Joey The Firefighter

I am now a certified Type 2 Wildland Firefighter. Boom.

This week I went through training to get certification and it was a blast. We learned all about fire activity, weather and it's effects on fire, topography as well as tactics and strategies for fighting the good fight. We also spent a day in the field, cutting line and practicing various methods of fire line construction as well as practicing with our fire shelters. It was completely exhausting but a blast. The instructors were very cool and down to earth but when we actually got in the field they drilled in a militaristic manner. We hiked up and down a mountain all day and I exhausted myself by volunteering for the lead polaski (basically an axe with a hoe on the other side), breaking ground for the line. I also carried a 35-40 lb backpack all day while working that didn't really fit like it should which didn't help with my tiredness.

At the end of the day after lunch we went back down the mountain and started cutting line again as a part of a realistic simulation. We made good time and ended up attaching two sections of line that were quite a distance apart. This was the third time we'd cut line that day and swinging the heaviest tool on the line was starting to wear me down considerably. During this we kept getting radio updates from our spotter and the IC (Incident Commander) about the behavior of the fire and the weather. The conditions worsened as we worked and a few spot fires were flaring up below us (a bad sign, as fire travels uphill quickly and we were in the path of it). We were advised to make our way up to a safer location. We did this, and moved almost completely back up the mountain for the 3rd time at a quick pace. It was at this point that the spotter told us that air support had subdued the fire enough for us to continue working, so we went back down the hill once more to continue building line. 10 to 15 minutes later they radioed that air support was no longer going to be able to contain the fire, and that it was moving quickly up the mountain. We hustled again up the mountain.

It was at this point that I could hardly put one foot in front of the other. I was exhausted and dehydrated as I had pushed myself extremely hard in order to test my limits. Suddenly, our crew boss (an ex-military man) yelled "EVERYONE, PACKS OFF, GET TO THE SAFETY ZONE, MOVE MOVE MOVE!" The 'fire' was running up the hill behind us and we had to run the last 150 yards up the 45 degree slop after dropping our packs (one girl from another team had an asthma attack while hiking up the last time and had to receive oxygen, many people couldn't run the final portion and a few people are considering transferring teams if possible). At the top of the hill we were instructed to deploy our emergency shelters as we had trained.

Let me take the time to tell you what these things look like. The real things look basically like a giant baked potato or burrito wrapper. It's tin foil with a layer of protective material inside to help absorb heat. The training ones basically look like a body bag without a zipper. The only thing I could really think of when dropping down into this thing was "I'm laying down to die in an organized place so they can find my body more easily later." The other thing that was going through my mind was "I can't feel my legs (from running up the mountain) and I just might puke."

As we deployed our shelters the trainers turned on the sirens of nearby trucks, revved the engines, yelled like crazy and ran around shaking our shelters to try to simulate the amount of noise you would hear during a burnover (when the fire hits your shelter and goes past you). It was a pretty cool experience and they did an excellent job simulating it because the combination of exhaustion, dehydration, intensity and noise definitely rattled me.

It was definitely the coolest thing I've done in Americorps and one of the cooler things I've ever done. I can't remember the last time I was so exhausted mentally and physically. It was great.

Next up is a week at the Sacramento Zoo. Then CHAINSAW TRAINING!

Oh and if you didn't already know, for my next spike I'm going to a little place called Vashon Island, Washington to live in a camp by Puget Sound on a beach surrounded by 400 acres of woods. I'll be sure to update everyone as to what I'll be doing there next time, but for now, stay awesome readers.

-J