I was working in Boise for the BLM, and took a DIVS assignment to the Dude Fire. The airline circled Phoenix for about an hour and a half, waiting for the temperature to decrease to 120 F so we could land (the performance charts for the aircraft did not go over 120 F). We took some time to get our agency transportation all lined up, and left Phoenix at dusk, arriving to the fire camp in the dark, generators humming, the chow line still open (likely had a night crew shift, but I do not remember), just remember the tool sharpener grinding shovels and pulaskis all night long. In the morning, I learned that I had been demoted to Strike Team/Task Force Leader (Crew). No mention of fatalities in the morning shift briefing, but as we rode to the fire in the deuce and half, we passed some silver trash in the ash, and folks asked what it was. That is when we learned of the fatalities the previous shift.
I was working in Boise for the BLM, and took a DIVS assignment to the Dude Fire. The airline circled Phoenix for about an hour and a half, waiting for the temperature to decrease to 120 F so we could land (the performance charts for the aircraft did not go over 120 F). We took some time to get our agency transportation all lined up, and left Phoenix at dusk, arriving to the fire camp in the dark, generators humming, the chow line still open (likely had a night crew shift, but I do not remember), just remember the tool sharpener grinding shovels and pulaskis all night long. In the morning, I learned that I had been demoted to Strike Team/Task Force Leader (Crew). No mention of fatalities in the morning shift briefing, but as we rode to the fire in the deuce and half, we passed some silver trash in the ash, and folks asked what it was. That is when we learned of the fatalities the previous shift.