AN
AN INCIDENT AND IT'S LIKE WHOA! AND THEN YOU GET IT DONE, YEAH,
IT'S VERY SATISFYING."
WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS
ARE GETTING READY FOR
ANOTHER POTENTIALLY
BUSY FIRE SEASON.
SCENES LIKE THIS ARE ALL
TOO FAMILIAR IN IDAHO
AND ACROSS THE
WESTERN U.S.
OUR WILDFIRE SEASONS
ARE GETTING LONGER
AND THE FIRES ARE
GETTING BIGGER.
THE U.S. FOREST SERVICE
SAYS THE SEASONS NOW
AVERAGE ABOUT 70 DAYS
LONGER THAN THEY WERE
IN THE 1970S.
EVERY YEAR BRAVE AND
DEDICATED MEN AND
WOMEN PUT THEMSELVES
IN DANGER TO KEEP US
SAFE.
SAVING LIVES, PROPERTY
AND RESOURCES... IN THAT
ORDER.
THAT'S THE MISSION FOR
WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS.
BUT WHY DO THEY DO
THIS DANGEROUS AND
DIFFICULT JOB?
NEW THIS MORNING AS
WE CONTINUE WILDFIRE
AWARENESS WEEK... WE
CAUGHT UP WITH THREE
OF THE THOUSANDS OF
WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS
TO GET AN IDEA OF THEIR
MENTALITY... WHAT MAKES
THEM TICK.
WE LEARNED IT TAKES
COURAGE, CONVICTION,
CAMARADERIE,
CONDITIONING AND A
WHOLE LOT OF CALORIES.
"AND THEN THE OTHER
PERSON FROM THE OTHER
SIDE WILL FLIP THE HOSE
OVER THE HOOD AND
YOU'LL HAVE TWO OF
THEM, TRONE HERE AND
ONE AT ABOUT THE DOOR
FIGHTING FIRE."
FIGHTING FIRE."
BOISE
BOISE BLM
BOISE BLM ENGINE CAPTAIN BRYCE ALEXANDER STARTED
FIGHTING WILDFIRES 27
YEARS AGO AS A WAY TO
PAY FOR COLLEGE.
"THEN
"THEN I
"THEN I GOT THE BUG AND MADE A CAREER OUT OF IT," ALEXANDER SAID.
"OUR PRIMARY FOCUS ON
OUR CREW IS TO SERVE AS
AN INITIAL ATTACK
RESOURCE."
BOISE BLM HELITACK
SQUAD LEADER NATHAN
WEINER GOT INTO
FIREFIGHTING FOR THE
CHANCE TO WORK
OUTDOORS WITH GOOD
PEOPLE AND TRAVEL THE
WESTERN U.S.
"BUT ULTIMATELY
GETTING THE CHANCE TO
SERVE YOUR COMMUNITY
AND PROTECT NATURAL
RESOURCES, PROPERTY
AND ALL THAT IS SORT OF
THE MAIN DRAW," WEINER
SAID.
SAID.
"MY
"MY VEHICLE IS AN AIRPLANE AND I GET TO PARACHUTE INTO FIRE
AREAS."
AND GREAT BASIN
SMOKEJUMPER MARTHA
SCHOPPE JUMPED IN FOR
THE CHALLENGE.
"I LOVE BEING A
SMOKEJUMPER. YOU'RE
INDEPENDENT. YOU HAVE
CHALLENGES," SCHOPPE
SAID. "WE'RE A SMALLER
GROUP. SO WE GENERALLY
JUMP INTO A FIRE EITHER
2, 4, 6, OR 8 OF US."
RIGHT NOW, ALL THREE
ARE REFRESHING THEIR
KNOWLEDGE, REFINING
THEIR SKILLS AND
READYING THEIR BODIES.
INTENSE TRAINING FOR
WHAT COULD BE A
GRUELING SUMMER.
"THE TRAINING IS HUGE.
TRAINING, TRAINING,
TRAINING," ALEXANDER
SAID.
"A LOT OF PHYSICAL
TRAINING TO GET THE
CREW AND EVERYBODY UP
TO SPEED IS A BIG PART OF
IT, AND GOING THROUGH
AS MANY SCENARIOS AS
WE CAN TO BE PREPPED
FOR THE UPCOMING FIRE
SEASON," WEINER SAID.
"ALL OF US GET 5 TO 15
JUMPS IN THE SPRING
BEFORE WE'RE JUMPING
INTO FIRE AREAS,"
SCHOPPER SAID.
BECAUSE THEY WILL
SOON BE FLYING...
"ONCE WE GET A GOOD
INITIAL SIZE-UP OF THE
FIRE
FIRE WE'LL LAND THE HELICOPTER, GET ALL OF OUR FIREFIGHTERS AND
TOOLS OFF THE AIRCRAFT,
THEN HOOK UP THE
BUCKET AND GO TO
WORK," WEINER SAID.
DRIVING AND WALKING...
"YOU KNOW, WITH THE
FIRE GOING. YOU'RE
SEEING ALL THE PIECES,
PARTS, THE RADIOS AND
EVERYTHING GOING AT
ONCE," ALEXANDER SAID.
"IT'S AN ADRENALINE
THING."
AND JUMPING INTO
ACTIVE FIRE ZONES.
7:32 WHEN THE SPOTTER
SAY GET READY, WE COCK
BACK AND THEN JUST
CANNONBALL OUT OF THE
PLANE.
PLANE. 7:36 FREE FALLING WITH NO FRIVOLOUS THOUGHTS.
"IT'S LIKE JUMP
THOUSAND, LOOK
THOUSAND, REACH
THOUSAND, WAIT
THOUSAND, PULL
THOUSAND. THAT'S WHEN
YOU PULL. EVERY SINGLE
TIME IS THE SAME,"
SCHOPPE SAID.
ABOUT THREE MINUTES
LATER, SHE AND HER
SMALL
SMALL CREW OF SMOKEJUMPERS ARE ON THE GROUND.
"I ACTUALLY ENJOY THE
FIRES THAT ARE OUT IN
THE MIDDLE OF
NOWHERE," SCHOPPE
SAID. "THOSE ARE LOW
STRESS. THERE'S BEARS
AND MOOSE. THAT'S
GREAT."
ON THE OTHER HAND.
"WHEN THERE'S HOUSES
AND STUFF AROUND AND
ENGINES ROLLING IN AND
PEOPLE GETTING ALL RILED
UP, THOSE ARE THE
CHALLENGING ONES FOR
ME."
THEY'VE ALL FOUND
THEMSELVES IN HIGH-
STRESS SITUATIONS WHERE
THEIR TRAINING REALLY
KICKS IN.
"WE HAD JUST
COMPLETED A BURNOUT
AND
AND WE
AND WE WERE SECURING IT, AND THE WINDS PICKED UP AND BLEW THE
FIRE RIGHT AT US,"
ALEXANDER SAID. "AND IT
WAS INSTANTANEOUS,
GET IN THE BLACK."
THE BLACK. THE AREA
ALREADY BURNED.
"BOOM. YOU'RE RIGHT
THERE. YOU'RE SAFE,"
ALEXANDER SAID.
"THERE'S A NUMBER OF
INSTANCES WHERE YOU
HAVE EXTREME FIRE
BEHAVIOR
BEHAVIOR AND YOU NEED TO TAKE A STEP BACK AND REEVALUATE WHAT YOUR
MISSION SET IS," WEINER
SAID.
DANGEROUS. YES.
TAXING, TOO.
"THERE'S A BIG PHYSICAL
COMPONENT TO THE JOB,
OBVIOUSLY. LONG HOURS, STRESSFUL CONDITIONS WHETHER IT'S
TEMPERATURE, TERRAIN,
THINGS LIKE THAT,"
WEINER SAID.
"THE HEAT AND
CARRYING A LOT OF
WEIGHT AND STEEP
TERRAIN AND LONG DAYS,
16-HOUR DAYS, PLUS,"
SCHOPPE SAID.
SO, WHILE THE FIRE
CHEWS UP FUEL... THEY
NEED TO BE CHEWING UP
FUEL, TOO.
"I'D SAY ON THOSE
TOUGH, REALLY PHYSICAL
DAYS OF 16 HOUR SHIFTS
OR LONGER 4 TO 6,000
CALORIES AT LEAST TO
KEEP THINGS GOING,"
WEINER SAID.
"I WANT TO SAY AN MRE
IS 2,000 OR MORE
CALORIES, IF YOU EAT THE
WHOLE THING,"
ALEXANDER SAID.
"SOMETIMES YOU DON'T
HAVE TIME TO EAT THE
WHOLE THING."
"I KNOW I CARRY AT
LEAST 5,000 CALORIES IN
MY PACK," SCHOPPE SAID.
"AN MRE IS A WHOLE PILE
ANYWAYS."
FUEL TO CARRY OUT THE
MISSION.
SAVING LIVES. SAVING
PROPERTY. SAVING
NATURAL RESOURCES.
IT'S WHY THEY DO WHAT
THEY DO.
THAT AND THIS.
"JUST THE CAMARADERIE,
GOING THROUGH THOSE
CHALLENGES WITH
FELLOW SMOKEJUMPERS,"
SCHOPPE SAID.
"A GREAT GROUP OF
FOLKS, GOOD
CAMARADERIE," WEINER
SAID.
"THE EXCITEMENT AND
THE CAMARADERIE OF
THIS JOB. IT'S TOUGH TO
DESCRIBE IT UNLESS
YOU'RE PART OF IT,"
ALEXANDER SAID.
BEING PART OF A SMALL,
TIGHT-KNIT COMMUNITY
BUILT ON TRUST AND
COMMON GROUND.
COMMON GROUND.
MARTHA
MARTHA SCHOPPE SAYS HER SMALL CREW OF UP TO 8 SMOKEJUMPERS IS
OFTEN VERY ISOLATED IN
THE MIDDLE OF
NOWHERE.
SHE SAYS THEY CAN
USUALLY GET A RIDE BACK
TO CIVILIZATION ON A
HELICOPTER.
BUT SOMETIMES THEY
HAVE TO WALK