(wind chimes dinging) (birds chirping)
(soft piano music)
- My name is Linda Strader,
I am a landscape architect and Certified Arborist
these days in Green Valley,
and in my former life I was a wildland firefighter.
(fire crackling)
So we are at Florida Station,
which back in my day was Florida Ranger Station,
and this area is near and dear to my heart.
When I was 20 years old, I decided
I wanted to be a firefighter, and I accepted
a position here at Florida Center,
and I remember the day that my supervisor
brought me up to work and live here.
(engine rumbling)
We were drivin' up the road and I'm lookin' around me
and I'm seeing these majestic oak trees
and sycamores, and a creek, and all these
beautiful buildings nestled into this canyon,
and I'm thinkin', "Oh my goodness,
"I just lucked out big time!
"I get to live and work in this place."
I was just amazed at how gorgeous this place was.
I knew the work was gonna be hard,
and I knew that I was gonna be facing the biggest challenge
I thought just for I guess firefighting.
But that wasn't the biggest challenge.
I was the only woman, so I found out
there was going to be another challenge.
The men didn't want me here, so
(upbeat guitar music)
I had to figure out how to hold my own
both work wise and
social wise of where I stood with the crew,
and I had to prove that, yeah,
I belong here just as much as you do, and I did.
You know back in 1976 was my first summer as a firefighter,
and our second fire call was out here in Box Canyon
in the Santa Rita Mountains.
We got the call thinking that we would be able
to drive to it with the tanker,
so we came out here, a narrow, winding mountain road,
with 200 gallon tanker, and got to the site
and realized we were gonna have to hike in.
(bushes crinkling) (upbeat, exciting music)
There's a lot of rock, just stumbling over cactus,
and agaves were stickin' our legs and makin' us bleed.
I mean it was really just a tough hike up there.
(upbeat, exciting music)
Fire was moving away from us while we were building line,
and it turned around and came toward us,
so the only escape route that we had
was to run into the black,
which is where the fire already burned
because obviously if the vegetation is already burned
it won't re-burn there, so we ran into the black,
and waited and then the fire went around us,
but we were encased in smoke, choking smoke,
and just lost track of each other there for a few seconds.
So that was a little nerve wracking,
and I don't think I've ever run so fast in my life.
(fire crackling) (upbeat, exciting music)
A three-foot tall clump of grass
can have flames easily eight to ten feet tall,
and when that's comin' at ya like a wall of flame
that's something to see, I'll tell ya! (laughing)
I've almost been hit by slurry which can kill you.
That stuff is, it's just water, but boy
when that stuff comes out of the bottom of the plane
and you get the big slug of that on your head,
it can break your neck.
(plane engines rumbling)
Had that scare, I've been a little too close
to a tree struck by lightning.
That was pretty amazing,
and to go back and find the tree in pieces everywhere,
it's like, "Oh my goodness,"
so yeah, we've had some close calls,
everyone does, and I'll have to say,
in the seven years that I did this
I guess I'm really lucky that nobody
was ever seriously injured or died, around,
none of my crew mates or anything, on fire.
(soft guitar music)
I completely destroyed my knees.
And it was something that I didn't want to admit
was happening to me, it was a very difficult decision,
but I realized I just couldn't do this anymore.
(soft guitar music)
I've had an awful lot of surgery,
and I had to start my whole life all over again.
It was tough, 'cause I like my current career,
but I really loved my job, then.
And when people would say, "Well, you're a woman.
"How in the world can you do this?"
and I tell 'em, "Well I do!" and even that felt good.
You know it's like, I can do anything I want to do.
It fed something in me that nothing else ever had,
so you know, I never was out to prove anything to anybody
not even to myself, I knew I could do it,
and I just really enjoyed the satisfaction
of a job well done and being outdoors.
I got paid to go hiking!
I thought that was the most amazing thing.
And I'd camp out, I got paid to go camping!
You now it's just, it's great. (laughing)
(soft, uplifting music)
We were hot, tired, thirsty, hungry, sore,
and yet you get up in the morning and say,
"Oh, I'm gonna get another fire today!"
So you know, you either love it or you hate it,
and I loved it.
(soft, uplifting music)