Prineville IHC History

The brain child of John Maupin, Fire Staff on the Ochoco National Forest, the "Prineville Interagency Hotshot" crew name came into existence in 1980. Under the leadership of Wade Burleson, the crew developed into a top-notch firefighting unit. A crew logo, the coyote, was designed in the early eighties and meshed well with our sister crew, the Redmond Roadrunners. The crew has had five superintendents during its thirty years of existence. The present make-up is ten permanent employees and eleven temporary employees. Some crew statistics include an average of 17 fires per season, about 70 days out on fires with the average fire size about 8,000 acres.

The 2006 fire season was our busiest ever with 140 days out on fire assignments. An average fire season is approximately 90-95 days out and 17 fires.

Crew Superintendents:

• Wade Burleson   1980-1987
• Tom Shepard      1988-1995
• Andy Lang          1996-1997
• Lance Honda       1997-2009
• James Osborne   2009- Present