First Day on the job with Fire
I started my new job on Tuesday. From the information I was given by Human Resources, I was expecting only an orientation and to receive my uniforms. I was immediately assigned to a Station and ordered to work the full 24 hours. I was thrilled.
At around 7pm I arrived at my station to meet the captain and crew, and was warmly welcomed. Great people. As dusk turned to night, we started going over my equipment and gear to ensure I had everything. As we were doing so, we received a call of a wildland fire on a mountain in our area. To my surprise, the captain had me get into gear and join the crew to the fire. He explained that because I had no training yet, I would be sitting back with the division chief while the rest of the crew went up.
As we approached the mountain, I could clearly see the fire in the distance far up the side on a steep slope. It lit the area with a red glow while smoke, flames, and embers lifted into the sky. The captain and I drove up the mountain on some dirt training roads in the fire attacker (a Humvee), and reached the staging area/safety zone in a large clearing 1/2 mile below the fire. There was already one engine company at the incident with a brush truck and our brush truck was following behind us.
As the captain approached the chief for a brief with me following behind him, I could hear the crew far up the hill cutting their way to the fire with a chainsaw. Smoke and embers continued to lift into the now-dark night sky. The chief then ordered my captain up the hill, and me with him. We eached grabbed a tool; Him a shovel, myself a McCloud (a type of tool with a rake and horizontal blade on one end), and started the hike up. The hill was extremely steep and the foliage was thick with trees and high shrubs. We slowly followed the cut path up towards the sound of the chainsaw until we emerged at the anchor point of the fire line (a small clearing). Now I could see the fire on the ground. It had burnt out a large clearing, but a canopy of small tress was above both us and the fire. The flames licked at the branches, crawled up trees trunks, and stalked through the thick layer of leaves on the ground. Behind the fire, embers and coals glowed in black ash. Eight firefighters were working next to the flames, building a fireline by sweeping the fuel (brush and leaves) away from the fire. Meanwhile, the chainsaw continued to cut a path around one side of the fire.
The flames began to climb higher up and one of the firefighters yelled for a shovel. The captain handed me his and ordered me to run up and pass it along to them and come back. When I arrived on the line, the crew told me to start throwing dirt. My captain called up "He has no training yet", and a crew member responded "we'll watch him". The heat was intense and my blood rushed with adrenaline. I immediately started shoveling dirt onto the fire, and as I did so the other crew members explained what to do. As I began to dig in, other crews arrived until there were five or six engine companies cutting a line.
We worked our way completely around the fire, digging and cutting a path for a few hours until we had the entire fire area surrounded with the line . The fire then began to burn itself out, and we assisted this process by throwing dirt whenever flames began to reemerge and gain strength. Everyone was exhausted with the labor and low on water. We turned off our lights to conserve batteries and sat down for a break. Underneath the night sky, the embers glowed within the ash with an eerie warmth.
Finally, a crew brought up two lengths of hose, one for each side. We worked the hoses along the line until both nozzles met up at the top. I noticed my fellow firefighter from my company at the nozzle end and I stood behind her with the hose to back her up. To my surprise, she handed me the hose and told me to start spraying. We worked our way around to the bottom, stirring up the embers with a stream and cooling 'em down with a wide spray. Once at the bottom, myself and the other hoseman climbed our way up into the burnt area, attacking the remaining hot spots from below.
This is the best job I've ever had. I must be one of the luckiest bastards I know. And it is only going to get better.
Here's a pic after we got back to the station.
Cheers.
Originally Posted by Pannonian
Reply With Quote
Re: First Day on the job with Fire
Hee-hee-hee...
Bookmarks