PAISLEY – Whenever Jeffrey Powney tells stories about his firefighting experience, he’ll remember the bird that seemed frozen in time sitting in the middle of the forest.

The Winter Fire that burned north of Lakeview blasted through the forests and left them bare.

The fire is now out, but it left behind several animals that couldn’t beat its pace, Powney said.

“A bird was just sitting there,” said the staff sergeant and tank commander in Hermiston. “It looked totally preserved. It’s eyes were open. It had never seen anything like it before.”

Oregon National Guard members from Pendleton and Hermiston were activated July 16 to help fire crews battle blazes in Central and Southern Oregon. They returned Aug. 1.

Hermiston’s company traveled first to La Grande for training.

“We made fire lines and deployed our fire shelters, things like that,” said Larry Delgrasso, first platoon sergeant first class, at the Hermiston Armory.

On July 19, they went to Paisley, where they caught up with the Winter Fire .

Five fire teams, made up of 100 guardsmen from Hermiston, walked through the scorched land with six-gallon water packs in their backpacks looking for hot spots.

“Without us, the fire could have started up again,” Delgrasso said.

They tagged “snags,” trees that posed a danger after being half-eaten by flames, for fallers to take down later, Delgrasso said.

The whole experience was tiring, with its long hours and acres of walking, he said.

The crews never faced walls of flame, but they were near the action.

They watched aerial crews help from overhead, and studied how fire crews worked their camps while fighting fires just over the hill.

“It wasn’t a walk in the park,” Delgrasso said. “It opened my eyes. I didn’t realize that fire could do that. It was a lot different than what you see on TV.”

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Reporter Teri Meeuwsen can be reached at 1-800-522-0255 (ext. 1302 after hours) or by e-mail at tmeeuwsen@eastoregonian.com.