Fighting Fire in Idaho - Dialup Warning!

When you work wildland, you LIVE to fight fire. Whether you want to or not, there's just no room for anything else during the months that you're on the payroll. :wink

I wake up one morning last month knowing that our crew is likely to be called out sometime in the next few days to fight fire out of Alaska. Sure enough, a phone call just minutes later tells me we head out to Idaho in less than a day, so I wrap up my loose ends, and the whirlwind begins. Three days later we're making camp in the woods south of Waha Idaho on the eastern edge of the Chimney Complex fire.

The fire was about 30,000 acres in size at the time, and expanded to 51,000 before our first tour ended. I heard a barn or some sort of outbuilding was lost early on, but I don't believe any other buildings burned while we were there, and the Waha and Redbird subdivisions were kept quite safe. If you're one of those who likes maps, here is a good one of the whole fire to show the areas written about below.

Gannette Glacier fire crew on arrival at Taylor Camp, getting things sorted out.




We had several days at the start when they stationed us on the north flank of the fire and didn't really give us much to actively do. We were in position and ready to do a rapid backburn to protect the town of Redbird should the fire cross Capt. John Creek and run at us, but the hotshots working that line did a good job stopping it there, and we never saw any action in our area. We kept busy building a very nice spike camp, and beefing up the dozer line along our ridge.

Jeremy stands by waiting for our ride to the north flank.




The crew working on benches for our spike camp.






My saw partner Michael in the sunset, with the fire burning steady in the background.





An evening flareup, as the crew readily accepts civilian assistance getting thousands of pounds of gear down into our camp. Many thanks to those who helped us out, you made our day!




Briefing by headlamp. Should the fire have crossed the creek in the night, we needed to have camp packed up and be on the dozer line in less than thirty seconds. Fortunately it wasn't necessary. I slept with my boots on.




Sitting around made us a bit restless, so we beefed up our dozer line with extra touches here and there. This portion is added protection around a small outbuilding just out of frame.




A lone lookout for another crew stands out on the ridgeline.




The higher-ups sent us food and supplies. Likely the most expensive catered meal any of us will ever eat. :rofl




After a few days, the line at Capt. John's Creek was solid enough to move us elsewhere. Unfortunately, elsewhere happened to be Division Hotel on the southern flank of the fire, which cuts down from the ridges to the river in part of the country known as Hell's Canyon. :huh I hear it's the deepest gorge in North America. :cry

Aaron stands atop the ridge, where we hoisted all our gear to our backs and started hiking the miles to the bottom.




Stopping for a bit of a rest on the dozer line. And we haven't even started WORKING yet.




Temperatures soared and hovered around 100 this day. We started the hike from the long smooth saddle you can see in the upper left area of the far ridge.




A brief pause for lunch, and then the work begins.




Half the crew cuts line, the other half burns along behind them, all the way down to the river. I felt fortunate to be on the burning squad.











The job of the holders is to watch the "green" with their backs to the black, and catch any spots before they develop into problems. We only had one slopover, and we caught it in a frantic minute or two.




Mal works the torch for the first bit.




Happy Birthday Adam. :cry




Richard tying up loose ends when we finally reached the bottom.




Our camp that night was on a sandy white beach, which was wonderful. However, disapointment came when we discovered that we were the only crew to hike this flank that would NOT be getting a jetboat ride up to a landing area and a lift back to our vehicles atop the ridge. Instead, we hiked out the next day, burning leftovers all the way. Doh!

Once out of the canyon bottom, we made it back to more forested areas. While mopping up a spot one evening, excitement arose in the form of a quick run up the canyon straight towards Camp Taylor, where the majority of the crew camps and support personel were located. Crews scrambled back that direction and air traffic picked up to successfully protect the camp, and within the next day or so operations were based out a camp slightly further away.

Michael works a hotspot in the woods.




A heli drop puts out torching trees as the fire approaches Camp Taylor.




Sarah, one of the two ladies on our crew, as we await orders in front of the advancing fire.




Later we were lucky enough to land another burn show, this time in a heavily forested area along a dozer line on Division Golf. It took several days to burn off this section, but it was the last unsecured bit of the line, so when we finished, the fire was more or less under control.

The holders are dwarfed by torching trees, which can throw burning embers hundreds of yards, or even several miles if conditions are right.



Burners pause briefly to admire their handiwork, before plunging back into the woods to continue.




Jeremy savors the morning coffee. Life's pleasures are few in fire camp. :rofl




Our "Skidgine," an old logging skidder equipped with a water tank. Immensely useful for moving aside logs that we don't want to spend hours on ourselves.




Here's a close up look at the interior of an active forest fire. Now how is one supposed to concentrate on watching the green when THIS is less than ten feet to the rear???




When the wind is right, the holders get to enjoy the show too!




Crew members awaiting our assignment. Once the burn operation was done, we patrolled the flank looking for spot fires that may have grown undetected. We did have one slightly less than an acre in size before it was caught.




During one of our days of gridding for hotspots, my sawyer and I were fortunate enough to join the division supervisor in falling problem trees within the black. We wandered around with our saws finding potentially dangerous trees, and put them on the ground in one way or another. This just adds a bit of safety for the firefighters who will walk through this area looking for hotspots once the heat dies down some. Cutting fire trees is interesting, as each one presents its own particular puzzle in how to bring it down safely, exactly where you want it. It was quite a pleasant break from digging, so we enjoyed it for all it was worth.

Michael brings one down.




First cut on another, which had lost most of its root system.




Later, after two days of rest and relaxation, we were back at it. Before returning to the Chimney Complex however, we spent a day on the Bowman Gulch fire, which was a much smaller fire started by a combine in a barley field. There wasn't much to see except more steep slopes and intense heat, so I'll leave you with this final shot as we wrapped up at the end of the day.




I left the fire shortly after our second tour started, so I can't load you all with any more pics from this fire, but now that I'm home and I finally have my life back you should be seeing more of me around here! Hope you enjoyed the Chimney Complex fire at LEAST as much as I did. :rofl