2007 Fire Season Roll Call

[Kevo]

Got the chance to meet Kevo and a few of his classmates last nite for a beer. They're in the neighborhood for the S-130/190 at my fire brothers Colorado Fire camp. He's a good kid with his head on straight and eager for this stuff. Had plenty of good things to say about the pointers some of you fire maggots gave him. His pals are a fine lot too, but they sure got a strange look on their faces when they found out I just do Vol FD/local wildland with no pay... Small town/community ways didn't seem to compute.

I'm thinkin he did fine on the pack test today but one of his pals who was up here at 7-8,000 from Phoenix was worried cuz he was already suckin wind...

Keep encouragin our brother Kevo and help send him in the right direction if you can.

Kudos to you all for your efforts this season. Great stuff in here this year. I raise my glass to you all.

Thanks Tom.

I did just fine in the pack test. I finished with about 3:30 left, so I was satisfied. I figure it is a fairly good time considering I did not train at all outside of the climbing and skiing that I normally do.

The guy from Arizona (I later found out his name was Logan) was quite a character- he had never seen snow in his life and had never been in the mountains before (not even AZ or SoCal mountains). He want to work for Cal Fire, which Herb kept talking down on. He actually finished the pack test and wasn't too badly winded afterward.

All in all I had a good time at Colorado Firecamp. I feel like I learned a lot and it is run by a great group of people.

Thanks to Johnny and Jeremiah for your help. I'll be in contact with you guys soon.

[char]

Re-Cert



Sherpa flew us from Wenatchee home



Fires behind the base. 30 strikes, 29 starts in a 20 minute period = chaos.



Cruisin' around in the 407



Angora blowing up



Rappel



It's been a long season. I came on in May and just finished my last tour to California 4 days ago.

[MT]

Figured I might as well throw in a few more pics.

I wound up with 7 fire jumps and 3 pounders. Not as good as some of the RB's, but I was fortunate enough to spend some time on the road. Boosted Fairbanks after rookie training, and my first 2 fire jumps were north of the Arctic Circle. Had additional fire jumps in Missoula, West Yellowstone, Miles City and Redding. Spent time boosting in Redmond, Fresno and Winthrop as well, but didn't get any fire jumps.

One of the best parts of the summer though, was when I got to jump my own chute. Toward the end of the season we had some downtime, and I was packing chutes and having them broken down as often as possible. The loft foreman gave me the nod, and I jumped a chute I packed on my last proficiency jump which was a good experience.


This was scary to watch:



A little flip action:



Notice the well kept beard:



Staying dry in the Sierras:



2 man burn out show in eastern Montana:



Triple Stick:



Cruising in the Sherpa:



Parking the Sherpa:



Hitching a ride home:



Nice 2 manner on the Kootenai:



AK speed racks:





See you guys next season.

[Meadow Skipper]

I wound up with 7 fire jumps and 3 pounders. Not as good as some of the RB's, but I was fortunate enough to spend some time on the road. Boosted Fairbanks after rookie training, and my first 2 fire jumps were north of the Arctic Circle. Had additional fire jumps in Missoula, West Yellowstone, Miles City and Redding. Spent time boosting in Redmond, Fresno and Winthrop as well, but didn't get any fire jumps.

One of the best parts of the summer though, was when I got to jump my own chute. Toward the end of the season we had some downtime, and I was packing chutes and having them broken down as often as possible. The loft foreman gave me the nod, and I jumped a chute I packed on my last proficiency jump which was a good experience.

Sounds like a pretty fair season with a few good deals.

[...]Staying dry in the Sierras:

That's a tidy camp - mad blue tarp construction skillz!

[FreakofSnow]

That's a tidy camp - mad blue tarp construction skillz!

Yeah, MT is a good camp bitch. He has picked up mad skillzzz from the jobCorps kids over the years. You should see him smoke a ciggy and mad-dog everyone as they roll into camp, its eerie.

[Meadow Skipper]

Yeah, MT is a good camp bitch. He has picked up mad skillzzz from the jobCorps kids over the years. You should see him smoke a ciggy and mad-dog everyone as they roll into camp, its eerie.

As long as he has the coffee on, the campfire burning hot, the potatoes peeled, and the water hauled, it's all good.

[VC]

Who needed the climbers?

[MT]

Lightner.

[VC]

Hotshot crew? With no experience it is relatively difficult, but not impossible. But be prepared to get your ass kicked. Depends on the fire season but 20-30k for a first year guy. Hope you're not looking for this season.

[VC]

You have basic 32? If you do they're a chance to still get a job, if you don't it will be harder. The only way is to start calling everywhere you want to work. Alot of people start on engines or Type 2 crews.

[carbs]

since this thread is up top i think I'll mention that I'll be joining the newark vt hand crew for this summer. doing all my training over my spring break in a couple weeks.

[VC]

The new application process is pretty much an pain in the ass. Just go into the local Ranger station and talk to someone, or none are close give one a call and talk to them.

[StoneCold]

I just finished an S-130/190 class and pack test. I have a new found respect for hand crews. We swung tools for half a day. I can't imagine doing it all day. All day for weeks at a time.

Props to anyone who earns a paycheck doing this.