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Who's doing what where this season?
I'm starting with ut-wcf helitack 4/15. It's a big crew, I should be rotating between a local ship and a national ship.
sherpa? char? telemike? VC? Meadowskipper? MT? grrr? Zappa? bdog? MrPowder? snowave? FreakofSnow? Anybody else this year? same shit different season? :tongue:
Probably the same thing as last year. Dunno, I'm gunning for a permanent and have a bunch of apps out at the moment. All of this civil and criminal litigation has got me thinking of getting out after this year. I don't want to tell someone on my fire to cut down a tree, get whacked in the head and then have their mommy come after me in civil court. It all depends on what comes out of the WO and RO's.
Failing that its back to the rappel crew. Season starts first week of May after I get back from Costa Rica.
How big is that crew? We are running with 25-26 so far this year. Based out of where? Maybe you will run into a guy named Norm from R6. Good people.
Might do a lil local. Looks like potential for a big season round here since CO didn't get any spring storms. (Not that I wouldn't mind some "thining" on some of the hills I'd like to ski. ;)
I'm actually just about ready to hang it up. Earned FD partial pension (60%) and busier than a one armed paper hanger with work thru June at this point. Haven't even had the time to go on any runs or make any meetings down at the firehouse since before X-mas. And my lungs just get beat doin fire anymore.
But I'll still be keepin tabs on things.
Heh, I'm gonna play fire prevention tech until July and then I'm gonna be an engine slug on the panhandle. It should be interesting. I don't even know what prevention techs do... I guess I'll figure it out next week. I'm taking dozer boss starting monday and going back to work full time after that. I can't complain too much, what with the job security despite being injured, but it's gonna be tough pushing papers for 3 months. I'm getting a lot of training that I'm behind on due to 4 years on the shot crew, so that'll be good for me. I might be looking at moving if I don't get the squad boss job we have open right now.
Where in CR are you going Char? I was there in the fall. It was a great trip. Have fun!
Got a rookie spot in Redding, starts on Monday. It's definately gonna be a change of pace. Didn't think I could have taken another year carrying a saw around.
So I've planned as far as San Jose. I leave next week. I'll probably bus it to Jaco and then plan from there. The goal is to learn to surf, but I'll probably end up finding as many remote beaches as possible. *shrug*Quote:
Originally Posted by SherpaStyle
sounds like 18.Quote:
Originally Posted by char
Ogden...maybe, I'll look for himQuote:
Originally Posted by char
He is at Ogden or Provo. Can't remember which.Quote:
Originally Posted by YetiMan
Yeh, that was my plan too. Hit the beach and then make a plan. It worked out well. Work your way up to the nicoya peninsula from Jaco. FYI Jaco is a shithole. Hermosa (the next beach south) is pretty nice though. I didn't try surfing til I got to Nicaragua, but it seemed like there were a lot of beginner beaches in CR, too.Quote:
Originally Posted by char
VC- good luck on Redding- Holt is a good guy (for an ex-Diamond Mtn)...you should have a great season. a lot of fire mngt types have come out of truckee over the years.
sierra front has been burning acres (and homes) for the last 2 weeks. be safe out there ...
Whats for an ex-diamond mountain guy mean? And I'm heading to Redding to jump, not for the crewQuote:
Originally Posted by wolfy
for a jumper, i redact my last statement. it's too early to start on intra-crew history. have a good season. jump safe
smokejumpers are ghey ;)
:D
Just wondering, spent my last three seasons on Diamond. I'm sure I'm going to miss parts of being on a shot crew. However, intra-crew and RHC/IHC issues aren't gonna be part of it.Quote:
Originally Posted by wolfy
Yeah, well so is Helitack :DQuote:
Originally Posted by YetiMan
those who are too lame to jump call those who can ghey!
maybe...Quote:
Originally Posted by stew130
IHC stoke
I did a summer as a prevention tech over on Big Timber RD (b/t Billings and Livingston) in 2000. It was a great summer, the position offered tons of flexibility. Main duties were to "patrol" (see drive around all day and check out whatever I wanted) the district, check out campsites. Another sweet duty was talking to (PR type work) homeowners that lived in the Boulder Canyon, informing them that they lived in a ticking time bomb (see Derby fire map below)Quote:
Originally Posted by SherpaStyle
http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/gallatin/fir..._9-04-2006.jpg
It kicked ass to fight the Derby this summer being that is was my old stomping grounds. That sucker flat out ripped for the entire 2 weeks that I was there.
Anyhow, I think you'll enjoy a different pace. It may be boring at times, but sometimes the bore beats knockdown drag out rolls on a shot crew for months on end. I like my new job where I get to go out and be engine slug for the city for 2 weeks and then go home and have a sweet summer.
A few pics from this summer - Gash and Derby fires
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...otshotburn.jpg
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...TankerDrop.jpg
http://www.tetongravity.com/usergall...attledrive.jpg
http://tetongravity.com/forums/attac...1&d=1175055853
Oh and VC, I spent a lot of time when I was on Eldorado working with Diamond mountain back in 99, they seemed like a tight crew.
VC- naw- i like the folks on Diamond, and Holt- if you were there last 3 seasons i've worked with you guys, as divs
freakofsnow- i spent most of 2000 season between Salmon and Missoula, epic year. got the first fall snow at P'burg- downed timber was still smokin', and the militia was out poachin' elk...
Yetiman - sounds like you are in a better situation than last year. Good for you.
I'm in a new job running a trail crew in CO. I'll probably be able to get out on a couple crews this year. Last season with the new baby I turned down 7 squaddie assisgnments out of AK. Trying to work on my Crew Boss and FOBS task books.
Just spent $452.38 on new White's. :eek: My wife didn't believe me when I told her it was like buying ski boots.
One of the many reasons people are starting to switch over to the LaSportiva's. It's always hurts to drop 450 bucks before the season starts.Quote:
Originally Posted by telemike
If you can get away with La Sportiva's. My feet are to small so they don't meet the 8 inch height requirement.Quote:
Originally Posted by VC
I'd rather wear White's, as I'm in them all day every day on the trail. I've worn La Sportiva's (Makalu) a lot, too, and if I'm on and off snow I'm way into them, but for trail work and fire, I like a logger boot better. Lace to toe. My old WESCO boots are on the 3rd rebuild, so it's time to put those aside as a backup pair. I've walked a ridiculous number of miles in those boots over the years.
I don't mind spending the $$, and neither does my wife, but she had no idea they were so spendy.
Holy crap, If you're getting 3 rebuilds out of a boot they're definately worth it. I however roll and blow out boots to the point where they're finished.
I didn't think about the height being too short on La Sportivas for my little midget feet. Good thing I hadn't bought a pair yet. My supts are pretty opposed to the idea of wearing anything other than logger boots anyway. I got a demo pair of Nicks last year and liked them a lot better than whites. They seemed to hold up better. Whites usually only last me one and a half seasons, but I don't even need a resole on the nicks yet. Fire boots suck anyway you look at it. Why have they not evolved in 100 years? (although I did just look at whites website and they have a women's smokejumper now! Maybe the times are changing?)
The thing everyone I know who has La Sportiva's raves about is that fact that they can justify to themselves a new pair every year. And they usually need a new pair. Seems like ShoeGoo is a requirement with the La Sportivas.
I rock Wescos and freakin' love em. I have a penchant for sweating straight through the sides of them though, so I doubt I can rebuild them.
Stay away from the Red X Vibram "Fire Proof" soles though. Those things wear 2x's as fast as regular Vibram.
Nicks replaced all the shitty fire soles for our crew free of charge w/ a quick turnaround. Whites will too, you might have to argue with them a bit more about it though. The reason I got demo boots last year was to test the new soles. They seemed to hold up pretty well, so hopefully the red dot model is history.
deez guys burned a lotta hectares but nobody got hurt eh ;)
Bwa!
"It wasn't even safe to put people on the ground." Cue footage from on the ground.
I love Canada. Pilot has a helmet on, but is wearing a t-shirt.
It never ceases to amaze me how fire crews can come up with all of this footage. All I can ever come up with at the end of the season is half a disposable camera of blurred out crap.
great film/flamage, looked like AK in '88. we IAed a 260 thou acre fire w/5 crews. briefing consisted of "don't let any cabins or allotments burn. go forth and do good things".
if anyone has a 9E foot- i've got some new in the box whites sitting in the garage. standard smokejumper, 10" black/smoothout. was going to post at local RD's for 300, ship extra. i'll retire before i wear out everything i've got now.
Prentiss loves to carry around his video camera.Quote:
Originally Posted by YetiMan
This kid is headed for a rookie spot in Missoula this season.
The NTSB report on the Krassel Helitack (N355EV) crash this past year is out. I read it briefly and to me it sounds like the pilot was possibly hotdogging and they contacted a tree.
Something to think about the next time your pilot starts showing off.
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?...06GA158&akey=1
Was just talking to my helitack neighbor about this crash yesterday, as a matter of fact. He had mentioned another possibility, that one of the bungies [i fuckin hate bungies] had failed and tossed the crushed cubeatainors into the tail rotor. Either way, sure is a sad reminder how much risk is involved every time a ship launches....Quote:
Originally Posted by char
This was a common rumor floating around last summer, that the bungees holding cargo in the baskets had broken and allowed the cubitaners to fly back into the tail rotor.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tye 1on
Open baskets and bungees scare the shit out of me.
Here was how I read it....
There were cubitaners 100 to 600 feet down slope from the initial impact site with a 90 foot snag. Seems like you'd have to hit the tree, ripping open the basket and then dumping the contents of the basket into the tail rotor. I'm suprised then didn't release the tracking data on the helicopter as it would tell you the exact location, speed, direction of travel and altitude when the crash happened.
Either way, totally tragic stuff. Condolences to the families and friends.
Hey brothers-
Here's somethin from my Lt. you might enjoy.
How to Operate a Fire Apparatus Mechanic
and as a favorable plug for my cap'n... if you know anybody that might be interested in some edumication, have 'em check out coloradofirecamp
... it's right up the way. ;)
Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankZappa
^^^that's funny shit. I've seen the engineer do that exact dance with the mechanic before.:D
She would be even madder if she knew they would be lucky to last one season:eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by telemike
I just got picked up by an IHC crew..good ole mopshots eh?
La Sportivas don't meet the specs in Washington, so I've been told. I think Nicks are the way to go, although I still like my Whites as well as anything I've had to have on my feet for 20 hours at a time.
I'll probably pull just a few fires as TFL or DIVS this season. New desk job - less play time.:tdo13:
It wouldn't be early fire season without a tough decision to make. This seems to happen to me every year in early April. A little background... I got hurt in Feb so decided not to go back to the shot crew this season. I still put in for the squad boss job we had open, and my bosses told me I had a really good shot at it despite being injured. The plan for the season was to work fire prevention until my knee felt good enough to go back to fire and then roll over to the district to be an engine slug. Well, I went into the office today and as soon as I walked in the door my boss tells me to sit down and asks how the wheel is coming along. I tell him its surprisingly good and the dr says I'm healing well and a month ahead of where he thought I would be. He then goes into the nightmare that is our overhead structure right now. We may only have 1 squad boss and 1 supt and critical training starts on Monday. It doesn't look like I got the open squadie job b/c someone way more qualified put in for it, so unless he turns it down I'm SOL.
So, in order to maintain some level of consistency in the overhead, they asked if I would be willing to come back to the crew in July under a 120 day squadie detail. I dont really know what to do. I feel like I am healing faster than I expected, so maybe I could be ready to go in 10 weeks, but at the same time I really don't know if I can make that call after only being able to ride a bike for 1 week.
Being on an engine would be a good opportunity for me to work on quals. I've been told I will have too many task books open this season. (ICT4, ENGB, CRWB, DOZB, HECM, RXB2). GS-06 squad boss on the shot crew vs GS-05 engine slug with no Oats and being stuck in CDA all summer. Be nice to my body or suck it up and take the opportunity to make more money and get more experience as a squad boss.
The other dilemma is I was going to put in for all the GS 6s I could find if I didn't get the squad boss, which I will probably still do, so then if I get one, do I take it or stick with the detail on my crew? I guess it depends on the location of the job. Grrr, I hate this. I don't even know whether I should be looking for an apartment right now. Must find a month to month option. Any advice? I feel like maybe it's time to move on, but they're making it sorta difficult for me by giving me a pretty good deal.
so do you want hotshot PT to be part of your knee rehab?
I wouldn't...but that's me.
edit: and as for your engine(s) not getting OT, why is that? Is there no IA where you're working? I think if I were in your shoes I'd take the longer view and protect your knee and broaden your resume/redcard with prevention and engine time.