"Soon it will be dark." John, the leader of the troop started, "We need to get to a safer location while we can still move quickly with the last few hours of sunlight."
Sunlight- pft, I thought to myself. I could barely see my hand in front of my face with all the coverage from the smoke. He was right though. It was time to move but we had hardly made a dent.
Our mission was to hold a certain ridgeline deep within the thick of the Rocky Mountain National Forest. We had a small group of volunteers, led by a paid leader of one of the many state fire departments across the state.
Smoke could be seen almost 50 miles away. It was unbelievable how vast this fire was, ranging a huge span across multiple counties.
It howled loudly. It felt as if it were hitting your body with the strength of the big bad wolf from children's fairy tales blowing down houses.
"We need to move!" John said sternly again with an undertone of seriousness unfounded even while fighting the fire with him for the last few days.
He was right. We were in a dangerous position with the winds picking up and able to change directions. The winds could easily change directions and we'd be facing a wildfire moving over 50 football fields per minute!
Our troop started to move. John took lead and led the team of volunteers through the thick of the forest.
There was no trail to follow beyond the thin path left by deer and other creatures scurry through these inner part of the national park.
Deer trails aren't the easiest to follow. Tree branches jut out at odd places, slowing you down at best and jabbing you in the arm or leg at worse. Despite this, a deer trail was better than no trail.
We pushed ahead. As we did, fatigue started to set in. A few of the less active team members started to slow down and fall behind the main group.
It was understandable. Each step down the hill required every joint in your leg to brace with the impact of your entire body weight. When you're moving fast enough, as we were- literally fleeing a raging inferno- you tend to step with barley one foot at a time on the ground and never two. Making each leg brace with the entire force of your body weight. This would tire anyone and drained particularly larger individuals.
John took notice of this. "Guys, we have to keep moving quickly." He said as he stepped aside. "Go ahead" He politely ordered the next in line. "Keep up a strong pace, you can't go to fast with conditions like these. I'm going to take up the back."
As a truly good leader, John led by example. He waited for the entire troop to pass by him before taking up the rear. Now closest to the fire literally. He began to feel the heat figuratively. He had to get the troop to move faster. How though?
He shared his worry out loud.
"Guys, we have to move faster. The winds have picked up and I sense danger. Let's go!" He said in a rushed voice. Yet, he wondered to himself privately if it would even matter. If the winds turned their direction, the fire could rip through 100 yards in 5 seconds or less.
They moved with an incredible speed through- pushing through the discomfort at hand and within due time were back to the safety of the camp.
As of 10/23/20 image from Google Maps
May these beautiful natural wonders grow back stronger and healthier than before. May the people adversely affected by these natural disasters find strength and resolve through these difficult times. <3
