I got a good look at blue skies a bit ago , we had a storm front try to move in that didn't amount to anything .

Before we could hardly see anything more than a faint out line at best of the mountains .

One of my thoughts on why the wildfires are worse than what they used to be is the fact that the logging companies can't get out into the timber to cut it , so the pine beatles are killing off more tree's so a lightning strike in the right place and things are off to the races !

Case in point the North side of the Snowy mtns are a prime candidate for this , I hope and pray I
I'm wrong but when there's more standing dead timber than live .
Even if it's cut for firewood that would be better than risking life and limb for the fire fighters .

I did a little of that back in 87 I think it was Wenatchee Washington, and Yellowstone park fires. They flew me back into Custer forest just out of Yellowstone, there was a big sign at the heli pad spot about bears. I guess that’s where they took the problem bears from the park. Fun times.

wws

Allan, I completely agree! I have said for years that in certain areas, GIVE the wood away for free. Allow loggers to come in and cut 40 acres (random number) with certain specs to be completed before they are finished. A dozer line around it and slash piled comes to mind. When they finish and the unit meets specs, give them another. If you do get a lightning start in the area, you have men and heavy equipment close by logging that could assist in putting it out. Land Management agencies get fire breaks installed for free, hazardous fuel reduction work done for free all while stimulating the local logging communities. Sadly, in many areas the Enviromental groups protest every single logging sale or even salvage sales.

A friend of mine went out to Colorado to become a smoke jumper stayed a while and came home never did find out what happened.

I am guessing once he got to Colorado he found out they don't have a jump base there.

Could be I never asked as it always seemed like a touchy subject with him.

Stud!

It Suck to "Once upon a time I was a Stud"

I could never figure "you" guys out...
Bustn ask,,,for peanuts.....

If I could had had people like you/them,, in the constitution industry,,,,...,,,,,,,,,,,

Great career 160.
I'm sure you've been in a few hairy predicaments?

Vinke, I absolutely loved the job! I got paid to be outside in the woods all the time. I worked with some GREAT people and the bond you get after being together 24/7 is something else. My last 8 years were in an office and I hated it! I wanted to be back out in the woods running a crew or a Division again, not in an office prioritizing who gets what or dealing with policy BS.
One of the last big fires we had here in 2021 things hit the fan and we were about to loose a BUNCH of houses. I ordered a "Quick Strike" from Ontario and that is all legit by our agency policy. The only issue (month later) is there is no mechanism to pay Ontario for their aircraft costs. As of May of this year, that was still tied up in Red tape. The Ontario fire guys were AWESOME and we did a lot of agency "drug deals" as we called them exchanging supplies along the open border. We were just doing what made sense to get the job done.

YES! The summer of 1998 I had 7 women on the crew. I was terrified all year.

It's your story..., tell it how you want too.

I fell it,,,,,, I have Known a lot of you guys,,,, Hats Off!

Ok, BnB in the interest of full disclosure.............I did take one of them to NM on days off one time. I was going just because this midwest kid had never seen NM before and at the last minute a gal from Mass. jumped in. I remember having beers..........and then shots. I woke up in a hotel room with a marriage license in my pocket. We went to the court house and got that all straightened out. She was probably one of the easier ones to get along with............and she was a heck of a sawyer with a Stihl 064 too.

The gal in the 4th picture is still working and on an R4 Overhead Team. Heck of a gal that I called "runt". She came running down the line one time and dropped her pants right in front of me...........I think we counted 30 some hornet stings. They went right up that poor gals pant legs.

\(This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) ton of money sitting under them faces of product.

Town of Jasper Alberta’s on fire. Everyone evacuated, just firefighters there to try and save what they can. Bombers couldn’t help. Not good.

The Maligne Lodge hotel in Jasper, Alta. on fire on Wednesday, July 24, 2024.View image in full screen
The Maligne Lodge hotel in Jasper, Alta. on fire on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. Supplied

structures are burning

Im from northern California. Don't even get me started on fires and smoke. Too many times the smoke was so thick there were no shadows. The carr fire ripped through Redding and leveled 1500 homes on the west side of town, destroying many homes i had worked on. The camp fire, 3 months later. August Complex burned 1.1 million acres. Old growth forests that were off limits to logging, all gone.And too add to it, I just got home from a 2 1/2 hr drive at 97 mph because lightning started a fire just down the road and if the wind shifted, it would mean bad news for me. I moved to the barren desert where shade only exists under rocks, and 3 days after I moved the last load, it all burned. Fire has not been kind to me.

Bob in Iowa , the only smoke jumper school I know of is in Missoula Mt , my dad was a graduate from there many year's ago .

To add to my before mentioned thoughts the folk who block or shut down or block timber sales need to pay the bills incurred for fighting the timber fires . Then help fight them by hand with a Polaski then I wonder what their feelings would be then sadly it'll never happen .

Youll never prevent all the fires, but unfortunately some of our western states have very poor forest management programs. Not enough thinnings, clear cuts and fire breaks. Forests need to be managed and harvested...

It’s become the norm hasn’t it? I used to say 3 out of 5 summers are smoky but it might be getting closer to 4 out of 5.