I wanted to be a fire fighter this summer so I could travel to new and interesting places. My first fire ended up being in my home town, and we had to camp at my old high school...
Regardless of the location, I still had a blast and it was a good place to learn the basics hands on. I knew the terrain and area well, and we arrived near the end of the fire so things were relaxed for the most part.
Our job was to patrol division A of the fire and look for hot spots where the fire could potentially reignite. Just as we were given our assignment a plume of smoke appeared across the road.
We drove across the road and as we were nearing the smoking tree, it suddenly burst in to flames. Tree debris like needles, leaves and bark can smolder underground for days without showing flame. This unlucky juniper tree had a pack rats nest built into it's base so the whole thing torched in a matter of seconds once the smoldering debris on the ground met with the rats dry flammable nest. We jumped out of the truck and started spraying the base of the burning tree. Another crew ran in with a chain saw and started removing low hanging tree limbs so we could reach all hot spots and flames and also to prevent the fire from climbing back up the tree if it were to reignite later on.
I wish I could have taken more pictures but every time something picture worthy happened it was during a time where it would be unprofessional to be taking pictures and not helping put out the flames. The rest of my time on this fire was spent gridding for hot spots, mopping up and talking to other firefighters. It was a good learning experience and i'm glad my first fire was so mellow because it gave me the opportunity to familiarize myself with the equipment and become better prepared for the scarier situations to come. And my engine boss reassured me that those situations will most defiantly come before the end of fire season.
Now that I'm not a complete firefighting newbie I will be more prepared on my next fire and will make sure to take better pictures for you guys. I'll take pictures of fire camp and the amazing food they give us. I'll also get some pictures of actual fire next time and any air drops if we are in range. Let me know in the comments what you guys want to see in the next one and I will make a list to bring with me on the next fire :)
