priapos

I went out on my first fire today. I stopped at the Post Office to get my mail, and heard that a fire was coming our way, so I headed over to the fire barn and changed out of my office clothes into my NOMEX gear. At the first site we went to, everything went smoothly. We evaluated the fire break, then set a back fire and doused hot spots to keep it contained and away from a house.

The next site, we got there as a couple of graders were making a new line. It hadn't been set far enough back, though, and the fire jumped it sometime before we arrived. Conditions were extremely dry, and the wind was gusting up to 50mph. We went a couple of miles further and tried to cut another line, but the terrain was too rough.

The effort seemed uncoordinated, and the person who had been thrust into command started freaking out. Fortunately, the only structure in the area was a vacant hunters' cabin, so we had no reason not to retreat further back to the nearest residence. As we left, we realized we did so just in time. When we stopped to regroup and get food, I got a chance to be relieved and took it. The fire had slowed way down, and the forest service was arriving with more heavy equipment. I expect I'll be back at it tomorrow morning.

Local news story, focusing on another fire in the area but with mention of the one I engaged