De-mobe. On the third day of the Bee Hive we got sent back to Negrito. SWICC is under the impression we are more needed in NM, home we go. Short of our 14 days needed to get R&R.

Moth. Erin found a nice moth specimen. So, after examining it in true hotshot nature we pooled together 50 bucks and got one of the guys to eat it. Great video clip...

"Big" Matt. We have two Matts as rookies on the crew. Matt in this picture stands 6 feet 8 inches tall earning him the nickname Big Matt.

Slurry line. In this snap shot you can see the red slurry line that mainly stopped the fire. It extended almost perfectly around all 300 acres. Note this fire is on the boarder with Mexico and most likely got started by a UDA's (undocumented alien) distress or camp fire maybe even from drug running.

Landing spot. We spent one night on the hill and headed home the next afternoon. I stayed back at the heli spot the second day to learn how to bundle sling loads. It turned out to be incredibly simple. Sling loads are nets that we drop and pickup stuff with the helicopters.

Heli ride home. The ship is a 212 incase you are wondering.

Helicopter ride. Snapshot out the heli window. We tend to get more air rides in the desert. I think mostly due to the remoteness and hiking dehydration factor.

April 24th - Bee Hive Fire. 300 acres. After leaving the Rocky Fire on the afternoon of day 3 we spent a night at our base Negrito. Early on the 24th we got dispatched to the Coronado N.F. in AZ. When we arrived the fire had been lined by air tankers and was well towards being under control.

Day 2 - Rocky Fire. Time for mop-up. We finished off several small spot fires that had been lined the night before. Gridded for potential undiscovered spot fires and secured the main fire line.

Keeping warm. Cold night operations on the Gila.

13. On a hillside where rolling material can ignite fuel below. One of our 18 Watch Out Situations (thanks Jesse). Heavies like this burning log tend to roll as they burn. Our biggest worry was rocks being sent down by diggers or logs rolling over our line.

Holding. Sometimes we wait for the saws to get a head start on us diggers. This is one of those instances.

Some pictures I post just because they show an aspect of wildland firefighting. Some because they are to me good pictures. Others I think the composition is neat. Not sure were this one falls in...

Rocky Fire - April 21. 22 acres. Exactly one month earlier than last season we arrive on our first fire of 2008. To get to the fire we traveled some Gila N.F. back roads I'd never experienced. To sum it up it was 4 hours and a rough ride to the SW of the Gila. When we arrived the fire was 2/3rds lined by engine crews. Our assignment was to take the east flank up some fairly step terrain to complete the line. We arrived at dusk and worked well into the night. The experience was good for the new folks and to get the kinks worked out.

Andy. Another one of Gila's rookies.

Rich. One of our rookies this year. He came from a season with the Blue Ridge Hotshots. Entertaining the camera.

Sawyer. Everyone got re-certified on the chainsaws today. During the down time we did refreshers on GPS, spinning weather and compasses. A graduate student is doing a study to determine the accuracy of fire weather forecasts. So this year our fire weather records are a little more in depth.

Also, I retained my B cert from last year.

Fishing. Hit up a small fishing hole near Negrito. Money got a 12inch trout out of it.

Disclaimer. I added more to the heading on this blog. Aparrently some other IHCs have been reading my blog since it comes up on google when you type in Gila Hotshots. A guess they didn't like some entries. Oh well.

Burn canceled. Our first weekend was supposed to be spent earning overtime on a prescribed fire on the Gila NF. Since the forest has been in Red Flag warnings all week they canceled the burn.

The good news "for me" is fires are already starting in the south west. All the available Hotshot crews in region are dispatched to fires in NM. We should become available when our foremen returns from a training assignment in about 4 days. Then with any luck we will be on the road to overtime, hazard pay and free food.

Pack test. Every year all wildland firefighters for the Forest Service have to carry 45 pounds for 3 miles in 45 minutes. Gila IHC crosses the line at the sametime as close to the 45 minutes as possible.

Dove. Giving one of the rookies, Andy, a cut.

Jesse.

Ian. Getting buzzed.

Mohawks. Its that time again. Only got five people to get trimmed up this year. Down five from last season. I didn't participate so I can't complain.

The first week as a Gila Hotshot is always the same. Day one - refresher training. Day two - Pack test then 7 miles of power hiking. Rest of the week is more refresher training.

On a side note I hiked a chain saw on the power hike this year. I'm not on the saw team but they did open a firefighter type 1 task book.

Season 2. Back to Negrito after a two and a half week vacation. Its great to see all the returning firefighter as well as meet the rookies. I missed the Gila Forest a lot this winter. I'm glad its just how I left it.