Wildfires in the western U.S. do you know how many people it takes to fight them? Keep reading and you will find out.

  As I was talking to one of my brothers this afternoon on the phone, we were talking about the fires in Southern California. He lives in my home state of Minnesota, he commented that the smoke from the fires in the Mountain States generally affects the air quality as far away as his house. I surmise the smoke was caught in the jet stream and then carried across the country, he did say he did not notice any smoke from the Southern fires. I live 400 miles north of L.A. and until this morning the smoke was visible hanging in the air, in fact, respiratory problems are common throughout the state.

It's still burning and headed South.

It was hard for me to breath in Fresno, the central valley, so we moved around the state until we landed in the Delta, we get the ocean breeze. But with all of these wildfires, it sure has a guy thinking of going somewhere else, at least for a while. All of that started me to thinking about the crews fighting the fires, I have a grandson there right now, he's been there for about 2 weeks. We haven't heard from him, I'm not too worried, concerned but not worried, he's a smart kid, hard worker and tough. He works in the Sierra Nevada's around the Lake Tahoe area, actually, his work area is halfway between Auburn and Lake Tahoe. He is not a firefighter he works for the California Conservation Corp, clearing trails, building outhouses and general maintenance of the backcountry hiking areas. He is part of the "Overhead" crews. (Link to requirements for Hotshots, long informative paper)
               I will describe the crews it normally takes to fight wildfires.
  If there is one group of people that can be defined as the glue that binds the entire operation together it would have to be the Fire Crews. There are three levels of fire crews. Types 1-2-3, each member is placed based on experience, ability to lead and availability to report for duty. There is a Crew Boss, as well as three squad bosses, over the crew of 18-20 men and women. As we can imagine there is a lot of coordination that must happen, for small fires direct contact is used, extinguishing fires with water, fire breaks or sand and dirt. Indirect contact is used on larger fires, using fire breaks, roads, trails and streams as a point to control the fires spreading by removing fuels and setting backfires when conditions permit. The crews sleep near the fire line, it's a war for these people, eating rations, sometimes staying on the fire line for weeks at a time, and being able to shower every other day or less, they are directed by the demands of the fires. The fire season is six months long, the crews are on call 24/7 during that time, normally assigned 2 weeks at a time with a few days off between assignments.

This is a young person's gig for sure. 

  Type 1 is the most experienced crew, known as the "Interagency Hotshot Crews", made up of temporary and professional career employees they have a tradition of excellence with the reputation of being professional firefighters who are multi-skilled. The interagency employing them are USDA Forest Service, Bureau of Land Managment, the National Park Service and the Bureau of Indian affairs, hence their name. The "Hotshot" Crews originated in California during the 1940's, in the Cleveland and Angeles National Forests, Hotshot was the name chosen due to their fighting the hottest part of the wildfires. The National Park Service started it's Interagency Hotshot Crews in 1981, starting with just three crews. Dubbed Arrowhead 1-2-3, stationed in Wyoming, California, and Arizona. 1982 brought in a name change to represent the National Park Service emblem, Alpine, Arrowhead and Bison, all depicted on the NPS logo. Alpine is headquartered in the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, Arrowhead in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and the Bison was ended due to budget restraints. The crews can be sent anywhere, some even sent to Mexico and Canada, they are a National Resource. Traveling by truck, planes or helicopters, they go to where the fires are, packing everything they need for a shift that can last commonly 12 hours or longer. 15 crewmembers of highly skilled firefighters 2 squad leaders, a Superintendent along with two Assistants, make up a typical crew. The crew structure is modified based on the demands of the location of the fires. To qualify as a Hotshot this level 1 requirement is for the individual to perform a 3-mile hike in 45 minutes with a 45-pound backpack. It takes a normal person in good health 20 minutes to hike one mile unloaded, one hour to hike three miles.
  Wildland Fire Modules consisting of 4-10 people, again men, and women, they are completely self-sufficient carrying all of their equipment needed to fight the fires. These Modules are stationed at Buffalo National River, Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Cumberland Gap National Park, the Black Hills, Whiskeytown National Recreation Area and Saguaro National Park.
  Helitack Crews are specially trained in fighting fires with the use of helicopters, able to be rapidly deployed, typically the first to arrive on the scene of a fire. They fight fires from helicopters, rappelling into dense vegetation and rugged terrain, an important part of their job is to set up "basecamps" by unloading equipment and supplies from the airborne helicopters.
  The Engine Crew is made up of 3-5 skilled firefighters, consisting of a heavy-duty off-road vehicle carrying 800 gallons of water. The Engine Crew carries fire suppression foam to use on wildfires to protect the exterior wall of structures, they patrol, provide structure protection and these are the people performing mop-up duties. Large fires that cover an immense area, like the fires in L.A. today, take an enormous amount of equipment, these are the people that round it all up when the fire is extinguished.

Typical tired from hard work Engine Crew

  The Smokejumpers provide a means of reaching and reacting to a fire quickly, they normally provide the initial assault on the fire in very remote areas. Employed by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service, surprisingly the National Park Service does not have a Smokejumper division, however, they do use the services of them through these agencies. They parachute into the roughest of terrains, in the most inaccessible areas of the forests in the United States. An elite professional firefighting unit, the crews are made up of people from many different occupations. Most are seasonal, working the summer months, April until the end of the season in September, just the right timing for a school teacher. The entire complement of Smokejumpers numbers 350-400 nationwide, and they are dispatched to any spot in the country in 20 person Type 1 crews. They jump into the fire area, followed by their equipment boxes loaded with tools, food, and equipment, they remain on the fire line until the fire is out. Each member needs about 100 pounds of equipment which must be packed out on mules, lifted out by helicopter or carried out by the members of the crew to the nearest road.

Smokejumpers and Helicopter

  Overhead, most emergencies including wildfires are managed by the Incident Command System (ICS), the Overhead crew can be as small as 3-5 people or as large as thousands. An incident commander is in charge of determining how the emergency is to be dealt with, he has at his disposal heavy equipment, people, and Aircraft. The size of the crew is determined by the size of the incident, these are the "Overhead" people, just what the name implies, ordering supplies, providing logistical support, and planning for the next days' schedules and needs. They are also charged with communications and maintaining equipment. The information officer is responsible for providing media updates and generally is the face the public sees addressing the situation in press briefings.
  It takes a lot of personnel to combat a fire, years like 2017 has been an extremely busy one for these crews, and it may stretch into 2018. They deserve our combined respect, they will be in L.A. over the Christmas and Holiday seasons, all walks of life, all genders, nationalities and ethnic backgrounds. They tirelessly work to control what many times is an uncontrollable monster, they risk their lives every day on the fireline, and mostly we don't even know their names.
 Thank you for reading and sharing, Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Happy Holidays! If there is a time for "Silence and Prayers", this is it, for these people.

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