St Cloud National Guard Helping Fight Washington Fires

ST. PAUL -- Governor Tim Walz has authorized a UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter and 10 Minnesota National Guard soldiers to support the State of Washington’s wildfire response.

The authorization follows a request from Washington officials through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC).

The Minnesota National Guard’s St. Cloud-based C Company, 2-211 General Support Aviation Battalion will send a UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter with hoist plus 10 soldiers to Washington to provide medivac support to ground firefighting efforts and aerial fire suppression.

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The Washington State Department of Natural Resources has requested Minnesota National Guard Support for a minimum of two weeks. Minnesota National Guard support could be extended, in the event current fire conditions continue.

The soldiers are expected to arrive Saturday.

EMAC is a mutual aid agreement between all 50 states. A requesting state asks for resources based on their needs and while any state can respond, there is no obligation to participate. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Homeland Security and Emergency Management division coordinates the state’s EMAC requests.