Night Shift on the Rail

 The first of two shifts on the Rail. For the most part we didn't see much action. Notice that we didn't SEE much action. Just before dark we we on our division. We had great views. (You can see our views below)

For us it was slow. We were on patrol. Our Job was to keep the fire from crossing into the Strawberry Wilderness area. It was easy for us cause the fire activity where we were was low. So we would do an hourly patrol until 2 am, then we slept in shifts. We staged on a high point so as to see most of our division.

Where we didn't see much action it doesn't mean there wasn't action. Oh No! There was action in a nearby division. We heard on the radio that the fire was on the move. they said it was moving fast and it was going where they had staged heavy equipment, including a low boy.

There was a bit of panic over the radio as they couldn't find the owner of the low boy and also the Caterpillar they needed to move out of harms way. They made numerous phone calls to find the owner. They finally found him and he told them where the hidden key was. Then they couldn't find it. When they did they couldn't get it started. Again there was a bit of panic over the radio. They needed to get the equipment moved and moved right away.

They did eventually did get the Cat started but they couldn't get it to move. No one seemed to know how to move it. Not to long after that the owner showed up and he moved everything out of harms way. Then the radio went quiet.

The fire continued to make a pretty good run. All we could see was the glow. The smoke was to thick to really see what was going on.The picture below shows the glow. The picture doesn't do it justice as it was a very large area.

Most of the night it was very smokey and we couldn't see the fire or the valley. But just as the sky was beginning to lighten up the smoke cleared and we saw a nice sunrise.

 After two nights the original crew showed up and took over the engine and we went home. It was Aug 16th. A late season compared to what we have had the last four years.

I went home wondering if I my fire season was only two days long. It felt like it was over. I tried to stay optimistic. Surely Bigfoot Wildfire would get it first dispatch. Wouldn't it? Or was it over before it began?

I waited one,two three, and more days. I watched the weather,news, and forecasts. Would there be any new fires? At this point the Rail fire wasn't calling for any resources. It wasn't looking to good.

And then on August 23rd......................

Slow Start

The start of the 2017 wildfire season started slow. And in fact it almost didn't happen. June was exceptionally dry. Up in the local woods it looked like late September early October. The soil was powdery dry. There was several inches of dust. Then we had a storm came through and dropped over an inch of rain. That really delayed the fire season by a considerable margin.

The rain and also a change in the weather pattern really kept a major fire season from happening. As for the weather change, it was really subtle. What happened is the pattern shifted from a SW flow to a NW flow. Yes it was still warm but the major difference is no thunderstorms. That would have been a big trigger for fire starts. That never materialized, hence few fires. 

Then a few fires started to pop up. First was the Weigh Station fire. It was wind driven across interstate 84, closing it for a while.Then was the Rail fire in Malhuer County.

We weren't dispatched to the first fire and so we were hoping to go on the Rail. It seemed like everyone was going but us. In the mean time my crew was getting hungry and had to leave and go back home to work.

So now I was scrambling to find a crew. In the mean time still no dispatch.

Then after a ten to twelve days one of the local contractors called me and asked if I could run one of his engines to relieve his crew for their R&R. So since I had no dispatch I went. Thanks to Fireworks for a couple nights of work.

The above pictures is from the Rail fire, while it was calm.

So myself along with two crew members were off to the Rail fire. We headed to Unity Oregon. After we arrived at camp we checked in and prepared for our first shift. Night Shift. Stay tuned

The Silence Ends

I have been so busy I haven't been able to keep posting. Well that's part of the truth. The fact is it (as you know) has been a really tough winter. I have had some bad flu's and now I am trying to heal up from torn cartilage in my ribs. Also we have been remodeling my home. Yay! no more camping. There has been weather delays and it goes on and on.

It has been really busy this winter. I wasn't able to get enough wood to sell and live off of for the winter so I had to get a job. Next winter I hope to have a full supply of wood to sell to get through the winter.

The good news is we are starting to get caught up. At this time we are doing our preseason stuff for this years wildfire season. I was able to put a bigger tank on and the pluming is almost done. At the end of the month we will have our refresher and inspection on the truck. Then we will be ready for what the fire season brings us. I'll keep you posted.

I am going to start the "2016 fire season in review" soon. It was short but sweet. Lots of good work and a special treat for us as we were invited to the Welpinit Indian pow wow. It was the highlight of our season. you will enjoy it.

So check back and you will see how the inaugural fire season went for Bigfoot Wildfire......

Here is a teaser:

Cayuse Mtn. Fire

I am going to try to post this update. Sorrt there hasn't been an up fate sooner. The signal is really spotty. 

We have had a good fire and as if now it is lined but not out. Today's concern is the big wind event. It is really wind and so far no blowouts.

It has been a good fire thus far. One day we supported a burn. Our job was to support and hold the line. Which we did along with others. 

We saw some good fire. When i can i will upload photot. Otherwise we have done patrol and mop up. 

I hope to have more soon.

Bigfoot Wildfire's First Dispatch

After a longer then normal wait we finally go a dispatch.We are heading for Washington. The name of the fire is the Cayuse fire. It is NW of Spokane.

As always I will keep you up to date on what is going on. As I can.

Fog, Town, And Horse Drive?

While on a fire you see a variety of things. For instance one morning on the way to the fire line I saw Wolverine in a field looking for food. I have seen a badger, people rafting on the river near the fire who were nude, people transporting water to their marijuana farms (behind closed roads mind you), and many others.

Once again on this fire was another first. On the way back to camp we had to stop for a horse drive? Well the truth is I think they were moving the horses from one pasture to another. In fact this property was a sort of resort. They had places for people to stay and there was a variety of activities you could do on the ranch as a guest.

And then the rains came. We had some showers and then during one of our last nights there it rained. Hard. The next morning as we went up to the fire we hit fog. And boy was it thick. We could barley see the road. When we got to the drop point it was thick as pea soup. You can see in the pictures below.

Line Briefing?

The town of Republic was very small. It did have a grocery store and a hardware store, and a motel. It was in part a old looking western town. 

This was as the fire season was winding down.And we had one more assignment. Another first for me. Rehab work. On my next post I will show you the rehab work we did to finish our season.

A Little Ingenuity

When we are at a fire that has a cater there they provide our lunches for the day. We have two choices "Regular or Veggie".

There isn't much differences in them. The regular lunches always have at least one sandwich, candy, trail mix, and fruit. In the veggie lunch it is similar, however they do not have a sandwich. They have nuts and fruit among other things. But sometimes they will have a burrito. 

Do you like a cold burrito? Neither do I. Many times we wrap the burrito into the foil provided and then we will put it on the engines manifold. As you see below with a little ingenuity there are better ways to cook the burritos.

Burritos under the hot rock

Are they done?

We found a hot spot under the rock. It had some coals under it. So we dug it out and put our burritos in it and buried them.Then we continued on our patrol for a while. After a while, on one of our passes we checked and we had hot burritos.

Sadly later we drove by only to see our oven torn apart and destroyed. I am pretty sure it was the forest service engine. They were working the same stretch of line. But hey it worked just long enough to have a hot lunch.