6/25/2010
Yesterday we dug more line. But to get to our starting point we had to hike an hour up hill. Honestly that hike was the hardest part of the day. The hill was at least a 100% grade (45 degree angle). We swamped out about an 80 foot path, and dug our line straight down the hill.
6/26/2010
Yesterday we swamped more. By the end of the day not only did my feet hurt and my back and shoulders ache, but I also felt like I’d had an arm workout. After dinner Jessica asked us if we’d be willing to stay if the crew got extended. We all said yes, but secretly I hope we get demobed and can go home.
6/27/2010
Yesterday we cut more trees and moved more sticks. We were pretty tired from the fire. The day went by ridiculously fast. I totally kicked butt when swamping. I hope that keeps up.
6/29/2010
Today we are demobing from the Medano fire and headed back to Canon, then Lake George. Our 2 week deployment is over!
Yesterday we did more swamping (glorified stick moving). However while working we got to see a helitorch do a burnout. A helicopter, carrying a flamethrower lit a mountain on FIRE! It was awesome! The line we’ve been cutting all week set the parameters for the land to be burned and by dropping fire they were able to speed up the process before the fire spread there by itself. It was totally amazing!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
6/24/2010
Yesterday entailed more cold trailing along the fire’s edge, then putting in line along a ridge. Putting in the line was a whole crew effort, with saws going and swampers swamping. My squad alternated swamping materials and digging the actual line, based on where we were needed, and how close we were getting to the sawyers. And at the end of the day I got a shower! My legs were covered in a Capri pants of dirt! It was so disgusting, I had to scrub my body so abrasively and watch the water run off my like mud. Even after the dirt was gone I kept scrubbing dirt spots until I realized that the majority of my legs are covered in bruises! But not I feel human again and do not look like a “gargoyle” as Alex remarked. I believe today is day 10 of the deployment (I may be wrong) so the end is in sight! I’m excited to be able to get more than 7 hours of sleep, and to shower with girly smelling soap not men’s 2-in-1, and to wear clothes I haven’t been living in for 2 weeks, and to sleep in a bed, and to read books, and have a fully charged cell phone, and actually have time to talk on it!
6/23/2010
Yesterday we got to direct on the fire! It wasn’t raging when we got there, more of a smolder, but there were flames in several spots. We cold trailed the edge of the main fire and the perimeter of a nearby spot fire (which was maybe 20 acres). By touching the ground and feeling the ash we looked for the hot spots and then put a quick scratch line around it to prevent the fire from starting up again. It was awesome to be close to the fire and doing hard labor all day. Yesterday included tons of hiking! My feet were incredibly sore by the end of the day (as well as the rest of my body from wearing my pack and bending down to feel the ground). But I can definitely tell I’m getting stronger. All my muscles feel stronger, except my abs, which seem flabbier (no ab workouts!) but the whole group complains of similar results.
6/22/2010
Yesterday, after swamping out limbs around the radio tower our crew did a few structure protection assessments. We sized up three structures, detailing what they consisted of, nearby fuels, and what measures should be taken to protect them if the fire starts heading toward them. It was an easy day, but very interesting and educational.
6/21/2010
The Medano fire is in the San Isabel National Forest. Where we worked with Alfonso previously. We are camping at a park in Westcliffe, the town we stopped at every morning for gas. This fire is not full suppression, is it a wildfire mitigation effort, which means they will allow it to burn, but try to control it and keep it from areas they don’t want burned. Yesterday the crew cut materials around a radio tower to prevent the fire from burning it. My squad worked on swamping out the cut materials, and by the end of the day even the sawyers joined us in swamping and we had a giant line of people passing branches to each other, down a ridiculously steep slope away from the radio tower. It took all day because the trees were so dense, and our specs kept changing. At first we were supposed to move every thing over 2 chains (66 feet to a chain) away from the tower, but by the end of the day when no progress had been made, it was changed to 1 chain.
I don’t like this fire as much as the last one. Reason 1: Less sleep/ I’ve had less than 5 hours of sleep for the past two night. Another reason: I am hungry. There is nothing for a vegetarian to eat. Yesterday’s lunch I traded my sandwich for a banana. I’m not kidding when I say that yesterday I ate nothing but granola bars and bananas. And at dinner I asked if I could just get the vegetable (which were loathsome green beans, possibly the only vegetable I hate with a fiery passion) the waitress told me that the fire command pays per person so I should get the whole meal and let someone else eat what I didn’t want. The mashed potatoes were covered in gravy. So my dinner basically consisted of a side of green beans, which I had to dip in Ranch dressing to make tolerable. Now I’m at breakfast, which is biscuits and gravy. So I’m eating sad dry biscuits. It will be impossible to sustain 17 hours of work without some kind of nourishing food.
I don’t like this fire as much as the last one. Reason 1: Less sleep/ I’ve had less than 5 hours of sleep for the past two night. Another reason: I am hungry. There is nothing for a vegetarian to eat. Yesterday’s lunch I traded my sandwich for a banana. I’m not kidding when I say that yesterday I ate nothing but granola bars and bananas. And at dinner I asked if I could just get the vegetable (which were loathsome green beans, possibly the only vegetable I hate with a fiery passion) the waitress told me that the fire command pays per person so I should get the whole meal and let someone else eat what I didn’t want. The mashed potatoes were covered in gravy. So my dinner basically consisted of a side of green beans, which I had to dip in Ranch dressing to make tolerable. Now I’m at breakfast, which is biscuits and gravy. So I’m eating sad dry biscuits. It will be impossible to sustain 17 hours of work without some kind of nourishing food.
6/20/2010
Sunday
Yesterday we got demobilized form the Tecolote fire. After checking out, resupplying, gasing and washing vehicles we headed back to Canon City. Out of a possible 14 day deployment we were there 5 days (travel days don’t count). I was really bummed. Camping and working is really exciting and energizing. I never felt tired or worn down even though I should have. I was also just at the point where I was getting comfortable with the crew, and starting to come out of my shell, and was looking forward to continuing the deployment. On the way back to Canon City we stopped at a rest stop and Alfonso told us that we had been reassigned, and that after a night in Canon we would be heading out to another fire. Today we are going to the Medano fire, which started near the Great Sand Dunes and at last measurement was 4,300 acres. Since its in our district we’re hoping for some really great assignments.
Yesterday we got demobilized form the Tecolote fire. After checking out, resupplying, gasing and washing vehicles we headed back to Canon City. Out of a possible 14 day deployment we were there 5 days (travel days don’t count). I was really bummed. Camping and working is really exciting and energizing. I never felt tired or worn down even though I should have. I was also just at the point where I was getting comfortable with the crew, and starting to come out of my shell, and was looking forward to continuing the deployment. On the way back to Canon City we stopped at a rest stop and Alfonso told us that we had been reassigned, and that after a night in Canon we would be heading out to another fire. Today we are going to the Medano fire, which started near the Great Sand Dunes and at last measurement was 4,300 acres. Since its in our district we’re hoping for some really great assignments.
6/28/2010
Friday? The days of the week all kind of blend together. Yesterday was another red flag warning day. We started cleaning up another dozer line, this one headed into the fire in preparation for a possible back burn. Watch out situations present during the endeavor include #9: Building fire line downhill with fire below, #11: Unburned fuel between you and the fire, # 14:Weather becoming hotter and drier, #15: Wind increases and/or changes direction, and #17: Terrain and fuels make escape to safety zones difficult. We of course have mitigated these dangers by keeping our situational awareness up. Our squad boss, Jessica is constantly asking us to identify our escape routes, and we are in constant communication with Trish, our lookout, who gives us hourly weather reports and heads ups on the fire behavior. Today we started cleaning up that dozer line, then, shortly after noon we bumped down to the bottom of the hill and started digging hand line, up from the creek until we tied in to the dozer line.
Today Alex was sawing and Brendan was swamping. Clay was taken off the squad to shuttle hotshots to and from their work assignments. Today was just an amazing day! I hiked harder than ever, kept up the whole time, and while swamping, just pushed it! I was sweating hard all day, breathing hard, heart beating just kicking butt! It was so awesome.
We just heard that we might get demobilized and sent home tomorrow. :(
Today Alex was sawing and Brendan was swamping. Clay was taken off the squad to shuttle hotshots to and from their work assignments. Today was just an amazing day! I hiked harder than ever, kept up the whole time, and while swamping, just pushed it! I was sweating hard all day, breathing hard, heart beating just kicking butt! It was so awesome.
We just heard that we might get demobilized and sent home tomorrow. :(
6/17/2010
Today is Thursday, 6/17. We left Lake George late Sunday night to drive to Canon City where we met our crew early the next morning (I’m talking 3:30). Then we traveled to Las Vegas, New Mexico where we’ve been deployed to the Tecolote Fire (Tecolote means “owl” and one of the objective for the fire is to save the owl habitat south of the fire (Mexican spotted owls) as well as protect the watershed to the north). When we got here the fire was about 700 acres. Yesterday was a red flag warning day with high winds and low RH (relative humidity), so heavy fire activity was predicted. While fire activity was not as extreme as predicted we did see flames at the end of the day, where previously we could only see smoke. Our first night in New Mexico we camped down at the base camp. I discovered that the sleeping mats Americorps provided were meant to provide insulation from cold ground, not a comfortable cushion. Wish I had a Thermarest! Since then we’ve been spiked out at Johnson Mesa, about a mile from the fire along with several hot shot crews. We wake up around 5:00 each morning, pack up camp, eat breakfast and then hike to where we’ll be working for the day. So far we’ve been cutting line and cleaning up after a dozer comes and rips a line through, creating a contingency line in case the fire jumps over the line already dug below us. We work until after 8pm, then back at camp we prepare for the next day by restocking out water, sharpening tools, and refilling the siggs with gas and oil (for chainsaws). After that, dinner, setting up our tents and then falling asleep for hopefully 7 hours before getting up and doing it again. All day, while working we are carrying our line packs (over 20 lbs), our tools, and fuel for the chainsaws. So by the end of the day my feet are unbelievably sore, my shoulder muscles are tight, my back twinges with discomfort, and my hips are bruised from the hip strap, pulled tight to take the pressure of my shoulders and back. It doesn’t help that we are sleeping on the hard ground.
But it is awesome to be out here, camping under the stars, seeing sunrise and sunset everyday with the backdrop of a burning hill in the background. It’s a wonderful feeling to drop to sleep exhausted everyday, and to wake up and be in the wilderness seeing the beautiful countryside and having this exciting job and unique experience. Its hard. I hurt. But I love it.
But it is awesome to be out here, camping under the stars, seeing sunrise and sunset everyday with the backdrop of a burning hill in the background. It’s a wonderful feeling to drop to sleep exhausted everyday, and to wake up and be in the wilderness seeing the beautiful countryside and having this exciting job and unique experience. Its hard. I hurt. But I love it.
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