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Thank Me? No, Thank You!
A fellow of a certain age stopped me in a parking lot. He was built like a fire plug, and had a white-haired buzz cut. He, having seen my car window stickers, asked about my military service. I gave the 30-second answer, and got a “thank you for your service.” Then, I asked him about his service.
“Oh, no,” he said, “I just did 12 years of federal service as a wildland firefighter.”
I answered, “it is tough enough wearing protective gear in the desert (as the military does), but you were wearing protective gear, while moving towards the flames and smoke. So, thank you!“
Thank you to all the courageous men and women battling wildfires this season. Please keep them in your prayers, along with first responders, and deployed military members.
Published in General
Cliff,
Isn’t it amazing how the media is so dead to anything that requires respect for individuals and their contribution? They are just looking for victims to justify more government. Of course, those wild firefighters deserve our respect and prayers. I suspect that Governor Moonbeam should be spending 10 times what he is spending on equipping them. He’s too busy wasting money on a bullet train and destroying farming by a lunatic water policy. He could cut back a little on the garbage and then he could spend 100 times the present budget on wildfire fighting.
The people of California are too busy fighting Global Climate Change to worry about being burnt to death in their own backyard. This guy and others like him will come pounding on their door and save their lives at the last moment. You bet he deserves a thank you.
Regards,
Jim
In addition to fighting forest fires, there are even smokejumpers who are willing to go into the wilderness miles away from civilization. At last year’s Montana Meetup, we visited their museum at the Missoula Airport:
It’s amazing what dangerous jobs are out there.
Yes, as with the military, there are several elites among the people working in fire.
From the air: smokejumpers and helitack crews
On the ground: hotshots
I only had a brief moment trying to fight a grass and brush fire when I was in the Boy Scouts. Somebody started a fire to burn trash but built it without scraping the grass away under it or around it. It wasn’t my patrol.
Anyway, that thing moved fast. We were only on the fire line for an hour or two. It was hot, scary and brutal work; we didn’t have any real firefighting equipment, but we thought for a moment that we were about be able to keep it from spreading. Then the wind changed and we were downwind from the stand of poison oak the fire was suddenly spreading to. I don’t know about the other guys but my 3rd grade teacher told my class several cautionary tales about foolish people new to California who put that pretty plant on their mantle or put it in the campfire, so we ran away.
So did the fire. It only burned around 150 acres, though. Anybody who does that work for real has my respect.
One of the senior researchers at work has a son who does that work and over the last year I’ve learned a lot of second-hand knowledge. It’s amazingly tough work. I haven’t talked to him lately, so I don’t know where is son is currently and if he’s in California.
I have a friend who answers the military service question with, “I wasn’t in the military, but I was in the Air Force.” I try to use that response as well, when I remember.
Thanks to all of those who serve, or have served.
There are a lot of first responders out there we don’t usually hear about, and wildfire fighters are one group. Think of the other vital people in the policemen/firemen chain, like 911 dispatchers. They have to remain calm while often times the person on the other end of the line is a nervous wreck, scared to death, or about to be assaulted.
Then there are folks like utility workers. Normally, we don’t think about them until we have to stop and wait as their trucks block the road while they work. However, they shine after hurricanes, ice storms, tornados, and other natural disasters turn the power off, power we take for granted until it’s gone. Utility workers will travel across several states to help out, often on short notice.
I’m sure I can think of others, but it’s time to go read the next post!
We just learned that our financial adviser’s brother runs a wild land firefighting school up in the mountains of Colorado. Year-round. He lives in smoke.
We are mostly oblivious to the people who make our lives of comfort and safety possible. God bless ’em.
Speaking of museums, Mrs. QuietPI and I made a couple discoveries a few years ago in Phoenix – things you definitely don’t want to miss. One was the Hall of Flame firefighting museum. It’s intriguing. Mostly equipment and apparatus from every imaginable era, including one of the oldest – known pumpers, a wooden box, carried and operated with all-human power, and supplied with water by bucket brigade. That was from China, of course. Hoses, Fire trumpets, helmets, insurance plaques (now those were interesting). An actual dispatch center, lots of other stuff.
As we were about to leave, we spotted, in a corner, another small room. It was dedicated to wildland firefighting. Now, I don’t mean to put down too much the museum’s wildland display. After all, a pulaski doesn’t take up as much room as, say, a Type 1 engine, a canteen compared to a water tender. And they didn’t have a D-6 dozer or a PBY retardant plane. But the most important elements were there. MRE’s, boots, nomex, firepacks… Although I propose that the pulaski fire tool should have such a room dedicated to it alone. But I digress…
And as we were about to leave even that room, we spotted a movie playing in the corner, and we sat absorbed for at least another hour. It was a documentary movie, “Smokejumpers: Firefighters From the Sky.” It’s the history of smokejumping. Those crazy people who jump out of perfectly good aeroplanes. It’s available from the National Smokejumper Association. By all means, see the museum, and watch – or better, buy – the movie.
Oh, the other gem we stumbled upon? The Musical Instrument Museum. That’s a story for another time.
We saw the same (or similar) movie at the Smokejumper Museum in Missoula. IIRC, it was about 25 minutes long.
One of our children in first grade had a student teacher who was a wildland firefighter. He really got the boys engaged by weaving firefighting tales and issues into the lessons.
(A small parlor trick he taught these little 6 year olds was how to spell “camouflage.” The kids were so proud to discover that they could learn this very complicated word.)
Just loaded it to check: It’s two hours long. So I guess we sat there for two hours. At least for an old firefighter – and his longsuffering wife – it sure didn’t seem that long.
So, as they say, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.