A firefighter says she’s hanging up her boots; really, this time

Mary Emerick has written an interesting article about getting out of firefighting after 26 years. She says she really means it this time.

Below is a short excerpt — you can read the rest of article here. You may have to answer a couple of stupid questions there to see the whole piece.

…All firefighters have stories of lucky breaks and last-minute escapes — when certain tragedy was averted only by a wind shift, quick thinking or plain chance. There was a wonderful monotony in the work itself, seeing just how far I could push my body past exhaustion. I worked 48-hour shifts, coughing into a grimy bandanna pulled tight across mouth and nose, hauling 40-pound containers of drinking water up a mountain, watching the ceaseless motion of moving vegetation out of a slim line that might stop the fire — or not.

There were things I missed by fighting fire: love, marriage, kids — even though I wasn’t sure I wanted that kind of life. I missed out on the vacations that normal people enjoy — swimming in lakes, lying in hammocks.

Wildfire potential, August through November, 2013

Today the Predictive Services section at the National Interagency Fire Center issued their Wildland Fire Potential Outlook for August through November, 2013. Here is their prediction for August:

Significant fire potential remains above normal for a large portion of the Northwest and the California mountains as fuels remain much drier than normal. South central Alaska will have higher significant fire potential in early August. The East will remain wet through August.

wildfire potential August, 2013wildfire potential September, 2013

wildfire potential Oct-Nov, 2013

One firefighter killed, another injured in Oregon

One firefighter has died and another was injured by a falling snag in the Deschutes National Forest near Sisters, Oregon on Thursday, August 1. The incident occurred on a new lightning-caused fire, named 398, north of Highway 242 near Dugout Lake. The two firefighters were contract personnel working as a tree falling team employed by R&K Water Services out of Bonney Lake, Washington. The names have not been released. The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Department is in charge of the accident..

The incident was reported at 9:13 a.m. Thursday, according to Jean Nelson-Dean, a spokesperson for the Deschutes National Forest.

A rappel crew responded in a helicopter to the accident and called for an ambulance. One of the firefighters died at the scene. The other was taken to St. Charles Medical Center in Bend. A water-dropping helicopter wet down the area to make it safer for other firefighters to assist with the incident.

An early morning lightning storm started dozens of wildfires in the Cascade Range of Oregon on Thursday.

Our sincere condolences go out to the families and coworkers of these firefighters.

Replica of Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall travels to South Dakota

Replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall, in Hot Springs, SD

A 360-foot long replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall is traveling across the country and is in Hot Springs, South Dakota this week. The display is an 80 percent scale version of the Washington, DC memorial honoring the military personnel that were killed during the Vietnam War.

It is scheduled to be at Centennial Park in Hot Springs through August 4.

Replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall, in Hot Springs, SD

Replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall, in Hot Springs, SD

Replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall, in Hot Springs, SD