Dispatch, Big Sur, Los Padres National Park, California – Part I

-- 6/24/08 10:48 am

After leaving the work center at 5:15 am (MT) and meeting up with the rest of the offices who would make up our crew, we drove all day and arrived at a hotel in Winnemucca, NV (just outside of Reno) around 10:00 pm (PT).

We left the hotel at 7:00 am this morning and stopped for breakfast before getting on the road. After breakfast, Steakly pulled me aside and asked me how I would feel about being on the saw squad when we finally made it to California. I was a little speechless at first. I replied that Harrison or Jordan might be a better choice because they probably have more saw experience than I do. Steakly brought up a tree that I had cut down with Pat Owens last round and he mentioned how impressed he was with my cut and how I approached it. I told him that Owens had walked me through it, but Steakly said, “Yeah, but you were the one who made the cuts.” I said that I would definitely be willing to try, my only concerns were how my lack of experience would factor into the equation, either by slowing down the crew or being a liability. But I also said that, though I don’t need or expect anyone to hold my hand through the experience, as long as someone would be willing to answer my questions and walk me through some things, I’d definitely do my absolute best. So he told me I could think about it during the drive and to just let him know. As soon as I got back in the truck, I texted Nikki about it. She was stoked for me and told me to go for it. I also told Jo, Harrison and Jordan. We talked about it for a little while, they all said I should go for it. I was still feeling a little unsure. I asked Nick Fetsch (Ned Forest Service guy on dispatch with us) what he thought about it, and he said, “It’s a lot of work. It helps with fire experience. The sawyers will work you really hard. It’s up to you, though.”

At the next rest stop I talked to Patrick about it, since the plan was for me to be his swamper on the squad. He said that if I thought I could keep up, he’d be cool with it. I kept thinking about it and I was still conflicted. I knew that I would be the weakest one and with the least amount of experience; my best may not be enough for the task at hand. I also know that I can get tired easily. I guess I was also hoping for a little more encouragement from Fetsch and Patrick as sawyers and having worked with them in Ned. I guess the most I can do is try. I’m back facing the dilemma I always face: I’m worried that I’ll disappoint everyone. And, once again, I feel like I have to prove something as a girl and be stronger than everyone else. Well, I’ll try my best.

Switching gears for a second – we just passed through Reno and it’s really smokey. As we were driving into Winnemucca last night, I just thought it was getting foggy in the evening. But it’s smoke from the fires in Northern California. It’s crazy, the visibility is so low.

-- 1:59 pm
Notes on travel: California reminds me of the one time my family drove down the shore during a really bad east coast drought and everything was dry and dead, there was no green at all. The grass looks like straw. But it’s startlingly juxtaposed next to very irrigated grape valleys and other fields of crops. It’s still really smoky too. You cannot see the sky, it looks so hazy and overcast. It’s really unusual.

--5:13 pm
I just saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time in my life! We’re near Monterey Bay.

--6:00 pm
So we’ve begun settling into camp and we just had our first briefing. We’re staying at a fire camp at Andrew Molera State Park, near Big Sur. Here’s the info I have: The fire is 8500 acres, up from the 2000 we had originally heard when we got dispatched. Five structures have been lost and Type 1 crews are maxed out across the country, almost all of them were here, are here or will be here soon.

Our crew boss is JT Wensman, with Steakly doing crew boss training. The saw squad’s boss is Paul Ostroy. There are three B sawyers – Fetsch, Patrick and Tai Rogers – each paired up with a swamper – Malcolm Wiley, me and Nick Biedscheid (everyone calls him Bedsheets), respectively. The other two squads are led by squad bosses Darin Toy and Clay Harvey. Jo, Harrison, Jordan, and everyone else are divided up among those two squads.

--9:35 pm
Food trucks. That’s how they feed us. Drum corps! Haha. What else? I’ve got nothing else right now. First night. Sleeping with Joanna.

I’ll be swamping for Patrick. I’ve made up my mind for that: I’m doing it. I’m doing it and I’m not going to complain. Everyone has been telling me that it’s hard. So what? I wanted a challenge, here it is. I’ll do it, I’ll push myself and I’ll try as hard as I possibly can. It’s time to find new limits. I can do this. It’s hard, but that won’t stop me. Yes, I do have something to prove – I can do it. If I puke, I puke. I’m. Doing. It.

--10:something pm
Briefing before bed: there’s been requests for lots of resources, choppers, dozers, dozer bosses, crews, etc. The fire is definitely expected to grow.


--6/25/08
One day down, 13 to go. I survived my first day on the saw squad and I actually wasn’t too bad at times. And I can only get better (I hope). My entries for the next two weeks may take on a different format because there’s not much time to write.

So, first day on saw squad swamping for Patrick. I’ve got some new accessories as a swamper. In addition to my line bag, which weighs 37 lbs, I’ve got to carry three Sigg bottles (two filled with gas, one with oil, for refilling the saw at a moment’s notice), I have Patrick’s radio harness (so I can monitor radio traffic for him), I wear a pair of chaps religiously over my Nomex, and I carry two tools (a Pulaski and a pounder). I weigh 140. Add to that my line gear and my new stuff and I’m maxing around 200 lbs on a 5’3” frame.

We got a slow start this morning. We had some different assignments. For a little while, we cut, swamped and dug a line near a bridge and some huge redwoods around tiny place called Big Sur Inn. We also put in some checked line and burned around a mountain house. The smoke was awful, I got caught in it a few times. We got treated to an air show, which was cool. We could see several choppers filling their buckets along the coast and dumping them, as well as a few retardant planes flying overhead.