Fire Chief returns after 12 month deployment

The Idaho Falls Fire Department welcomed home one of their own Wednesday night after being deployed in Romania for the past 12-months.

Fire Department’s deputy chief and Idaho Army National Guard sergeant Duane Nelson was deployed in June of 2017 at Mihail Kogalniceanu air base. He was among a select few aircraft rescue firefighting specialists supporting the operational mission.

He says there was a lot he learned that he plans to bring back to the Fire Department.

“One of the greatest things I got out of the experience over there was the networking,” Nelson said. “That goes along with, not only, the fire service but any career in general. You cant do it alone, you need to rely on other people and so by building those relationships is how things get really done.”

Nelson said he’s still acclimating to being back in the states, because Romania is about a nine-hour time difference, but is happy to be back home to friends and family.