Some of you asked what I do for work...I spend weeks on-end with no sleep,no showers for low pay and no recognition doing something I very much enjoy doing. Heres a few shots from our trip to Alaska,Montana and Cali. last year.

a few more

Damn. That takes a pair of round ones.

more

Wow. Pretty interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing.

WOW!!!!

The thing that those pictures can't even begin to convey to people is the instensity of the heat, smell, and noise associated with a big burn like that.
I've been on a couple of brush fires up here that are a campfire in comparison, and even those were instense.......
A rewarding sense you get doin that type of incredibly dangerous work.
Hats off to you dude.

Keep up the good work! With global warming and climate pattern changes you are never going to be short of work, sorry to say.

Glad to see you can apparently step back every once in a while and enjoy the remote wilderness very few get to experience.

Very cool, (or hot)

WHAT???? Another spot burn? Somebody needs to speak this guy.

WHAT???? Another spot burn? Somebody needs to speak this guy.

:biglaugh:

Much respect StriperHaven... numbskull, BEST POST OF THE YEAR!

Wow, now THATS impressive. Keep up the good work!

the shot of the Inferno as it approaches the !!PIPELINE!!

is the one that dropped my jaw!! AMAZING pix, m'man~~

Thank YOU for sharing them, and words could never express the
gratitude you deserve for your dedication to your special skills set, training, courage,
and the compassionate motivation required to perform your career's duties!!
:claps: :claps: :claps:

as an ironwoker, i get the adrenilyn part. as a fire lover, i get the pryo part. as an olutdoorsman, i get the travel and rescuing of nature part.
hey, are there any openings for 50 yr old guys in reasonably good shape?

very, very EXCITING!!! WELL DONE, Fireman Stiper Haven!!
:uhuh: :uhuh: :uhuh:

Thanks Guys....I appreciate that YOU appreciate the work we do. Most of the work we due (there is 20 of us on out crew) goes unnoticed because of the remoteness of the regions we fight fire in....but I didnt post to gain any recognition, I just figured I would share my other passion besides surf fishing which is fighting wildfires/fire management. Its a fun job and it takes me to a bunch of cool places. Sometimes you wonder after 3 weeks without a shower,sleep,good food, what you are doing there! But on the other hand our military folks overseas deal with this everyday, 1000s of miles from home, so thats how I put things into perspective when Im worn out and think Ive had enough. Their job is much harder mentally and in some cases physically.

But seeing you liked the pics so much. Heres a few more.

-Aaron

Very different. I've never experienced a fire that's gone out of control. I don't think I'd want to. I got a wood stove, that's about it. Great shots.

Wow, many thanks for putting yourself on the line out there! Stay safe Dude

Excellent photos! Watched a documentory about you guys. Have you ever been caught in a fire storm where you had to dig in and cover over?

You men deserve a lot of credit.

Excellent photos! Watched a documentory about you guys. Have you ever been caught in a fire storm where you had to dig in and cover over?

You must be talking about a fire shelter or as we call in "sheltering up". Its made to reflect 95% of the radiant heat and absorbs the other 5% but CANNOT take direct flame impingement....its woven fiberglass with a SS outer-shell. Its basically made to protect your airway/lungs...your extremity's can survive some serious temps but lungs will cook/burn out around 180 degrees. Protecting the body's ability to breathe is TOP priority.

But to answer you question: No, we have never had to deploy fire shelters but have been very,very close on several occasions. A fire shelter is a last resort, after every other option has been exhausted....escape route and safety zones are cut off and no possibility of a aerial rescue. We often have to create our own safety zones by burning out/firing off the vegetation to create "hard black" letting the fire rip around you. That can be pretty interesting and sketchy at times but we do it often. We did this 4 times in Idaho in 2000 when 3.5 million acres burnt in the Northern Rockies...we were literary surrounded by fires....one lighting storm dropped over 600 bolts that started around 350 new fires in a 6 hour period in the Salmon-Challis area of ID/MT border. When you start to get fires that become what we call "plume dominated", they influence/create their own weather and you get what they call Pyro-Cumulus development, which is a smoke column that reaches so high in the atmosphere it creates its own weather/lighting..kinda of like a micro climate for itself. Depending on how big this fire gets it can influence other fires that are over 50 miles away, creating something like a vacuum,s#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g everything towards it in all directions. Spot fires 1-2 miles away,80mph winds,fire whirls...basically uncontrollable while this extreme burning condition lasts. We call it a "Kodak" moment! I take pride that our crew has never had to deploy shelters as most folks dont survive this experience. As the Assnt. Crew Boss I dont want to ever have to explain why/how I killed someone because of a bad decision. I get more cautious as I get older for some reason, but still like to take a aggressive approach when we decide to engage a fire. We base all actions/tactics off of the current and expected weather (kinda like striper fishing!) We are more like meteorologists in a sense as fire will do what the weather allows it too and we adapt our decisions based on that weather and how it will influence fire behavior.


Sorry Im so long winded here....I can get carried away with my explanations of things.

Is it beer time yet? This talk of fire and heats making me awful thirsty.

this is great, thanks for the great work you do, that is true heroism. They dont make many men you like you guys.

Damn. That takes a pair of round ones.

A very big pair of round ones.

Great pics, and thanks for sharing.:kewl: