Esquire magazine has a story written by Robert Langellier who left the Ozarks for a job as a firefighter for one season on the Truckee Hotshot crew in California. He describes in very engaging detail what a hotshot experiences, and introduces us to several characters on the crew. One is a fifty-three-year-old sawyer who has been dealing with a decades-old shoulder injury which had become bone-on-bone. He needed replacement surgery but could not afford to be out of commission for an entire fire season.
You can read the entire article, which I recommend, but here are a couple of samples:
The brush, mostly towering willow and ceanothus shrubs, was thick. Adam Jarkow, then a fifty-three-year-old sawyer, slashed a tunnel through it, while I launched the fallen branches and leaves out of the way. The pace, due more to work ethic than imminent danger, was frantic. The whine of four chain saws obliterated a sense of time, and the crush of willows did as much to space, the sweet smell of coyote mint below swallowed by the waft of two-stroke fuel.
The seeming paradox of needing to keep western forests from burning too much or too little is part of all forest management, not just wildland firefighting.
Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Tom.
Rookie sounds like they have good head on their shoulders. Great to see more people coming forward about USFS Managements apathetic mindset towards their wildland firefighters.
Thanks for the link to the full article, Bill. A very well written story of what Hotshot crews deal with over today’s fire seasons. When a district Recreation and Lands staff, I tried to save some funds for projects that could keep our seasonal fire crew members employed thru me December. Being laid off for 5-6 months each year is no way to retain trained employees.
It’s just not enough to say “thank-you, ? firefighters”! We need to recognize the value of hotshot firefighters (and others) in how they are paid, given rest and recovery periods away from the fireline (including with family) and health benefits, for this incredibly demanding job.
My favorite line was, “Meanwhile, the Forest Service has become a de facto firefighting agency, prioritizing short-term emergency suppression at the expense of long-term forest management;” but, the part that really upset me was the part about how the guy wasn’t going to be able to be a permanent employee. That’s just not acceptable and the FS needs to change!!!
Told it like it is, no drama.
The pics accompanying the article were excellent as well.
Thanks for posting this Bill.
A lot of gritty truth in this article. Well written.
Great write up.
Being a hotshot is the best job in the world- until you don’t like being a hotshot. It is a job of great adventures, friendship and misery. A lifetime of memories and hard work. Most of which- folks who have never been a hotshot – will never understand. Stand proud. Enjoy the job. We appreciate you.
A little dramatic, but I remember my first season (I think). Never was a fan of the elitist remarks, and the over importance of certain functions. Overall, well written.
This is one of the best articles that encapsulates being a wildland fire fighter. Ever.
Favorite line in the article:
“Earlier this year a job posting for a gardener at the National Interagency Fire Center was listed at $23.05.”
GS or WG??
Always made a difference to somebody