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.
“I used to be young, with a map on my passenger seat and endless Western towns to choose from.”
Thanks for the link, Bill.
If Bill’s link proves cumbersome, this one had no stumbling blocks for me:
http://www.pagosadailypost.com/news/23667/OPINION:_I_Will_Fight_Fire_No_More/
Yep…. MS Emerick speaks the truth
The job is NOT what it used to be….BUT I will sleep on the ground and eat MRE’s
In the “normal life” you still wish u were on the fireline.
Bill – Mary’s article was funded by the High Country News (HCN) “Writers on the Range” program, and is one of many insightful articles that HCN has had over the recent past of wildland fire issues: they pride themselves as being a newspaper “for those who care about the West”, and usually provide a balanced view on natural resource issues including wildland fire. Their articles are provided free to local western papers throughout the year. If you “Google” Mary’s name, you’ll find a few other good pieces she has written on wildfires for HCN.
There’s a small but important difference between “article was funded by HCN” and “article was purchased by HCN” and also a small difference between “articles are provided free to” and “articles are syndicated” … if anyone cares. 😉
Very nice article, well written and I can relate to everything see says. Firefighting certainly is not what it used to be and the firefighters of today are definitely of another time. After 47 years, I an still involved but I don’t sleep on the ground any more, nor do I eat MREs. Like her, I said that I’m done a number of times. But it’s kind of like drinking beer or eating potato chips, just one more and I’ll quit.