0) Prevention is the best medicine! Rocks around fire rings, soil or duff as
its called (which can burn, sometimes for days undetected!) dug away from
the fire, make sure fire doesnt get into roots in fire pit. Water in five
gallon buckets and shovels close by for emergencies. Candles in tents are
not such a good idea. And ciggie butts in dry duff/soil can start smoldering
that lasts weeks until it flares up and burns a whole canyon down...besides,
butts are picked up by mama birds for their nest construction and then the
baby birds pick at them and eat them thinking them to be food, and choke to
death. Not nice. I always say, when hiking, its ok, leave the darn tin can,
a spider can make that a home, and the glass if it dont fit in  your pocket,
make sure its out of the way, under a rock, or whatever, but ciggie butts I
always pick up! and they stink! ick! And of course, fireworks are rather
inappropriate at a Rainbow Gathering.

1) FIRST, if there is a forest fire, consider your own safety! Make sure
people evacuate the area well. Fire goes uphill fast. Downhill slower. Smoke
inhalation is a killer! At least, wet a scarf and put over your face. If in
smoke, dig a hole in the dirt and put your nose in it, thats where the air
is! Helmets and good boots are vital vital vital! If you can...watch your
head, dead branches can fall and in the woods we call em widowmakers for a
reason...

2) The basic concept is to try and contain the fire or at least keep it away
from camp with a fire line. A big fire line is where the FS or whoever comes
in with a Cat (a bulldozer) and makes an instant road (actually, they
already got so many roads they know where to draw the lines, 5000 miles in
the rather small Ochoco NF alone...) Here is how a hand crew digs a fireline
(Hey, I used to do this, notice I seem to know what I am talking about? I
sorta do, but dont take it for gospel...just the basics here...) The goal is
a

THREE FEET WIDE PATH LIKE A SIDEWALK DUG DOWN TO THE MINERAL SOIL/DIRT! Make
a line of folks like a catepillar and chew steadily on like this:

2A) First a person with a chainsaw if possible, cutting brush, overhanging
branches. Person behind the sawyer throws the fuel INTO the fire containment
area. Repeat, INTO! That is cause you want the fire NOT to have any extra
fuel to burn outside the line you want to contain it within!!!

2B) Then the next person digs a "scratch line" just basically breaking the
soil up in a line a few inches wide, using a tool like a pick, a Pulaski
ideally (combination pick and root axe, a well-sharpened Pulaski my favorite
fire/trail tool!).

2C) Next person widens the line a bit with their hand tool, like above. And
the next a bit more.

2D) Behind this comes someone with a Pulaski or a axe (WATCH WHERE YOU
SWING!!!!!!) cutting up the roots in the trail (sweat, sweat, sweat).

2E) Keep digging! And widening! Till its three feet wide, and clean and
clear down to mineral soil, that is dirt absent of organic matter, duff,
roots, leaf litter, anything composty is gone! Should look like a brown
sidewalk. THREE FEET WIDE!

2F) Whew. I have been on hand crews where six or seven of us could slowly
chew through the brush like a catepillar at maybe, what, ten feet a minute?
Starts out thick underbrush and what emerges behind is a sidewalk in the
forest...

Make sure your boots are well laced up and tight, coals can get into loose
boots or lower cut shoes and burn your foot! Cut up/coarsely fringe your
bluejeans around the outside of your boot. Have a knife handy to cut your
laces QUICK if you need to. Professional boots have a emergency zipper down
the middle.

Dont' be a hero, unless necessary. Pace yourself, dont let adrenalin exhaust
you, people can blow a fuse doing it. Drink lots and lots of water, keep
aware and alert! Fire can be both safe to be around, and a sudden killer. It
happened to the Prineville Hot Shot crew two years ago at the Mineral King
fire in Colorado, some good kids from right around the area we are going to.
In Prineville is a statue to them I think.

Watch your head part 2! The FS will fly in some old bombers with fire
retardant, basiclly heavy water with chemicals.

If the fire is spreading from crown of tree to crown (crowning), be careful
and clear out! I have seen trees dried in hot summer practically explode,
fire shoot 80 feet up a dry, pitch filled fir tree in a second like a match!

Sorry, I got to Wyoming JUST after the fire was put out. What do I know
about how Rainbow works its miracles? I heard that a circle of Native
American people at the gathering were gathered in the meadow doing some
heavy prayer magic and the wind just stopped?

ANyone care to print this up and make copies to bring?

This is not to be considered professional advice, etc, just what I remember
about my own working days on the fire lines, mostly just slash burns and
babysitting, not first attack or anything crazy like that! Worked my first
fire the day after my first acid trip, yee haw! That was interesting. No, Mr
or Ms. FS cop who reads this newsgroup, I dont do that anymore. Are you
kidding? I dont need to! I have learned the lesson that reality is what I
make of it and that love, harmony, beauty, truth, and peace is what is worth
creating in my world. Might make *you* see things a little different,
though, don't ya think? You never know...

The rest if you! If in doubt, clear out! Read this at your own risk!

Sometime when its midwinter and we are bored around the cybercampfire here,
remind me to tell you the story about the time we thought we were being
watched by a Bigfoot/Sasquatch down by Gold Beach off the southern Oregon
coast one time at a fire...