Oregon Dispatch, Part IV

9/29/08 7:43 AM
We’re mopping up in the same spot today. Surprise.

Fire info: 1000 acres, 30% contained.

JT thinks that they just want to try and hold the lines until Friday or Saturday, when it’s supposed to rain. Containment has increased and size hasn’t changed, so things seem to be going well. The SIT report said the expected 100% containment could be achieved by Oct. 3, which is Friday, and our last day of work. Things might be somewhat chill here if it all goes as planned.

-9:38 PM
Mopped up again. There was a big sketchy, scary tree that was burning from the inside and it was on a tripod of bark at the base. I worked the hose for a bit while mopping.

Alpha, the AmeriCorps rig, got a flat after work.

I’m gonna miss JT, and my squad. The crew, once again, is awesome. There’s a lot of humor and fun, no matter what we’re doing.

I’m sleeping under the stars again. I may do it for the rest of the role, it’s easy enough.

It’s quite nice.

9/30/08 8:27 AM
Fire info: 1000 acres, 40% contained

We worked the most active part of the fire yesterday, which was essentially the mop up of a burn out around the edges of a meadow with sketchy trees in the black.

We’re getting plenty of action, which is better than staging for IA.

I’ve had some conflicting feelings lately. At one moment today, I may have realized that this job is not the career for me, long term. But with all the great people I meet, I feel like I’d be missing out on sharing some awesome experiences with them and I’d feel like I’d be disappointing people for bailing after one season. I dunno.

-6:50 PM
We went back to the same spot, mopped up a little, had another relaxing lunch where we took our time. After lunch, I worked the hose one some flare ups. We went to a gas station after work to fuel up, air up our tires a bit and just waste a little time.

10/1/08 7:32 AM
Fire: 808 acres, 60% contained

That’s the first time I’ve ever seen a fire shrink. It’s clearly under control.

We’ve got the same assignment today, we’re hoping to drag it out through Thursday. It’s supposed to rain Friday night, JT said he hopes we’ll get demobed Friday so we don’t have to sleep through it. I don’t really care, just as long as I could get two days R&R after the role.

The leaves are changing colors, it’s nice to see a bit of that, especially being from the east.

-6:39 PM
We had another relaxing lunch. Another sketchy tree fell nearby beforehand. While we were mopping up, we heard it crack a few times and we could see it swaying a bunch. Shane drew our attention to it because it he called out that it was going to fall. It didn't, though. Instead, it tipped with the wind for a good while. JT (crew boss) and the saw boss were going to investigate it and maybe take it down if it was possible. I kept an eye on it while Kira and I were working on some spots. Shane was also watching it from his vantage point. Then, I could hear a strong breeze about to come through the area so we all stopped and waited. Sure enough, the tree tilted to at least 45 degrees, went a little more and then we heard it snap and it came down. It was a relief to finally have down.

We had a hose butterflying competition after lunch. Butterflying hose is when you grab one end and then weave the hose around your arms in a figure-eight pattern. Each squad put someone up to represent and they all played Bear-Hunter-Woman to decide the competing order (kind of like Rock-Paper-Scissors, Woman beats Hunter, Hunter beats Bear, Bear beats Woman).

After some nagging from Diana, I spun a broken pounder handle for the crew to show them a little what colorguard was like. The pounder handle spun like a sabre, it worked surprisingly well.

We gathered by the trucks after all the hose was gathered. The squad boss in training from my squad had everyone do push ups with packs on as a way to mockingly build crew morale (he was in the Navy). Jared from AmeriCorps went against someone from North Zone to see who could chug two quarts of their water faster. Jared won.

-8:37 PM

So we’re on the demob list for tomorrow. I’m a little conflicted about that. I’m fine with going home, but … I want to stay all fourteen. It’s only two more days, I’m having lots of fun with this crew. Going back means going back to the responsibilities of my team. I’m not keen on that, not yet. It’s like leaving a drum corps tour and going back to real life. Also, this is minor but, I want my two days off and I’m not sure that it’ll happen if we don’t work the full fourteen.

I’m looking forward to hotel fun, though. Kira, Jane and I have mused over having a little spa time the first night of travel. Shower, shave the legs, scrub the dirt out of ever pore.

I dunno. Maybe JT can work his magic at briefing. Then again, the fire is shrinking and we’re losing our purpose. I guess we’ll see.

10/2/08 9:28 AM
We’re about to leave camp, we got demobed this morning. I’ve showered and Kira and I made our dispatch t-shirts. We’re keeping the same configuration for the drive home, so George will be riding with us. JT said we’d be taking a "more northern route," so we’re wondering if that means that we’re going somewhere in particular.

10/3/08 8:54 AM
Montana! I was obsessed with Montana for a while, thanks to a little state report I did in fourth grade. I don’t remember any of it, but I know that for a long time, I just wanted to move to Montana because I love the mountains.

We headed north through Oregon and stopped at some falls, the second highest waterfall in the nation (I forget the name). You could see Washington state from across the highway and that’s actually where we ended up going. We stayed in Spokane last night, of all places.

-6:01 PM
We stopped at the smokejumper base in Missoula. It was so cool! It really makes me want to be one, even though the physical requirements are pretty beyond my reach without extensive, obsessive training. I guess I’d like to be a smokejumper in the same way that everyone wants to be a famous rock star or something. Missoula itself is a sweet little hub of a town, too.

10/4/08 9:59 AM
We drove so much yesterday. We went all the way until 11:00 PM so we could make it to Sheridan, WY. As we drove through Casper, WY, Jared and I were looking out the window when we drove by the Troopers’ bingo hall (the Troopers are a drum corps, Jared and I both marched corps). We looked at each other and we were like "Uh … was that THE Troop??" It definitely was, they’re from Casper and their sign had the crossed sabres with the number 11. That was a nice little surprise.