Local Recreation Forester fights wildfires in Montana, Idaho
By Christopher Miller
I got the call Friday, September 6 at the end of my workday. I then drove to Harrisburg, spent the night in a hotel and flew out on the 5am flight to Missoula MT. My first assignment was the Sharrott Creek Fire. When I got to the area, it was thick with smoke, and I was assigned as the Status/Check-in for the incident. Status/Check-in is an overhead position working for the Planning Section. As a status/check-in recorder I was tasked with ensuring all resources assigned to the incident are checked in and accounted for, managing resources’ crew swaps and extensions, and tracking resources. The Planning Section is responsible for collecting, evaluating, and disseminating information about the incident, managing the status of the resources and situations, and demobilizing the incident.
As the check-in for the Sharrott Creek Fire, I was also responsible for resources on the Johnson Fire, Daly Fire, and Railroad Fire. The fire camp for these fires was set up in Stevensville MT. Two days into my assignment we had heavy rains for three days. This was great for the fires, it knocked them down tremendously, but terrible for sleeping, as we were all in tents and mine started to leak a bit. Resources on the fire began doing clean up instead of firefighting and started to repair areas where a fireline was dug and removing hose lays and pumps. At that point, things were winding down and resources began demobing. I ended up also filling in as a demob person on the fire because there were many people demobing all at once. At this point, my two-week assignment was about to get cut short at a week and a half. The Northern Rockies Team I was working for asked if I wanted to go to another fire since I was already there. Of course, I said yes!
The Middle Creek Complex in Garden Valley Idaho picked me up as a status/check-in recorder. The team managing this fire was a Great Basin Team. This area had many active fires including Goat, Boulder, Snag, Dollar, Nellie, and Bulldog. I oversaw resources for the first four fires, but Bulldog and Nellie were out when I got there. The team asked me to stay an extra week and I extended my assignment to 21 working days. The demob person went home a few days into my assignment, so I ended up doing two jobs the rest of the assignment, check-in, and demob. The Demobilization Unit Leader (DMOB) assists the Command and General Staff (C&G) in ensuring the orderly, safe, and efficient movement of personnel and equipment from the incident.
It was very busy. Temperatures during the day were in the 90s and at night low 40s. It was amazing how quickly it gets cold when the sun disappears behind the huge mountain range. I slept with three layers on, so I didn’t wake up chilly. As the sun warmed the earth, the daily smoke would get thicker.
I put in long days on both assignments, coming in at 5:30 am and leaving at 10:30 pm, only taking a dinner break in the evening. Altogether, I was gone from Pennsylvania for 25 days with work and travel. I made it home around noon on the 30th.
I spent 11 years on fire crews as a firefighter and eventually my last few years as an ICT5 (Squad Boss). A hip injury caused me to redirect my career to overhead. I need a total hip replacement on my right side. Although I miss the excitement of fighting fires, and the comradery of being on a crew, I am truly blessed to have worked with two amazing overhead teams. I learned a lot from both teams.
