Day 2 - Sheep Basin Rx

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Some times you burn what you want to save. Like this fence was set first so that it would cool off before the real heat set in and nuked it.

Day 1 - Pine duff

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The pine duff really gets going. Far better then the grass.

Strip of fire - Day 1 Sheep Basin Rx

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One of my goals this season is to take far more pictures of my crew members. Lots of room for improvement.

Fueling Torches - Day 1

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Every hour we filled torches due to the large volume of fuel needed to get the burn hot enough to kill small trees.

Drip torch

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Drip torches are filled with a mix of gas and diesel fuel. As one can see they can be less then effective in some fuel types.

B Faller. This morning we went to the Bear fire that occurred last June a few miles from Negrito Fire Base. The fire actually threatened Negrito and now we have to keep spare car keys so they can move our vehicles this summer while on a roll (off forest 14 day fire dispatch). The Bear fire left plenty of burned out tree for us to fall in order to re-certify our sawyer qualifications. Last year I was certified as an A faller meaning that I could only cut up to an 8 inch tree unsupervised. After falling two trees the Gila superintendent decided to give me a chance for a B cert (8-24 inch trees). He said "I was the best A faller he had ever seen". Nice complement, anyways I got my B cert falling big hooter (large tree).

No word on dispatches yet. Hotshot crews have been sent to Georgia, Arizona and North Carolina. We should be next in line to go out.

Day 2 Sheep Basin Rx. Today we continued to complete the 900 acre burn. The winds shifted direction 180 degrees since yesterday. Instead of continuing were we left off we burned towards the fire we had previously started. Everything went much smoother, a drop in RH and increase in temperature spread things along.

Sheep Basin Rx. Today we are committed to a 900 acre burn just a few miles from Negrito Fire Base. Our objective is to burn the under story and duff leaving the large trees. Coming up to the burn the grass was green and it looked like it wouldn't light. Gila was lined out in groups of 10 on the west and east of the burn area. The test burn about an acre in size burned good and hot. Each person had a drip torch and was instructed to use fuel liberally. We spent a good 6 hours torching about 450 acres. For me it was a great first controlled burning experience.

Saws Harris Rx

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I'll post more and better pictures of the crew soon.

Harris RX

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Harris RX

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Time for line. We started the day out with four saws running. The line we needed to cut/dig was short so we used our spare time doing practice drills. The main goal being to find and deploy fire shelters at suitable sites in the case of an emergency. We completed the line and loaded up by 3pm. I should mention that the line is intended to spare an old mining camp from the burn. Never got to see the camp.

And the over time begins. Arrive at the Harris Rx 9072.50acres(prescribed burn). The long road there was unimproved to say the least. We left at 6am and arrived in time to find the dozer sent to improve the road broken. We cut brush back as the trucks followed for about a mile. When we arrived it was about 6pm and time to close up shop.

Mohawks all around!

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A tradition on Gila Hotshots is to get as many crew members the first night to get a mohawk. The girls maned up first! Say hi to Erin as her hair goes.

Feel the burn. Today is the required pack test. A 3 mile hike with 45 pounds in less then 45 minutes. The crew’s goal was to all cross the lane at the same time to reduce paper work complexity. We all achieved 42 minutes. The course was set up on the old landing strip the smoke jumpers used to use about a mile from base.

After lunch is the famous power hike where Dewey the Superintendent (head guy) leads the crew with full packs for an "easy 6 mile walk in the woods". The trail is a steady up hill grade for between 3-4.5 miles (distance remains disputed). Dewey is 6 1/2 feet tall and all legs. He leads the hike at the pace he would use if a fire were chasing him in an emergency situation. The goal for the crew is to stay with him for as long as possible. Only one person achieved that goal and it wasn't me. Tough hike but I held my own.

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In all we didn't beat the record 13 hawks we had to settle for 9.

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First day as a Gila Hotshot. Thats right and I have the brick colored (pink) shirts to prove it. Today is gear issuing, CPR/First Aid and orentation. We got a tour of the facilties and pointers such as flush all bunk house toilets twice. Picked out our seats in the buggies, got issued band spank'in new packs and got to know our squad and squad boss.

Negrito Fire Base has housed Hotshots, Helitak and Smoke Jumpers. Currently its just us. We use two buggies to transport the crew members and a smaller large truck for the supervisors and extra gear.

Currently the crew is 18 strong and we expect two more hires. 18 is just enough to become available for dispatch. The plan is to train for a week and become available nationally however we will be doing controlled burns in Gila N.F. for at least a week.

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Home sweet home. I will be spending little time here after the fire season starts. The bunk houses are very nice and the rent is only $60 a month. They even have a hot tub but its not working yet.

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I'll get a better picture of them soon enough. It will look like this with no shadows and a smoke plume in the background.

The long haul is over. I left Colorado on April 13th with Erin who was on my Americorps crew last year. After 13 hours of driving and a night sleeping in the car at the Reserve Ranger District station we arrived at the Negrito Fire Base. The closest town is 30 minutes away (Reserve). The next closest town that actually has produce and cell service is over an hour (Socorro).

At the base we have a bunk house where we share a room with another crew member. My bunk mate is Jesse who is from New Mexico and is also starting his second year of wildfire. As for phone and internet we share two land lines since we have no cell service. Rules for the phones are: No calls made or received during work hours. Sun -Thur, 8am - 6pm. Phone calls are also prohibited after 10pm curfew. For internet same rules apply however the US government blocks sites such as Myspace.com. Leaving simple Google.com searches, Blogger.com and email.

You can request my phone numbers via email.