Going home

We made it to Leavenworth and our overhead checked us In. Our new assignment was to demob. At this time we have demobed and now we are draining our tank for a light ride home.
When I get settled at home I will upload pictures of what we saw and did.  The pictures I posted are from my phone and it doesn't take the best photos. So keep checking back. Who knows maybe by some strange streak of good fortune we will get one more good run before the season changes and the Rains and snow come back.
Thanks  for all of the support from those of you who have followed this season.

Moving

Last night we were told we would be moving back to Leavenworth.  So now we are back awaiting our new assignment.  We have been told we will be part of a new IA group. Also it we may have a few more days here before we are demobed.  As we learn more I will update.  It changes all the time and sometimes hour by hour.

Last ditch push.

Well the dust has settled and the smoke is gone. Things are winding down. Looks like the season is nearly over. However there is still work to do.
Yesterday we sat on an initial attack assignment. That is being staged ready for a new start. If it happens we go after it and try to stop it from getting big.
Today we are expecting to go up to the flooded cabins and pull all the hose and sprinklers that were set up to protect them.
It has been a good season and we will try to get a little more work. Rehab or whatever they will allow us to do. Provided we are invited. Until then we have just a few more days left In our season. But you never know as Spock says there are always possibilities...

Rain and flooding

We are back on day shift. We worked last night till midnight and came back into camp. We are now on initial attack.
The fire has had over 4 inches of rain in the last two days and more is expected. It is a mess. There was a mud slide across the road on the fire. It was deep and they had to sand bag the cabins. Creeks were moved from their original path.

Season changer?

Wow what a night.  The forecast was for a t storm.  Well there wasn't much lightning or thunder. We had gusty winds blowing on the fire. We had moved to division B and we had plans to do a burn operation.  We were going to clean up an area of concern. But before we could get started the weather moved in.
They moved us down to the "safe area", drop point 103. It was a staging area. The road is paid there. We sat and listened to the weather warnings and then the rain. They issued Flash Flood Warnings. It was for up to 1/2" per hour. I don't know if it did that but it has rained steady and hard at times.
Over the radio we heard the division supervisor say "I don't think the owners of the cabins have to worry about the fire anymore". They had minor flooding. They also found a mud slide over the road. It was anywhere from 8" to a foot of mud.
Is this a season changer? I dont know. It may well be. For this fire I believe it is put to bed. As I write this I have no idea if the rest of the region or if other parts of Oregon and Washington were hit as hard. One thing for sure is it seems this fire, "Duncan" has been put to bed.
This morning as the daylight appears from seemingly nowhere it has a look of fall here. We all hope summer isn't over. It seems like our season just started. So until we hear different we will be prepared to work. Or we may be sent home to be reunited with our loved ones. Or if the other fires need help we maybe we will be sent to one of them. Unless they to were put to bed.

Duncan Fire

The fire is over 10,000 acres now. Last night it continued to back down to the Entiat River road. It didn't move as much as expected. Also the t - storms that were predicted did t happen. However there are a few sprinkles. There was a bit of torching and some good fire in pockets.  Here's a few pictures of what we saw last night:

Fire update/ night shift

Last night the fire back down closer to the road and in some places reached the road. It varied in intensity. However up on the slope in the thermal be it burned active all night. It moved laterally to the south. It was torching and making small runs.
Tonight will be interesting due to the forecast for dry lighting and erratic winds.
The signal in camp is go e so it may be a couple of days before my next update.
Here's a couple of pictures from last night..

Night shift second night

Last night we patrolled the line and watched the fire back down towards us. Up on the hill was torching off and on all night. We also heard trees of varying sizes fall. Some so large where we were staging we could feel the compression from there fall. Otherwise it was an Uneventful night.
Tonight we anticipate that the fire will be all the way down to the road. Our job will be to keep it on that side of the road and away from the cabins. I will update you tomorrow evening.
Here is a couple of shots of our hose lay and of the fire. Tomorrow's pictures may look a little different. 

Night shift

Last night was our first night of night shift. It went good.  We worked in heavy timber. We were doing a few different things.  First we checked the cluster of cabins to see if the pumps had fuel and looked at the hose lay. The cabins all had all the sprinklers set up. The day shift had set them up and then periodically ran the pumps to pre wet everything down.
The idea is that if the fire comes into the cabin area then the pumps get fired up and everyone leaves. Then hopefully the humidity will slow the fire and keep the homes from burning. These cabins are not defensible. In other words they aren't safe for us to stay and try to save should the fire make a big run through the cabin area. I will try to take pictures for you so you. An see what I mean. It's hard to get pictures in the dark.
Then when we checked the cabins we put in 1 1/2" hose along the road. We put down 2000 feet of it. Every 200 feet we put a gated y in and the a 100 foot 1" hose. At the end of it we put a forester nozzle on it. We put it in to be able to hold the Line. That means we want the fire to stay on the one side of the raod. If it jumps then we have fire on the cabin side of the road. Then we have real problems.
We slept...sort of in a fish hatchery.  It is hard to sleep during the day but we do our best. Now we wait for the 1745 briefing and then back up on the line.I will try to get more pictures to show you what we are doing.

Update

Today we are waiting to work our first night of the fire. We will be on the Entiat river. Not sure of the status of the fire at this point but the sky is clear.
While we wait for the 6 o'clock briefing we are staying cool with our feet in the river.
We were in Leavenworth this morning and they moved us up to the Entiat fish hatchery. Leavenworth is very beautiful as you may have noticed by the few pictures I posted.  I wish I would have had time to take more pictures of the homes here. Very beautiful ones.  It's hard to take pictures when you are supposed to be driving. I will try to get some good shots tonight to post tomorrow.  Keep checking back. Here  is some of the surrounding area we saw today.

Morning inspection

Every fire we have a couple of inspections. A mechanical inspection and a box inspection. The later is making sure we have all the necessary equipment to work on the fire.
Looks like we will be on night shift. So in any case I hope to have some pictures for all to see.

Change of scenery

Today we got transferred to the to the Chi Waupun Complex. It is in central washington state we will be on the duncan fire here are a few pictures of the area. Sorry about the punctuation I am trying the voice recorder and it does its own thing I hope you enjoy the pictures

Fire update

We  checked in at the Joseph ranger station. We had our inspection. We are assigned to the 5 Mile fire but that may be changing. We are  waiting for our assignment. If we end up going to Imnaha it is likely there will be no cell service.  I will post as I can. Stay tuned. .

New Dispatch

We just received a new dispatch. I think we are going to the 5 Mile fire. I will try to confirm it when I can. It is near Hells Canyon/ Imnaha. Stay tuned.....