A Brewer Basketball Coach Is Battling Wildfires In California

Maine Forest Ranger Ben Goodwin of Eddington has been in California fighting the Red Salmon Complex fire for more than three weeks. That fire has burned more than 122,000 acres since late July. Credit: Courtesy of Ben Goodwin Ben Goodwin knows plenty about the intensity of competition through his eight years as boys varsity basketball coach at Brewer High School. But the Maine Forest Ranger from Eddington is experiencing a new level of intensity as he has helped battle the northern California wildfire for more than three weeks. The Red Salmon Complex Fire is actually the combination of two wildfires — the Red Fire burning on the Six Rivers National Forest and the Salmon Fire on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest — that Goodwin and nearly 550 other firefighters are attempting to contain. “It’s very smoky,” said Goodwin, who has been based in the small town of Forks of Salmon, just northeast of the fire area.