fire

“Some think that fire is alive.
That it fights for survival.
That if you try to put it out,
it will fight back.”  [1]

the place

Powell Ranger Station
U.S. Forest Service, Region 1
Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness
Clearwater National Forest, Idaho

... just another Tuesday.

certifications

S-130/190  USFS Guard School
S-132  Standards for Survival
S-212  Power Saw
OR-950  Oregon Crosscut Saw
OAS319  Helicopter Long Line
S-358  Incident Communications
S-211  Portable Pumps
S-214  Engine Boss

Type 3 engine.

ledger

Fire Unit Acres Fuel Models Date Responsibility
Elk Meadows 9 11 11, 12 7/3/93 Lighter
Elk Meadows 10 39 12 8/3/93 Lighter
Deep Saddle 7 16 12, 13 8/26/93 Lighter
Deep Saddle 3 29 11, 12, 13 8/26/93 Lighter
Upper Spring 25 23 13 5/15/95 Lighter
Upper Spring 26 15 12, 13 5/19/95 Lighter
Upper Spring 19 16 12, 13 5/20/95 Lighter
Upper Spring 20 6 13 5/30/95 Lighter
Upper Spring 21 6 13 5/30/95 Lighter
Upper Spring 18B 20 12 5/30/95 Holder / ENOP
Elk Meadows 4 20 12, 13 6/12/95 Lighter / ENOP
Elk Meadows 6 11 11, 12, 13 6/14/95 Lighter / ENOP
Elk Meadows 8 29 11, 12 6/14/95 Lighter / ENOP
Elk Meadows 12 18 12, 13 6/14/95 Holder
Elk Meadows 2 39 11, 12, 13 8/15/95 Holding Boss / ENOP
Elk Meadows 3 26 11, 12, 13 8/21/95 Lighter
Spring Creek Heli 22 13 13 9/13/95 Lighter
Spring Creek Heli 23 14 13 9/13/95 Lighter
Spring Creek Heli 24 14 13 9/13/95 Lighter
Spring Creek Heli 27 64 13 9/13/95 Holding Boss
Lolo Yoosa 1 30 11, 12, 13 9/22/95 Engine Boss
Lolo Yoosa 3A, B 12 11, 12, 13 9/22/95 Engine Boss
Lolo Yoosa 9 25 12, 13 9/25/95 Engine Boss
Lolo Yoosa 10 18 12, 13 9/25/95 Lighter
Lolo Yoosa 8 34 11, 12, 13 9/26/95 Lighter
Lolo Yoosa 15 16 11, 12, 13 9/26/95 Engine Boss
Lolo Yoosa 11 24 11, 12, 13 9/27/95 Engine Boss
Lolo Chamook 2 39 11, 12, 13 10/1/95 Engine Boss
Lolo Chamook 3 40 12, 13 10/2/95 Engine Boss
Prescribed fire, night lighting.

[1] reflections

“Some think that fire is alive. That it fights for survival. That if you try to put it out, it will fight back.” I found this phrase written in a journal that I kept back then. It may be from Norman Maclean, who I was reading at the time, or it may be my own, I don’t remember. But if it’s not my own, I need to give credit to the great Norman Maclean, a fellow Selway-Bitterroot alumnus, in whose books he describes the experience of our fire crew, a few generations before my time.

It was on my first fire back during my second fire season, I pointed my camera at the fire line, on a whim. I didn’t see what was in the picture until I developed the film, some months later.

Facing my demons.

Those summers in the wilderness, confronting the forces of fire in its furious and most alive state, I began to sense the blur between the material (the real) and the subtle (the perceived), between the universe as we understand it (as is) and the universe as we experience it (as if).

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