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| AUTHOR |
MESSAGE |
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oldcowboy666
74 / male
bennett, Colorado, US
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Fires
Hey Pard
I hope you are not in any danger from all the fires! I will and check more, I am doing better and feeling good. Watch your top knot. OCB
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| July 8, 2015, 10:04 |
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sybianwatcher1
49 / male
Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
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Re: Fires
QUOTE (oldcowboy666 @ July 8, 2015, 10:04) Hey Pard
I hope you are not in any danger from all the fires! I will and check more, I am doing better and feeling good. Watch your top knot. OCB
A day off today from fire fighting....So I get to finish picking up hay [Before it catches fire from a random spark] and restart my irrigation.
So it will be work till 1 AM........I just love those relaxing days off!
I and my team, have been assigned to a fire 80 Kilometers south of me. Well, it was two different fires that joined up into one. Every able bodied fire fighter, everything that flies, and even the Military has joined the firelines..Our province is at War, and we are gaining ground slowly. Even Labatts Beer is canning 6 packs of water ,and dropping supplies for us by Helo. Imagine my surprise when an entire 4 foot crate of beer was sitting at basecamp, but when I opened one, it was water.
They are even talking about firing up the Mars Martins, that use $150,000 in feul a day, per aircraft. They soak down 6 acres in one payload, because they are the largest in the world.
Thanks Cowboy.....Nice too see you around. I'm fine, you just focus on getting back in the saddle.
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| July 8, 2015, 15:46 |
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funlovingpair
59 / couple
Frozen Tundra, Minnesota, US
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Re: Fires
I was thinking about you also, they were showing the fires on the news here. What a mess you have there, we have had the smoke here so you know it is alot there for you guys, Stay safe out there!
Ma
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| July 9, 2015, 05:20 |
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sybianwatcher1
49 / male
Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
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Re: Fires
If you may recall....I burned off my topknot last year, and then got demoted....I got promoted back to Captain a short time ,later and was re-assigned my fire team.
It seems they wouldn't work with, or go into a fire with anyone else....I must be a real asshole.
Another positive is that I'm back into fighting shape again.
Back into the burn around 10 AM tomorrow, just in time for the wind to kick up.
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| July 9, 2015, 05:46 |
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sybianwatcher1
49 / male
Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
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Re: Fires
The humidity was held high for over seven days straight...So we kinda got a handle on things around here.
It's supposed to get hot again around monday, so lets pray for no lightning strikes for just a little while...We need some time to collect all the firefighting gear left out in the mountains.
They figure that there is 4 million in hose, chainsaws, pumps, ATV's, and handtools, just laying out there.
I say just leave it there for the August fire fights.
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| July 17, 2015, 04:55 |
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sybianwatcher1
49 / male
Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
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Re: Fires
So I was on the Kelowna fires that have merged into one giant fire, and came home to enjoy a few days off.
I was catching up on my duties around here, after a rain shower ,and a few lightning strikes the evening before.....I look up and theres smoke coming from the hillside behind my barn.
It's the size of about a small bonfire I figured...So I thought. Shit! I'm a professional firefighter...I'll just run up there on that steep incline, and put that puppy out myself.
I fired up my ATV and ran up there....Without my radio....And couldn't find it in the thick timber.
So I ran back down and had another look at the hillside.
Yup thats smoke and it's just about 100 yards above a stone cliff, and 350 yards to the south.
So I ran back up the hillside....without my radio....Still couldn't find it.
At this time, the valley began to fill with white smoke...I thought well it looks like it must be getting pretty big by now...I'll just find that puppy and put it out.
So I ran back down the hillside to have another look from below.....By this time someone had seen it from a logging road and reported it.
The helicopter hovering above it led me too the point of ignition....He had already dropped equipment in there...It seems they knew it was my place, and had seen me running up the hill....They lowered a radio down on a lifeline.
When I turned it on the Helo Pilot was laughing so hard it took him a few minutes to tell me the story.
It seems command central had received the report, and had been informed the fire was growing...They also were told that an ATV was running up and down the hillside, and it appeared that the person on it didn't know what to do.
I guess they did the arithmetic and had guessed that I had left all my equipment behind.....Including my radio.
They said something about British Columbia's Finest, and something about never following protocal.
I said something about being dropped into a fire from above, and not finding it on the ground...
They then informed me that, it was getting so big they could see it from fire command 40 miles away...Why couldn't I find it when it was above my own property?
Thank God those radio's have an "Off" button.
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| July 24, 2015, 05:18 |
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