for Burl Lange and Royce Ebert, until C-PTPA put him on full time the winter of 1970-71.
From 1979 until 1986, needing a change, Applington worked for R.F. Coon Logging driving log truck. He found, however, that he missed fire, and went back to work for the Association as Area Fire Warden at Headquarters, a position he held until his retirement this spring.
He got his start working for Dee Steadman, Weippe Fire Warden. Steadman, he says, really enjoyed the young people in his charge, and looked after them. It was from his example, and that of other men like Jerry Driver, Asst. Warden at Orofino, Vern Gardner, Headquarters Warden and Mick Koppang, Chief Fire Warden that Applington gained an appreciation for working with young people.
“These people cared about young people,” he says, “worked with us, and that’s something I’ve always tried to carry on, what I learned from these people.”
In fact, he says that working with young people has been a high point of his career. “I look around now and see the young people I’ve had an opportunity to work with,” he says. “I’ve watched them grow up and become men and that’s been really one of the highlights in my life because of the way I was treated when I was young.”
When Applington started, the Association had crews at Weippe, where he was stationed, and at Headquarters, Bertha Hill and Elk Mountain. “The camp life,” he says, “was great, and a lot of fun.” He spent the summer of 1968 serving as crew boss to John Allen, then Warden on Bertha Hill. By the time Applington became Warden, the camps were gone.
Another aspect he enjoyed was the contact with the public. Building relationships with logging contractors and the public enhanced C-PTPA’s effectiveness, as people would call in smoke sightings because they were aware of the role of the Association. Learning together and communicating, he says, brings people together when the chips are down.
Although there have been changes in approach over the years, with new resources being introduced, the mission of the Association remains the same. Initial attack while the fire is small is priority, as is safety.
Today, C-PTPA protects roughly a million acres, with camps in Boehls Cabin, Elk River, Headquarters, and Orofino. Manpower is about equal out of each, and all hire teens for summer. Applington says they never have a shortage of applicants.
The Association has always used air, owning two fixed wing aircraft. In recent years, helicopters have been utilized as well. Improvements to road systems have enhanced initial attack, as have the addition of Gamma goats, a six-wheel drive military surplus vehicle and four wheelers, because they can go where pickups can’t.
The strength of rural fire departments has enhanced initial attack as well. They are often closer to the fire source and can get there faster.
He says ICI-O crews are another great asset. To his knowledge, every fire agency uses them.
His worst fire season was 1994, when dry conditions combined with lightning caused between 25-30 fires with each storm system that passed through. Logging shut down so equipment and men could be used to fight the fires.
“You have to have resources, you have to have people,” he points out, “and that’s something the logging community has supported (the Association). We work hand in hand.”
Applington is “an optimist, I’m not a pessimist,” and as such has seen change as necessary and beneficial. He believes you have to be open to change, and that openness carries over to your crew in a positive way. “There aren’t any of us that can do it ourselves,” he says. “It’s all of us working together that makes it happen.”
He has spent his entire life living in either Weippe, Pierce or Headquarters. In 1997 he and his wife Linda, who works for Debco Construction, moved their modular home from the C-PTPA grounds at Headquarters to land they purchased in Weippe. There they enjoy raising Foundation Quarterhorses.
Applington has a son, Jamie, a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. He and wife Theresa live in Oak Harbor with daughter Trixie and son Wade. He has two step-sons as well. Travis Denison and wife Renee live in Payette with daughters Olyvia and Sydney. Donnie Denison and wife Brandy live in Silverton and have a son Brett and daughters, Nika and Cera.
Initially Applington planned to work to age 62, but a knee replacement on the left side two years ago, followed by the right side replacement this spring, changed his plans.
Now, he says his retirement plans include “treating my knees the best I possibly can, and spending as much time as possible with family.” He looks forward to spending more time working with the horses as well and hopes they can start showing them again, a pastime that was set aside because the unpredictability of fires interfered so often.
A retirement open house in Applington’s honor will be held at the Weippe Community Center on Saturday, June 14 at 1 p.m. Refreshments will be served.