Don't fear we're on our way! Actually this was on our second day
of the fire |
Time loses all meaning when you're traveling for 19hrs straight
crossing times zones and such. They told us it was dinner time so
we ate (2am at a BBBB restaurant in Missoula MT) We each were allowed
14 bucks to spend but there wasn't one thing on the menu for more
than $7.25 - pretty much a cheaper version of dennys |
Was hot and dry. Some of the locals don't like smokey so much as
you can see from the gun shots. |
The crew scoping our assignment on the first day. In the morning
the fire is usually quiet and then picks up during each day as it
gets hotter and drier |
You get to do lots and lots of hiking on fire. Getting paid to hike,
what could be better. Gets a little warm wearing heavy nomex shirts
and pants and carrying a heavy pack |
Here is a shot of camp from a helicopter. Our tents are in the upper
right hand corner. Was a medium size camp with about 800 people,
food trailer/tents, showers, laundry ect... |
This is our crew's tents at camp. You can see the fire burning on
the horizon (about 20 miles away) |
During the first few days we had some heat to deal with. Here is
Lisa chain sawing up a hot snag that just fell so it does not burst
into flames |
In the afternoon on our second day things started burning good and
we pulled out. The lookout tower in the upper middle of the smoke
made it through this day and the lookout was back in there within
a few days |
Still in our second day, some group tourching |
This fire had some real
potential to really take off as our first few days were very dry
but there was no wind so it would just burn small sections then
die down.
|
Our entire division was pulled off the fire every afternoon for
the first few days when the fire was burning more intensely. Here
is our crew watching a big smoke column forming after we pulled
off the line |
Time
to go home at the end of the day. It got cool at night (had frost
on our tents most mornings) but no need to keep your bus this warm |
Nothing
smells better than the bus at the end of the day |
| 
Taking a break on a
water pumpkin (portable tank) after hiking hose down a steep hill
and then back up for another load
|
Gotta love hiking with
a few hundred feet of hose |
The terrain on this fire
was very steep. Here we are laying some hose. We just keep attaching
100' sections till they tell us to stop. (we
never got to the bottom, over 3000 feet below)
|
Whoops, missed that hot
spot. |
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Those who saw together stay together |
Well this fire wasn't the hardest one. We spent many hours "standing
by", "hunkering", "holding", "shading
up" and many other fire terms for sitting around waiting for
other people to figure out what they want you to do. |
Chicks with chainsaws are cool |
Most of the real firefighting on this fire was done by helicopters
due to the very steep terrain with limited access points. There
were 10 or so heli's on this fire. Here is the Skycrane - Pretty
much the biggest workhorse helicopter made. That hose that is dangling
sucks up water out of a lake or holding tank (2000 gallons in 45
seconds) |
The Sikorsky 61 (another big helicopter)with a water bucket
|
The crew catching some late day rays
|
Yup, that's me working hard |
A nice sunset from camp. You can see the bulliton board where they
post the days newspaper clipping and other fire articles. Portable
sinks and the food trailer in the background. |
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