The Group

IMG_1276, originally uploaded by stevempassmore.

Word of the day "raw"

Left Hand Canyon Fire

IMG_1267, originally uploaded by stevempassmore.

Shows the black and some Americorps mopping up.

First fire! Only hours after receiving our red cards (official wildfire certification) we got our first fire call. 3 NCCC's got called to a controlled burn in Northern CO. The fastest any NCCC team has been called into action. Then at midnight we all got the call that our whole team would be sent to Left Hand Valley at 6:45am for a 3-acre fire. The Roosevelt Hot Shots got the fire under control over night using a fire line (dirt dug to mineral soil). At around 9am we drove our trucks a mile into an off road recreation trail. The type that people bring modified Jeeps on (raw!). Our job was to mop up the fire. Which means to smother any hot spots until there is no possibility for the fire to reoccur. Not glamorous work but it represents about 50% of the job. Most of the day was spent digging up burning roots and on occasion some flames would pop-up.

In the pictures you can see that most of the trees didn't burn. The area was burned a few years ago so most of the fuel was on the ground. Leaving the trees to far apart to light up. The cause of this fire is still under investigation but it looked like campers using an uncontrolled fire, firearm or firework started it.

Arapahoe/Roosevelt National forest

Arapahoe/Roosevelt National forest, originally uploaded by stevempassmore.

I have a feeling it will look like we take a lot of breaks... we don't its just the only time to take pictures.

Arapahoe/Roosevelt National forest

Arapahoe/Roosevelt National forest, originally uploaded by stevempassmore.

Picture taking is the last priority on a fire so I didn't take to many pictures

Mock fire. Our day was designed to be a fire situation simulation. The forest service took us to an isolated area of the Arapahoe/Roosevelt National Forest. After being briefed we set out to dig a fire line to contain the fire. They used simulated water drops and fire behavior (CO has 2 million dollars for air support this year). We did about six hours of fire line. Normally it will be an initial attack of 16 hours. As for the land it is going to be a controlled burn later this season. So the line we dug will be used at some point.

backpack

IMG_1245, originally uploaded by stevempassmore.