The Monster Fire
MY Fire Engine, 5944!!
So, no kidding, there I was driving home from Nellis AFB one day and on came an-AMPED UP-recruitment advertisement about becoming a Smokejumper for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This wasn’t just any advertisement, it was like one of those you see on TV about becoming an Army Ranger or a Navy Seal, ya(!!!) you know the ones I’m like…SIGN ME UP!
Little did I know that with any ‘cool-guy job’, you don’t just get to show up one day and do ‘that’ job. A few days later I showed up to the local BLM office in Vegas to inquire about ‘said job’ and was handed an application. Of course, I was informed I’d be placed on an engine crew first because that’s how it worked back then; good ol’ bait and switch like the pictures you see on those dating apps nowadays, but I took the bait anyhow and next thing you know I was prepping for another bootcamp.
Years had passed since my first bootcamp, so this time I was sure I could do more than one push-up! In fact, I could do lots of push-ups by then as my strength had increased, but what I didn’t consider, I would have to endure the Las Vegas heat. RUNNING IN THAT HEAT SUCKED!!! To make it worse, the individual engine crews did their own PT, and competed with one another to see who was superior. Well, I sure as hell wasn’t going to be the weakest link, especially since I had the added pressure of my crew mates telling the other engine crews that they could still beat them even with having a girl on their team. Yes, back then you could say stuff like that and honestly I didn’t care because I always preferred being thought of as one of the ‘guys’ as opposed to the alternative.
So, one day we’re about ready to do a morning run in the heat and our engine Captain, Mark, tells another Crew Captain that we’re going to smoke his guys. I’m like, “oh shit, that means I’m getting smoked too,” and off we went. I can only recollect a few things about the ‘run’ that day:
One: It was the absolute definition of HELL!!! So hot you can see that weird hazy shit rising from the asphalt and it feels like you're literally breathing in fire…
Two: I did not realize that it was even remotely possible for some radioactive- biohazard looking stuff that could have been created in the labs of Wuhan, would ever come from a human's body. Yes, everyone stopped for a moment to see what the glowing green stuff Sarah had just thrown up and then quickly sprinted back to the station, of course coming in first place.
Not longer after training was complete, Engine Crew 5944, yes, MY AWESOME CREW, was alerted to one the biggest fire of all times (as of 20 years ago), the Rodeo-Chediski Fire, AKA “THE MONSTER,” where we were close up and personal with the 3-week blaze (The Monster Fire); one of many that season.
The point of this story is not about how awesome I am or perceive myself to be. The point of this narrative is to illustrate that in previous years I couldn’t even do one single ‘man push-up’ (read my previous blog if you don’t know the story), but there I was, years later with a crew of guys, hundreds of teams actually, fighting the biggest fire of all times and loving every minute of it. Of course, none of this happened by luck. It was because I continued to better myself in areas where I knew I was physically weak. I realized it had a lot to do with strengthening the mind too, but that’s another blog post:)
So, what happened with the Smoke Jumper gig you ask? You’ll have to wait until my next article to learn more. Until then, pursue your dreams, even if they may seem momentarily difficult to reach, and remember: ‘the body achieves what the mind believes’.
~Sarah
