Smokejumpers: They're not your grandma's firefighter...though they have been around awhile.
in The Water Cycle, Weather and Climate, Scientific Enterprise, and Forces of Nature
Lighting a backfire
Courtesy LouAngeli2008
As fires continue to rage in the forests of California, I thought I would introduce you to some of the people trying to control them. Smokejumpers are the logical people to start with as they are usually the first on the ground.
Smokejumpers are the elite forces of the US forestry department. Many fires begin in locations inaccessible to the standard means of transportation (trucks, helicopters, or by foot). These firefighters arrive by plane and parachute into remote areas. Often their landing site is the top of a tree or a boulder field. Their kevlar suits provide some protection but their skill set includes tree climbing, practiced falling and general hardiness.
In the beginning, jumpers were required to be unmarried without dependents. They had to be a bit reckless to be able to agree to jump out of a plane into a fire area! Despite the inherent danger of jumping, there have been relatively few fatalities in their long history. Jumping began in the late 1930s as flight technology and airplanes became more sophisticated. During the war, many of the jumpers were conscientious objectors to WWII. In 1981 the first women were allowed into the program. Today there are 9 active bases in the West but they serve fires from Alaska to the North East.
The physical requirements... 7 pull ups, 25 push-ups, 45 sit-ups, and a 1.5 mile run completed in under 11 minutes---all done in one session with a 5 minute break between each activity. So, I am pretty much disqualified right off the bat with the pull ups and even if I were to manage, the running would definitely eliminate me. I view running as a self destructive behavior (who would put themselves through that? sorry El). You must also be mentally and emotionally stable--that is a requirement! A smokejumper’s pack often weighs upwards of 100 pounds...and you have no ride out, you must hike or hitchhike in (after landing) and out of the fire. To see a complete list of physical requirements (including height and weight) check out the West Yellowstone smokejumper website.
What they do : After landing and recovering their gear (which is dropped from the plane in (hopefully) a relatively similar location to where they land) the crew sets out towards the fire. They carry no water save for their thermoses. They control the fire by either creating a fireline/firebreak, a swath of land around the edge of the fire cleared of any brush or fuel that could feed the fire, or they light a backfire . Backfires act much like a fireline/firebreak in that they burn towards the oncoming fire. By doing so, they remove the fuel the fire needs to continue burning. Only if the jumpers are unable to contain the fire are reinforcements called to the scene. Jumpers direct helicopters to drop water on hot spots and systematically work their way through the burn site feeling the ground to make sure that there will be no flare-ups. They can leave when the fire is controlled or fresh firefighters take-over, often times many hours after they first jumped from the plane.
Be sure to check out the links below. Jumpers work from June-Oct so those of you looking for adventure with an extremely selective and tight-knit group, smokejumping could be for you.
http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/people/smokejumpers/
http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/gallatin/fire/wyifc/main.htm
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"7 pull ups, 25 push-ups, 45 sit-ups, and a 1.5 mile run completed in under 11 minutes"
I think I could do that! And I fit the size requirements!
Except, you know, I'm a total coward. And all that smoke would make me sneeze. I'll stick to kool-aid and television, I guess.
Smokejumpers are even today issued one of my favorite handtools: the pulaski.
I probably can't do 7 pull ups, 25 push ups, 45 sit ups, and a 1.5 mile run in under 11 minutes, but I would definitely feel much tougher if I carried one of those around!
I think I would attack the fire directly with my pulaski.
Also, I take back what I said about being able to do all those exercises. Maybe with some training...but even then, I'd probably be crying too much for the instructor to pass me.
Here's a website that sells the Pulaski and features a picture. The wikipedia description left me hankering for a visual.
The Pulaski was invented* by Edward C. Pulaski a forest ranger who saved 45 men during the Great Idaho fire of 1910. Interestingly, he saved the men by leading them into a mine and threatening to shoot anyone who tried to escape.
* - there is some debate as to whether Pulaski invented the tool or just perfected and popularized a common tool of the time.
yah right nobody can do that but i know a guy who can run the mile in 5 mins
Rookie smokejumpers make about $12/hour. And they're not necessarily employed year-round. It's a wicked cool job, for sure, but for that money and those risks, maybe I'd rather be a ski bunny or a river guide...As long as I can carry a Pulaski!
I think I would have to go with the drip torch as my tool of choice. The pulaski is pretty cool but the pyro in me loves the idea of sanctioned burning.
When I worked for a state park, there were drip torches all over the place. But I wasn't cool enough to use them.
They did give me a bright yellow, flame-retardant Devo suit. That was pretty cool. I wasn't important enough to burn anything, but at least they didn't want me to get burned either.
CNN's iReporters have been sending in photos of the California wildfires. Doesn't directly relate to smokejumpers, but pretty darn amazing...
And firefighters are stretched so thin in California that many of the blazes are being fought by volunteers.
There are two different types of smokejumpers: Bureau of Land Managment and US Forest Service. BLM jumps Ram Air parachutes and the Forest Service jumps round parachutes. The standards mentioned above are for the Forest Service. The BLM standards are as follows: 10 pullups, 25 push ups, 60 situps and 1.5 miles under 9:30. There's also the 110 pound pack test: 3 miles in under 90 minutes. These are considered the minimums. And we definitely carry more than a "thermos of water."
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