We get to see some pretty amazing country, places that a lot of people will never get to.
The taller timber, the colors in the grass, I think it drives a
lot of guys to stay doing this job.
I've seen eight bear on fires out in the
wilderness this year.
[fire crackling]
[Chavez!]
[Here!]
[Wade]
[Here!]
[Tosh?]
[Here!]
Good?
[Carlos?]
Because you notice the models are trending drier
and drier and we had some peak gusts upwards of 50 miles an hour last night
So I've got everything in my locker. All my paperwork and extra clothes and shoes
and workout gear. Boots too.
Someone made me some green tomato jelly.
Built a wire cage to protect our face.
Here's my wife and this is my daughter.
Most fire spreads along the ground, the brush might drop embers but the grass is
what's gonna carry your fire.
[zipping up gear]
[music]
Even if the fires are raging wall of fire we always have a plan in place. I think
it takes a certain kind of person to do this job.
What is a smokejumper?
They're the cool guys, basically.
I mean if you're in fire
wildland fire, the jumpers carry a mystique that nobody can touch.
They parachute into fires.
Now I'm starting to get used to it. It's a pretty weird thing to do to be
jumping out of airplanes.
A little scary till your parachute opens.
When your leg starts shaking (laughs)
When the horn goes off, just kind of a rush.
It's kind of intense.
It's also kind of peaceful. I've been doing this about twenty-one years.
It's different up there, just everything about it.
To start your
morning with a parachute jump, you know it's pretty awesome.
You're so focused.
But you're just very in the moment.
We train enough that it's just second nature.
[Let's go!]
[Wind rushing]
Part of our job is parachuting and fighting fire, but there's a lot that
goes on behind the scenes.
Things like doing push-ups, pull-ups and sit-ups
for like an hour and a half straight, 12 mile runs.
Our jump gear weighs like 90 pounds
we have to actually be able to take that stuff up to be a functional smokejumper.
So this would be enough food for two guys for three days.
Sometimes were in
there for a few days, sometimes a few weeks.
One of the last steps is rolling up
the sleeping bag, and that's where the hot sauce goes so it doesn't break.
That was a fun one!
I think my favorite part is the fact
everything was handmade. The guys have been around for a long time they sewed
all the jump gear, they sewed the harnesses.
So this is a four-point stitch
A strong stitch that we do in here.
It's a privilege to get to use it, you know?
We can stop a fire with as few
as two people.
If we could have one hand tool, this should be the one.
My daughter's about this tall now,
she says she wants to jump with Dad when she turns 18 I said "It's on!
We're doin it"
You're having to think ahead. Some cases can take you right to the
edge of what your capabilities are, truly wake you up.
Even the toughest fires when
you look back, you're like "that was awesome!"
Woooo!
That's the best way to start
your morning off, you know, I mean you could go surfing or something and
they'll be pretty cool but this is just a little bit cooler.