The fires edge is up on the top of the hill
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Monday, June 12, 2006
Heli tech
The air support for Spring Gulch was out of Gold Lake Mountain Resort & Spa. Great little place in Ward, CO.
Spring Gulch Fire - Three acres. Spent three days working on this fire doing a variety of duties. First job was filling blivets for the heli-tech crew. The blivet water bags are 55 gallons and way around 400 pounds when full. The helicopter was designed for the Nepalese army in the 70's and is allowed to carry 800 pounds when at full capacity. It can operate at extremely high altitudes. We also watched as it took several bucket drops. The next two days I spent mopping up on the fire, Also we did a fire check on the Gold Hill Fire. Fire checks are doing a final walk through a fire to call it out after mop up operations.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Arkansas Mountain Fire - Short morning of mop up. Fire started from a lighting strike totaling around a half acre. It had a high priority because it backed up to a house. Due to the easy road access it got labeled a "water show" since we has pump trucks dumping water on smoke and hot spots. The duff was up to 6 inches thick which allowed for burning under the ground that you cant see. It took several days after we left before it was considered out because of that underground burning.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Falling!
After making a back cut and hammering in some wedges the tree falls. We later stripped the bark off and cut the tree into sections.
Face cut
Using an axe you chop out a 45% angle. Cutting a clean face leaving no Dutchman(hard to explain but very bad).
Cross Cut saw
In a wilderness area restrictions limit felling to hand tool(that means no chain saws). The bark is striped from this tree that will soon be a bridge. We strip the bark so that any rock dust that has been blown into the bark will not dull the saw. The cut that is being made is the "face cut" it determines the direction of falling.
Moffat Tunnel
At the base of the James Peak Wilderness is the Moffat Tunnel. 6 miles long and ends at Winter park. Above the tunnel is the Continental Divide. We got to tour the vent building that pushs the diesel exhaust out.
James Peak Wilderness. For the last couple days a group of 6 corps members including myself have been doing trail maintenance. Frank our contact with the Forest Service Recreation has been instructing us and leading our work. Mostly we've been clearing trees that have fallen on trails, building drainage and improving or creating trail.
The Blue Mountain Fire made the local news paper and CNN local. Completely unrelated: A group of us ran into the filming of The Real World (MTV) in downtown Denver on my birthday. It was hilarious how staged it is. MTV must have a deal with the local authorities since they had 4 officers there. Must be more important then enforcing the law.
The Blue Mountain Fire made the local news paper and CNN local. Completely unrelated: A group of us ran into the filming of The Real World (MTV) in downtown Denver on my birthday. It was hilarious how staged it is. MTV must have a deal with the local authorities since they had 4 officers there. Must be more important then enforcing the law.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
View from swamping
Swamping gave me a good view of the work below. I got to lead the fire line for part of the earlier ascent.
Blue Mountain Fire - What started as some guys controlled burn turned in to a large fire. Americorps arrived as initial attack. We had small aircraft support using fire suppressant (Its red stuff that has water, clay and nasty chemicals). We dug a chain then had to stop because approx. 80 employees at a rock quarry above the fire decided that throwing rocks on the fire would put out the flames. It took 4 police officers to stop them. Before then they had started to use a front end loader to dump boulders sending us running down the hill. The head Forest Service employee (Incident Commander) had a near miss with a rock a little bigger then the size of a beach ball. To add to their genius two people came down the hill with brooms and started beating on the flames to no avail. Then to top it off once we started digging line again two drunk guys on an ATV showed up with shovels wanting to help. Funny in retrospect. Reinforcements came from Cherry Hill Forest Service and I got to swamp for a Americorps alumni. Also found a big snake when swamping! Flame lengths got up to 4 feet but mostly we dealt with 1-2ft flames. In all the fire consumed 30 acres of grass and brush.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Quigley Fire - Second fire in a row. The location was near Crown Point Gulch but far more remote. We worked with the Alpine Hotshots who did the Initial attack. We dug approx. 2 chains of fire line on the steep slope. I got to work with my team leader who was the Americorps sawyer. My job was swamper which means you move the brush that the chain saw creates at the head of the fire line work. We got to work around some good size flames, enough to get my boots hot! Our first encounter with Alpine didn't go well. It turns out that the Alpine Hotshots know how to rhyme Americorps with the word whore. Creative yet inappropriate use of fire line flagging. Sounds like our supervisor had a nice word with their crew boss. The fire was summed up around 4 acres started by lighting.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
The crew
The fire was at the top of the hill in the back ground. Our team got designated the "A" team by the Hotshots. In reference to the old TV show with Mr.T. Cool guys.
Hot spots!
Taking care of your feet is extremly important. A blister can make a long day on your feet miserable.
Searching for hot spots
We dig our hands around in the ash looking for heat. In order for the fire to be considered fully suppressed we have to either mix heat with mineral dirt and sometimes water.
Blivet Drop
Can't really see the Blivet because of the smoke and ash. The helicopter ran several runs all day.
Crown Point Gulch Fire - Two days spent near Fort Collins. First day dug a chain and 1/2 of hot line (Chain = approx. 66ft). Most of the fire was under control thanks to the Pike Hotshots that spent the night working. We got to mop up for the better part of two days using water blivets. These are large water bags that are air lifted to a remote fire using helicopter. Using water speeds up putting out hot spots exponentially. Also the area was 70% damaged by insects in the 80's. This meant that on top of burned out trees we had to keep a constant heads up for falling snags (snags are standing dead trees). In the end the fire was 2.8 acres and the cause was lighting strike.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
View from the trail
popular location for off-highway vehicle use, the area is in need of more non-motorized pathways for hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians. Once finished, the trail will access high mountain desert environments with never-ending views of the Arkansas Valley and Collegiate Peaks.
VOC. Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado is a trail building and maintenance group. Five of us drove through snow and slush to get to the Davis Meadow Trail in the San Isabel National Forest. We set out to build a walking trail in a mostly motorized recreation area. About 40 other volunteers and us built rock walls and dug trails up the side of a an old logging area. Word spread quickly that the Americorps "kids" work fast and well. Over Saturday and Sunday we alone build 2 large rock walls, a set of stairs and a couple hundred feet of the five mile trail. The other volunteers were great people and they provided for all our meals as well as live music and a keg Saturday night. Turns out the VOC full timer we meet is a Americorps alumni and Fairport, NY native. It was one of the best weekends I've had in CO.
web site: http://www.voc.org/
web site: http://www.voc.org/
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Two Americorps teams and Forest Service
Storm king is in the back ground and you can see the fire line that was dug in 1994 if you look just above our heads.
Storm King Mountain. On July 6 1994 a fire killed 12 wildfire fighter and 2 helitech on Storm King Mountain in CO. As a part of our training we hiked to their memorials. Its a sad story and a wake up call to the dangers involved in wild land fire. Long story short they broke 8 of the 10 standard fire fighting orders and 12 of the watch out situations that we abide by. A cold front blow the fire at 35 feet per second and they made it within 200ft of safety. Needless to say the mostly jovial nosey group was very quiet today.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Rocky Mountain Search and Rescue. Over the course of the summer Americorps gets called on to assist in large search operations in the Colorado region. For example last year a parks ranger went missing in CO (I think it was national news) and the wildfire teams helped in search efforts. Today the rescue team was training us on "back board" extraction. Due too the large number of climbers and hikers the rocky mountain region has developed a lot of the equipment that will with stand the geography. Their back board is a bean bag in a steel basket. The bean bag is formed to the person then the air is pumped out fitting it tightly enough to restrict all back and neck movement. Much like stretch arm strong if you remember those toys. Its extremely comfortable compared to the wood or plastic ones you typically see.
web site: http://www.rockymountainrescue.org/index.html
web site: http://www.rockymountainrescue.org/index.html
Monday, May 01, 2006
Promotion. Each Americorps team has two ATL's (Assistant Team Leaders). Basically you help with paper work and some minor team management. Kelly one of my teams ATL's was forced to go on medical leave. She is the one with me in the pictures of the Bean in Chicago. Hopefully she will be back with us soon. In order to keep two active ATL's I've been given the responsibility in her place. I'd rather it have been other circumstances. Come back soon Kelly!
Monday, April 24, 2006
Sunday, April 23, 2006
First fire! Only hours after receiving our red cards (official wildfire certification) we got our first fire call. 3 NCCC's got called to a controlled burn in Northern CO. The fastest any NCCC team has been called into action. Then at midnight we all got the call that our whole team would be sent to Left Hand Valley at 6:45am for a 3-acre fire. The Roosevelt Hot Shots got the fire under control over night using a fire line (dirt dug to mineral soil). At around 9am we drove our trucks a mile into an off road recreation trail. The type that people bring modified Jeeps on (raw!). Our job was to mop up the fire. Which means to smother any hot spots until there is no possibility for the fire to reoccur. Not glamorous work but it represents about 50% of the job. Most of the day was spent digging up burning roots and on occasion some flames would pop-up.
In the pictures you can see that most of the trees didn't burn. The area was burned a few years ago so most of the fuel was on the ground. Leaving the trees to far apart to light up. The cause of this fire is still under investigation but it looked like campers using an uncontrolled fire, firearm or firework started it.
In the pictures you can see that most of the trees didn't burn. The area was burned a few years ago so most of the fuel was on the ground. Leaving the trees to far apart to light up. The cause of this fire is still under investigation but it looked like campers using an uncontrolled fire, firearm or firework started it.
Friday, April 21, 2006
Arapahoe/Roosevelt National forest
I have a feeling it will look like we take a lot of breaks... we don't its just the only time to take pictures.
Arapahoe/Roosevelt National forest
Picture taking is the last priority on a fire so I didn't take to many pictures
Mock fire. Our day was designed to be a fire situation simulation. The forest service took us to an isolated area of the Arapahoe/Roosevelt National Forest. After being briefed we set out to dig a fire line to contain the fire. They used simulated water drops and fire behavior (CO has 2 million dollars for air support this year). We did about six hours of fire line. Normally it will be an initial attack of 16 hours. As for the land it is going to be a controlled burn later this season. So the line we dug will be used at some point.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Hands on. Training today was all about equipment use and maintenance. We got issued our backpacks and PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). The stuff is all well worn and of government quality (i.e. holes and chain grease stains). Our packs full of 6 quarts of water weigh no less then 45 pounds and up to 65 pounds. To end the day we set off backfire ordnances such as fire grenades, magnesium flares, drip torches and flare guns. To much fun!
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Training. Wednesday marks the last day of classroom training for the Forest Service. So far the training has been a crash course in wildfire safety, theory, communication and technique among other things. The forest service places a lot of emphasis on safety since the risks are high. Mostly we just run faster then the wind then hide.
We got our boots today. My guess is that they cost around $200-250. Custom made all leather, Kevlar laces and a nice 3-inch heel. No steel toe since that would get really toasty standing on hot embers and coals. If you want to imagine the fit... they feel like your standing on the rungs of a ladder. The high heel is in place so that one can stand better on an incline for extended periods of time. To break them in I soaked them in warm water then walked three miles. Resulting in some hot spots.
We got our boots today. My guess is that they cost around $200-250. Custom made all leather, Kevlar laces and a nice 3-inch heel. No steel toe since that would get really toasty standing on hot embers and coals. If you want to imagine the fit... they feel like your standing on the rungs of a ladder. The high heel is in place so that one can stand better on an incline for extended periods of time. To break them in I soaked them in warm water then walked three miles. Resulting in some hot spots.
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Well.... Yeah not much going on. Transition week has come and gone. Transition is just a time to have performance reviews and present project reports, not to mention much needed relaxation and reuniting with other teams. Monday marks the beginning of wildfire training with the forestry service. Want to memorize the standard firefighting orders? I have to, so you should...
STANDARD FIREFIGHTING ORDERS
1. Keep informed on fire weather conditions and forecasts.
2. know what your fire is doing at all times
3. Base all actions on current and expected behavior of the fire
4. Identify escape routes and safety zones, and make them known
5. Post lookouts when there is possible danger.
6. Be alert. Keep calm. Think clearly. Act decisively.
7. Maintain prompt communications with your forces, your supervisor and adjoining forces.
8. Give clear instructions and insure they are understood.
9. Maintain control of your forces at all times.
10. Fight fire aggressively, having provided for safety first.
STANDARD FIREFIGHTING ORDERS
1. Keep informed on fire weather conditions and forecasts.
2. know what your fire is doing at all times
3. Base all actions on current and expected behavior of the fire
4. Identify escape routes and safety zones, and make them known
5. Post lookouts when there is possible danger.
6. Be alert. Keep calm. Think clearly. Act decisively.
7. Maintain prompt communications with your forces, your supervisor and adjoining forces.
8. Give clear instructions and insure they are understood.
9. Maintain control of your forces at all times.
10. Fight fire aggressively, having provided for safety first.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
A little info
The artist is Anish Kapoor and the title is "Cloud Gate". Anish hates that people call it the bean.
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