Idaho National Guard pitching in

Major Darren Blagburn takes a phone call Tuesday.

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Story Published: Feb 6, 2008 at 11:10 AM PST

Story Updated: Feb 6, 2008 at 11:19 AM PST

By Matt Loveless

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LEWISTON - Severe weather in the Inland Northwest has led to military support.

Saturday, a number of Idaho Army National soldiers were activated in Bonner County to help with snow removal.

Major Darren Blagburn of the 145th Brigade Support Battalion in Lewiston, said their emphasis is on making sure the schools in those areas are safe.

"They're the hardest hit because most of them are older and they're all flat-roofed buildings," said Major Blagburn. "We do have some other county buildings in those counties that have requested help, but the emphasis set by the emergency managers is on the schools themselves."

Since Monday, Governor "Butch" Otter has signed disaster declarations for an additional five counties bringing the total up to nine in the state. Seven of those occupy the northernmost part of Idaho's panhandle. Latah County was declared a disaster area early on.

To get an idea of how severe the situation is in those northern counties, Blagburn said there's a lot that has to happen before the Guard gets involved.

"The city or the district, the school district in this case, has to exhaust all of their resources financially and manpower-wise," said Blagburn. "Then, the county declares an emergency. Once the county declares an emergency they have an emergency funds and exhaust their resources. At that point the state comes into play and they will declare an emergency. And based on the need, that's when the guard will actually be implemented in that scenario."

The local guard has 65 volunteers from Grangeville to Bonner's Ferry. If the situation gets worse, all 550 troops could be deployed to help. Blagburn said, as more snow is expected to pile up, the 145th Support Brigade Battalion will be ready.

"The National Guard is a community-based organization," he said. "People forget that the Iraq war and all the things we deal with on a daily basis aren't necessarily our primary purpose. It's going out and helping people, helping the community and we're made up of volunteers from our community. It's neighbors helping neighbors"

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