(Above: screenshot from Cannonshot’s wildland fire tour article. Click to enlarge.)
After a military veteran, a retired Colonel, learned that there are similarities between warfighting and firefighting, he decided to visit scores, if not hundreds, of locations around the western United States that are related to wildland fire. He departed from Southeast Wisconsin on his BMW GS Adventure motorcycle and returned 22 days and 10,000 miles later having accomplished about a third of his goal. He visited fire stations, notable fires, fatality sites, as well as helitack and air tanker bases. He also stopped at, photographed, and wrote about other sites of general interest in between. He identified locations to visit all around the western United States. His first article documents his travels through the Northwest, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and parts of South Dakota, Utah, Nevada, and Colorado. On two more trips next year he plans to cover the Southwest and California.
It is interesting to hear how someone with a military background, in this case a paratrooper, perceives wildland firefighting. In this case the writer is known only by his “Cannonshot” handle at the Adventure Rider website, which is usually frequented by long distance or “adventure” motorcyclists, who are not often seen on Harley-type loud-pipe bikes. That’s my impression of the site anyway, after a quick perusal.
Cannonshot’s writings and photographs of this 22-day trip are very extensive, covering 14 lengthy pages. You’ll need to schedule some time if you intend to read it all. But if you’re into wildland fire or motorcycles, or both like some of us, it will be a good way to spend an evening.
Above is a quick screen grab of one portion of the piece. Here is a link to the article.
Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Eric. Typos or errors, report them HERE.
