GUAM—When Typhoon Mawar struck the island of Guam in late May, it brought winds equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane that disrupted power across the island. This U.S. territory, about 210 square miles and located in the western Pacific Ocean, is over 7,000 miles from the USDA Forest Service Eastern Region’s footprint—too far, you might think, for the region to be part of the storm response. But through a coordinated effort across federal agencies, the Eastern Region played a key role in supporting Guam’s recovery.

Following the disaster, the Federal Emergency Management Agency contacted the Forest Service and asked for assistance with emergency road clearing. The request landed with Barb Geringer, an Emergency Support Function 4 coordinator with the Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Region. This group mobilizes federal firefighting resources when they are needed for FEMA’s response to another type of disaster.

Geringer knew she would need an ESF4 leader to manage the Black Hills Type 1 Saw Module, a National Park Service team from Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota. That’s when the Eastern Region became involved.

Geringer contacted Bob Klages, assistant manager for Eastern Region Fire and Aviation Management. Klages, in turn, reached out to Rob Clark, a Forest Service retiree and experienced ESF4 leader, to bring him on board as an administratively determined employee, a designation that allows the agency to quickly activate temporary support during an emergency.

On June 3, Clark and the saw module arrived in Guam to begin their 14-day emergency road-clearing operations. Their work relied on complex coordination among multiple parties: Requests for emergency road clearing came to FEMA from Guam’s mayor’s and governor’s offices, division supervisors in FEMA operations forwarded those requests to ESF4 for consideration and, finally, Clark field-checked all the requests to ensure they met mission assignments.

Clark spent two days in the village of Yigo (pronounced Gee-go) with Mayor Sanchez identifying rural roads where saw work was needed to open streets littered with storm debris. Yigo is the island’s largest and most northern municipality, encompassing 35 square miles, and was one of the hardest hit areas on the island. A week after the typhoon hit, power was still out with a need for emergency vehicle access along with safe travel ways for residents to obtain food and water needs.

The saw crew spent several days opening eight miles of roads in Yigo, including Chalan Plumeria Luchan, Chalan Emsley, Chalan Abas and Mayot M A Calvo roads. The crew also worked to clear three miles of Leo Palace Road, removing trees that blocked access to a facility where FEMA emergency responders were staying, and Clara Road, which led to an elementary school.

“The preplanning conducted by Region 5 Forest Service in conjunction with National Park Service was integral to our successful operations,” said Clark. “Their work provided a smooth transition and allowed the saw module to efficiently respond to the needs of communities on the island.”