It felt nice. Gratifying. Like I was finally doing something worthwhile. We got called called to the Jacket Fire, east of Flagstaff for a structure protection assignment at 3pm. At 7pm we were on scene, at 9pm we got the call to begin a burnout operation to protect a 375 kilovolt powerline that feeds Phoenix. And so we burned. About 1000 acres over a 4.5 mile stretch of line. Until 3 in the morning. We crashed by the engine for about 3-4 hours until being woken by a news helicopter, when we got up and were informed that the Willow fire, near Payson had taken out another powerline, and ours was one of the last left feeding Phoenix, and that the temprature that day was to top 100 degrees. The APS guys seemed a little stressed out. So we cut and burned and burned some more, and finally got some sleep that night. Then we burned some more the next day before being sent home, tired but gratified that the powerline was now secure. Now we are in lightning season, popping several fires a day. And before I forget, party at my place in Flag saturday night (17th), be there or be ridiculed by those who were there. J
I was sitting in the living room of my house in Flagstaff today, talking with my roomate Nic,when I descided I wanted something to eat. This always presents a problem when I am home, as I don't generally live there during fire season. After wandering about the kitchen for a few moments, I wound up peering into the cupboard. Now I have some food in there, and Mel has some, and some we own (paid for) together. The problem is, I don't know what is mine and what isn't. Fortunatly, since Mel spends only slightly more time here than I do, I don't think she knows either, judging from the moldy pack of tortillas that has been sitting there for weeks. Anyway, at the back of the pantry, I espied a can of minestrone soup and proceded to open and microwave it. It was only asI removed the steaming bowl from the microwave that I realisedI was more in the mood for cold soup on this hot afternoon. SinceI couldn't carry the slightly over full bowl to the freezer to chill it, I went for the next best thing: icecubes. Now I am left with a very over-full bowl of watered-down luke-warm soup sitting on the counter.
At work we have been preparing in case the Willow fire jumps the Verde River and comes up onto the Coconino, our forest. Depending on whom you talk to, the towns of Pine/Stawberry have a 50/50 shot, or it is all undercontrol and will be taken care of in a week or two. The district ranger is in the former camp, so we are preparing an 18 mile stretch of road by thinnning the trees in preparation for a burnout. Should be a big show, if it happens.
A couple of days ago when we were sawing, my engine foreman wanted a break from traffic control to get some chainsaw time. I was the lucky one assigned to traffic in his stead, and I now have new appreciation for those guys with orange flags along side the road. First off, it is dull, but that goes without saying. More troubling are the problems that go along with the other wise simple concept of slowing cars down and stopping them when there are trees in the road. Like where do you go to poop when you are the only one around wearing orange, yellow, and red and even if you do manage to run into the trees, who would slow traffic? Or the issue of timing; you see when the call came to stop trees for felling operations or whatever, some cars inevitably had already slipped by, so provided you did your job and got them to slow down, they would come poking along after the sawyer had called for the traffic halt and was well into his cut. So the tree would come down, some times a little close for comfort to the crawling cars, and certain people would get irrate. Fortunatly I managed to avoid those situations, but you get an idea of the stress involved. During less exciting moments I might practise my flag waving, trying to do it just like the folks on NASCAR wave the checkered flag. Believe it or not it is harder than it looks. Or when the flys are buzzing around your face and you casually swat youirself in the nose by mistake, and then look around and hope no one noticed.
For the most part though, the pastfew days have been long and hot, cutting down trees with a fairly finicky Husky chainsaw. Oh, my kingdom for a Stihl, but no, we run Husqvarna here. I think I may have spent alomost the same amount of hours working on my saw as actually cutting.
We are having a combonation birthday/going away party here on the 17th, Saturday night, for Nic and Mel, so come on down. I have to get going now, my soup is getting cold.
-Jared
Ah, finally some action. So life around the station was getting pretty dull. If you had askedme what I did at work, I would be hard pressed to answer. But with monsoons come lghtning and with lightning comes fire, most recently in the form of the 20 acre Boondock fire. Now understand that all fires are named, usually one word, often times for surrounding land features. But they are still a source of entertainment to me, for example when the Sour fire merged with the Biscuit fire in 2002, my crew was sent to the Sour Biscuit Complex. The Boondock fire was named for Boondock tank, though what that was named for I don't know. Anyway, life is good now that I am actually doing something worthwhile again. And today I bought a new camera, so I should be able to document the cool stuff I see. My computer is still in the closet though, so I may not be able to post the pics right away.
First day off in two weeks, I almost don't know what to do with myself... Saw a movie, answered my mail, went grocery shopping...Not to many people around...
In recent news, I went on assignemnt with the Blue Ridge Hotshots, first to the Montezuma Fire, then the Ramsey Fire (got to fight that one from a helicopter!), then some perscribed fire, then home again. Only a one week assignment, which was nice because Sierra Vista (where we were staged) is a sweltering stink pot, to put it kindly. The down side is that it means less$$. We did get a fire on our district the other day though, a small 1/2 acre blaze that provided a days worth of entertainment. Otherwise life Happy Jack is pretty dull and utterly without the presence of females. That's right, two full weeks and not a single sighting of anything attractive or female. Definatly looking forward to a vacation, Mexico perhaps? Also to cleaning and organizing my house in Flag, which is in a perpetual state of carnage asI rarely visit,one rooomie is living away for 6 weeks and like wise visiting rarely, and the other two are in various stages of packing and moving out. Definatly a bit odd; it is finally sinking in that Mel is leaving for New Mexico in a few weeks. Prior, the concept of one or the other of us moving away has always been theoretical,now she is packing her bags... strange to when you consider how much stuff is 'ours' and how much of her there is around, not just her stuff, but her presence. Having been with someone for 3 1/2 years, their presence becomes a part of you,even when you are not together. The realization that she is a changing person, who is in fact leaving directly, imparts upon me a stange sense of meloncholy. I guess it is part of a greater feeling of being just slightly adrift; through my various wandering and adventures of these past years, Mel has been a constant, a touchstone which kept me grounded though I did not nessecarily realize it, and at times certainly resented it. There is no denying tht we did not work as a couple, with differant priorites, goals, views, and expectations and I am sure that ultimatly our separation is for the better for each of us. In fact, she seems better than I have seen her in some time, with a new boyfriend, excitment for the adventure ahead in New Mexico, a new faith, and as of a couple of days ago, no stressful job to bring her down. At times a whole new person... I am happy for her and a bit jealous of her success and pending fresh start. I will continue to plug away, perhaps my own break-away is around the bend or over the next hill.
Meanwhile, my garden languishes...
- J
Home