Fire Pictures

Here are some of the pictures of what we have seen this year:

Demob day

Today we were demobed. The complex of fires has been mopped up and is cold. There may be a few interior stumps smoldering, but that is about it.
I apologize for not having much excitement so far this season. We have been sent out to three fires and all three have, for the most part been out or almost out by the time we got to them. However it is a long season. This is just getting started. We still have all of August. I will try to get some pictures up later on.
Even though. It has been a bit it has been interesting to say the least. For example the day before yesterday they had two people life flights off the fire line due to dehydration. All total that day there was five or six people who suffered from dehydration and one with an ankle injury. Yesterday there was one of the engine guys who had dehydration issues. Several of us assisted him along with the medic. It ended well as he was able to walk out on his own. He can be thankful for his engine boss being able to recognize the symptoms of dehydration. He was fortunate.

Bottom line is even though there is little to no fire out there it can still be dangerous out here. It isn't just the fire you have to watch. Sometime it is the human element as well. Perhaps sometime I will explain in detail what that means, but not today.

We are tired and stinky. We hiked all over the mountain as we couldn't get the engines to the fire edges due to rocky terrain. Also we were spiked out. That means we were not at the main fire camp. So no showers :( we also ate out of food buckets. The good part is we had portable toilets. So that being said I'm going to hit the showers and clean up and rest up for the next dispatch coming soon......

Stemler fire

Just to update everyone. We are on the Stemler fire. One of the fires on the Kitten Complex. It is lined and we have been seeking out the hot spots.
The hot spots don't always smoke and so you have to Seek them out.
We had only a few stump holes yesterday.  They have told us there is still head on the fireline so we will search for them.
Hasn't been much fire to speak of. Some Internal smokes. Yesterday there was a juniper that torched and a helicopter was called to put water on it to prevent it from spreading. However it was well inside the fire line.

Indecision

Our resource order was for the Stemler fire. We checked in at the BLM shop to get inspected and check in. While there we received another order. This time they sent us to the Kitten fire. Then we were sent to the fire camp to check in there. Then we let the operation people know we are here so we could have an assignment in the morning and they said we would likely be on the Brogan fire.

All of these fire fires are now part of the Kitten Complex.

So tomorrow we will find out what we are doing for sure. One thing you can count on in the fire world is change.  It is the one thing in the fire world that is consistent. Constant change. Also the hurry up and wait mentality.

At any rate I will let you know more in the morning.

Fire update

Sorry I haven't updated you on our status for a couple of days. But here is the latest. We were demobed off of the Buzzard Complex.

As we drove home there was a large thunderstorm that covered most of Eastern Oregon. The lightning was spectacular. As it turns out there was over 19,000 lightning strikes.

So as you might have guessed we have received another dispatch. We are going to Vale.
There were six new large fires. I don't know to much but a type 1 team has been ordered and will be managing the fires. I believe the name will be called the Kitten Canyon Complex.

For more information click here: http://www.nwccweb.us/content/products/intelligence/MORNINGBRIEF.pdf?7/24/201410:12:46AM

We will be leaving this afternoon. Stay tuned for updates.

Staged!

After our repairs we went  back down to Crane. We thought it was for a demob and reassignment.  As it turns out they are trying to find a place for everyone to go. So we have to wait for a new assignment. If we don't get one In the next 24 hours then we will demob and go home. We are hoping g for more work.

Here is some pictures of our break down:

Renewed hope

Good news this morning. We will be getting the truck back with in our 24 he period. So we won't miss a beat. We were fortunate to have been able to get the parts we needed.
Later we will find out what we will be doing. We will either go back up on the Line or we will be assigned to another fire. I will keep you posted.  Stay tuned....