The Aftermath: Mop Up

After the burn it became time to finish the job. The securing of the line. So we mop up, or we look for any heat or burning stump holes, or logs, etc. and we use the water to put it out and make it cold and secure. On this day we started mopping up 25 feet in from the edge.

Baptize it

The last two photos are not the way you mop up. As you can see there is a lot of wasted water. What happened here is we had to empty our tank before we had to meet with the rest of our division for an AAR, or after action review. We were running late and they were waiting on us. So we soaked down the hot log.

The day after

The next morning we went back up on the fire line. We did some patrol and we gave support when needed. The burn crew started to burn where they left off the night before. This day they wanted to burn a line of some 14 or miles long. The Management team said they couldn't do it. However they did do it. It took all night but they did it.
We ended the day seeing some pretty good fire and even had to go grid the other side of the line. These large Sugar Pine trees along with a few firs were torching out. The ember cast was going across the line. So our engine crew along with two others went across the line and gridded the forest for spot fires. We found several but they were no larger then a dime. However if we had done nothing we would have had big problems.

You can see the scale of the flames and how high it is by noticing the trucks parked near the fire.

Black ember still hot to the touch

More to come. Check back often I will post as I have time. It has been really busy getting ready for the season. 

Burn Time

After all the pre-planning the burn started. And it was a beautiful controlled burn. The end result is that it further secured the line. The pictures don't do the terrain justice. It is fairly steep, and what you don't see is the steep canyon on the other side of the ridge.That is where the main fire is. That being said, that was the purpose for this burn. To provide a bit of a buffer in case the fire below made a run. This would give some space for falling embers to fall harmless.

Preparing another drip torch

The goal is for the fire to consume all ground fuels buy not to run up the trees.It doesn't always work out that way.

On this night things mostly as expected. The Willamette engine crew stayed out and did the double shift. They patrolled to make sure there wasn't any spot fires. They did catch one that crossed the line. The next morning the rest of us who went to camp the night before patrolled and checked to see that the spot fire was out. It was. The night crews did a good job. 

But the fire continued to move and in my next post I will show that you do still have to have your heads up. Things change fast as you will see.

Route Complex Burn Preperation

On this day the objective was to prepare for a burn operation. The pictures below show some of the process.

The first thing we did was to have a briefing to receive assignments. As you can see there are a lot of people involved. 

So they assign the Willamette Engine crew to light the fire and to support the line. Others were assigned to patrol the line to make sure that the fire didn't jump our line. Our assignment was to prepare the line with foam. There was a large slash pile they didn't want to burn.

Briefing

Slash pile

Cat line

Foaming

My guys ran the foam line soaking it down before they light the fire.Later we had another engine join us to help prepping the line.

On my next post I will show the burn process. And yes you will see some fire.

Route Complex Pictures

Here is a couple pictures from the Route Complex. I will post more later today. Stay tuned....

Neighboring fire

Self explaining

A Doe wanting a drink

Dirty Burn

Spike Camp on the Route Complex

Many times the "Spike" word isn't what a firefighter wants to hear. We normally like base camp, where we can get a shower and a good hot meal. Being spiked usually sucks. There are no places to go...well you know. If we do get food it is at best out of a bucket. Usually your choice of meal is a MRE or an MRE. Not exactly the meal of champions.

However once in a while you get a sweet "Spike" camp. When you do you want to stay. This was like that. It had a great view and it was peaceful and quiet. Unfortunately our Division Supervisor didn't like it so he arranged for us to go back to camp the next day. But we enjoyed the spot while we were there. Below is some of the photos of Spike camp:

Food Line....And you see places to "go"

Breakfast line

We had breakfast and then also was the radio briefing. It is a little bit different way to get our assignment for the day. We did some prep work for a controlled burn. The Idea is to further secure the line. On my next post I will show you what we did. You may see some fire to.......

Busy Days

I haven't given up on the 2015 fire season review, I have just been really busy.I Just wanted to update everyone on what is going on.

I have been busy working on this summers work. I will be running my own engine. {Sort Of} I am buying the engine and paying for it as I earn it back.

If you would like to help you can just click here for details: https://www.gofundme.com/9633kcam

I have been getting all set up to do the bidding process and now i'm working on the contract itself. I have a logo now, which I will soon reveal to all.

There is still a lot to do. I have to get insurance, hire a crew, have a physical, have an ODOT inspection, hire a payroll company, get my records and my crews records inspected, also I have to have a equipment inspection, and even more.

So If I am busy and don't get a regular post of the 2015 fire season don't panic I will get to it as I can.

If anyone wants a job this summer fighting fire I will soon be taking resumes. If you haven't ever fought fire and want to you still can. The pay is really good. But there is some basic training needed. You can email me if you are interested: travisalbrecht@gmail.com

So check back and I will have more soon...