Pictures Here!
Wyoming Field Day
Oregon Fires |
This page is intended to give general information about
my experiences and observations as a wildland firefighter and give the
person who knows nothing about it an idea of what wildland firefighting
is all about. This page is also for you out there that I might have met
in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming,Oregon and Idaho while on fires together.
Enjoy!!
History:
I have been fighting wildland fires on and off for
6 years. It is really one of the best things I could have ever done
with my life. I started in 1991 right out of high school. 6 days after
I graduated I was in Salmon, Idaho volunteering for the Salmon National
Forest. "VOLUNTEERING !!?? " you say. Well, I thought I was
just going to go out as a volunteer and build fence and trails but little
did I know that I would do all that and more! When I wasn't volunteering
I was getting paid as an "AD" or contract hired firefighter. All
my expenses were paid for while volunteering (food, transportation to Salmon,
etc) by the Student Conservation Association. I never thought I would
go home after 4 months with $3000 or so dollars in my pocket!!
Training:
The initial training for a wildland firefighter is
a week long course in which you are taught things like: the basics of fire
weather, the Incident Command System (a basic command structure for dealing
with any kind of disaster), what to take with you into the field, and how
to survive in the wilderness and in an out of control fire situation using
your fire shelter. There are many more things but these are the basics.
When I started you had to take what is called a "step test" which is designed
to give an indication of your cardiovascular fitness. It consists
of stepping up and down onto a box about a foot and a half tall to a metronome
for 5 full minutes and then your pulse is taken and compared to a standard.
More recently the testing procedure has gone to a timed hike over terrain
with a pack on - the "Pack Test". You carry a 45 pound pack for 3
miles and you are to complete the hike in under 45 minutes. This
is a more realistic way to gauge someone's fitness to be a wildland firefighter.
It doesn't sound to bad but I recently have taken the pack test and learned
that people have actually died trying to complete the test. Obviously these
people had no business taking the test and it is now mandatory for the
test proctor to explain the risks. It's not all that easy but neither are
some of the situations encountered while firefighting. |
