Grayback Forestry worker Luis Sanchez pauses while cutting back wildfire fuels at the Cathedral Hills trails system on the south edge of Grants Pass. The Josephine County company has bases in five Oregon cities plus Missoula, Montana.
JULIE ANDERSON / Daily CourierGrayback
A company that started in Josephine County to fight wildfires and reduce flammable material in forests sends its workers across America and Canada. Grayback Foresty launched in the Illinois Valley in 1979 and later moved to Merlin, where it still has its company headquarters. Grayback’s workers are familiar to residents across Josephine and Jackson counties, but what many locals don’t realize is that the company also has a mix of fullsize and satellite bases in Glendale, White City, Odessa and John Day in Oregon, and in Missoula, Montana. It employs about 100 full-time workers year-round, but ranks swell to more than 400 employees during the peak of fire season. Many of those workers are local hires, but some employees trek from the eastern United States to take on the adventurous challenge of wildland firefighting.
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