chasingfire.com - A Blog…

This week has been more of the same - rainy and cold weather for the Missoula area. It also brings the start of school for the fall semester here at the University of Montana, and the end of my work season with the Montana DNRC.

Tuesday was probably my last flight of the year. We had two South Africans working with us that day to get an idea of how we use our aircraft to fight fire. To demonstrate we took them to a spot we use for training on the Blackfoot river, about 15 minutes flight outside of town. There we gave them a water-dropping demonstration, a briefing on how we use the helicopter to carry crews, and an overall discussion of how our program operates. It was a nice flight out, over the University, and I enjoyed it. It was also the first time since June that I’d ridden in the back of the helicopter, as I’ve been working as the manger in the front seat for most of the summer. It was kind of nice to just be along for the ride and not have to worry about manager stuff for a change.

School is going well for the first week. I’m still not 100% sure that this is what I want to do, as I have an illogical fear of doing a thesis, and this degree requires that all students complete a thesis. But, irrational fear aside, the professors seem to be a good group, and there are plenty of new grad students who are all in the same boat as I am, so undoubtedly it will work out alright.

Today brings about my second day off of the month of August, and a certain amount of sadness as well. On Thursday we lost our severity funding, which meant returning to a normal 8-hour workday rather than the 12-hour days we had been working. This was due to the strong cold front that moved through western Montana on Wednesday and Thursday, leaving in its wake roughly an inch of rain, snow on the mountaintops, and a few days of much cooler than normal temps. This pretty much signaled the end of the main fire season for me. Do be sure, there will be more fires this year, but I’d wager that few of them will “go big” and create any control problems.

The few days at the beginning of the week were pretty exciting. I went to Helena with the crew and 87Mike as the manager on Monday for a fire near Townsend, MT. We ended up staying for two days, and I was pretty much in charge of the 3-person crew and the helicopter and pilot for those two days. At the end of the second day (Tuesday) we flew back to Missoula, and spotted a several acre fire burning on the DNRC’s Garrison Unit protection, and ended up flying a few buckets up to it with 94Mike and 87Mike before getting chased out by hail and thunderstorms from the encroaching cold front.

The next day (Wednesday) we flew out to check out the Coppper Cliffs area of the Missoula Unit en route to the Goose Gulch fire we’d spotted the previous day. A DNRC engine crew had been looking for a fire in that area for several hours, and had asked us to come in and see if we could find it. It was pretty cloudy, with lots of water dogs and misty strips climbing up the draws, but after a few minutes of searching near the coordinates given to us, we got lucky and spotted the small fire. It was only 1/10th of an acre, but I decided to kick out Steve and Junior, and let them work the fire while we flew in the engine crew. They had the fire under control after we flew in a few blivets, and the helitack crew flew out at about 3pm, and the engine crew had a truck come and pick them up a few hours later. The fire was in a heavily roaded area, but due to the difficulty of finding a way in quickly enough to put out the fire and the poor road condition, we just flew the crew in rather than guiding their engine in. An engine wouldn’t have made it up the old logging roads, but a pickup did just fine.

So, with school starting back up on Monday I’m getting ready, mentally and physically, for my entrance into grad school. I’m not too worried about it, although I am feeling some doubts about what exactly I will be doing for my degree. I’m tempted to switch from the option I’m enrolled in (Cartography & GIS) to the general Geography MA, with no option. I’d take many of the same classes to get the GIS and mapping skills I want, but I’d also take some other courses in planning, and maybe even take a few writing classes to help me along the way to my developing dream of being a writer

The view from 94Mike, looking down the Clark Fork river.

94Mike at the Plains Unit DNRC.

This Saturday finds me on the road again, this time in Plains, MT, working on 94Mike, one of the statewide helicopters. So far there have been no fires on my watch, although there were in the few days prior to my relieving the statewide manager from Kalispell. I should be here for the weekend and headed home on Sunday, although my luck and Murphy’s Law being one and the same that’s not guaranteed.

The helitack shack in Plains. Cozy isn’t it?

So today I sit in a broken-down old doublewide trailer that used to be a bunkhouse for the Plains DNRC engine crews, and long ago was declared unfit for use, except of course by the occasional wandering helitack crew that moves in. Helitack crews are kind of like hermit crabs at times, making even the most decrepit and uninhabitable space an air-conditioned oasis. In the absence of a building, crews will go to great lengths to construct shade tents, shelters, shanties, etc, in order to avoid the blazing sun and provide some space for the inevitable safety naps that are a helitack requirement on slow days.

The entrance door to the trailer at Plains bears signs of use in the past, with stickers from Missoula National helitack, Boise BLM helitack, the Grand Canyon flight crew, and the Alberta Rapattack program. There are manifests (lists of items loaded on the helicopter) in the desk drawer from the past 3 seasons, some from the Kaibab/Grand Canyon crew, some from a restricted medium (40Papa) that has been here for the past 2 seasons, and assorted copies from the 94Mike crew this year.

Also a sign of past helitack occupation is the beat-up fridge (with the obligatory I love Smokey sticker), several army cots, random excercise equipment and office furniture, and a couch of unknown origin that’s seen better times, probably in the early ’80s. So, to sum it up, it’s a pretty decent place for a bunch of wandering helitackers to call home for a few weeks, or in my case a few days.

The door to the helitack shack, showing signs of crews that have come before.

The inside of the helitack shack, with pilot Al staying mentally fit with a book.

Weight equipment, office furniture, a fridge, and a cot… How much more can you ask for?

Another look at 94Mike.

So the past week was pretty quiet for me. I made it back from Helena on Monday, and went until Friday without any flights or fires. The weather has been cooler and wetter for a few days, and looks to be the same for a while. Friday we had one quick mission to the DNRC Anaconda Unit to do a crew shuttle, putting 3 of their fire folks on a small lightning fire in the Pintlers. The helispot where we picked them up was at about 7,500 feet elevation, and the fire was across the drainage in a lodgepole pine stand. We really only cut their walk from maybe 3 miles to 1 mile, but we were glad to help. The helispot was a big open rockfield with a road through it, and had great views of the surrounding mountains.

Today is my day off, and although the season has been slow, it still seems like it has been busy for me. We’ve been working 6 10-hour days between days off, and recently switched to 12-hour days. On top of that, I worked 13 days since my last day off. So, while the money has been good, I have been getting a little burned out. After 10 or 12 hours at work, I just don’t feel like doing much when I get home at night. Combine that with only one day off with which to regroup and recenter, and I’m getting ready to switch gears to school.

It’s still looking good for starting grad school this fall. I’m registered for classes, and have got at least one part-time job lined up. I’m still not really sure which option I’ll go with for my degree (Cartography & GIS or Community & Environmental Planning), but I’ll likely have a lot of overlap in the coursework no matter the option. I’ll also be finishing my History BA next spring, and hopefully taking a few writing classes as well.

The past few days have been pretty interesting for me. Wednesday I headed to Helena with Ryan (Junior) to relieve Dan and Ben on 98Mike, one of the DNRC’s two statewide helicopters. These two ships are based out of Helena, MT, and are staffed with a minimal crew, usually just a manager and one crewmember (and of course the pilot, can’t do anything without him). These helicopters can be moved quickly anywhere in the state, responding to new fires in areas with no direct-protection helicopter (only Missoula, Helena, and Kalispell have those), or to aid the helitack crews in those areas that do.

A perfect example was the Pump Station fire near Divide, MT on Friday and Saturday. Divide is about 18 miles south of Butte, MT, and is on the extreme eastern edge of the Anaconda Unit’s (SWLO) protection. The fire was started at the bottom of a south-facing slope, near homes and the pumping station that provides drinking water to Butte, and was rapidly growing, so the first crews on scene ordered up the SWLO ship (87Mike, and the Missoula crew) as well as both of the statewide ships. Because of a neat coincidence, all three ships arrived at roughly the same time, providing the residents with a pretty unique show. It’s not often you get to see three fire helicopters land in a field at the same time, and hook up the buckets and go to the dipsite 100 yards away, and drop on the fire that’s only another 100 yards away.

With all three ships working we managed to put a hurt on the fire fairly easily. Due to the dry conditions and limited number of people in the fire, the IC also had 3 or 4 retardant drops by P-3’s out of Missoula and Helena. Before nightfall the fire was looking good, and we made it back to Helena at dusk.

The next day, Friday, the two statewide ships were sent back to the fire, and worked about half of the day heli-mopping the perimeter of the fire. Things went well, and there was no need to return Saturday.

Pics… click on ‘em to see the bigger versions.

Butte America, where I went to school for a few semesters.

The fire as it looked when we got there.

“Junior” at work

94Mike coming in to the dip site to fill

Jason “Abooo” at the dip site

More to follow…