Thanking those firefighters

Soon you will see homemade signs popping up in areas where we have had major wildland fires.

It’s difficult to find a way to adequately share our thanks to firefighters who man the fire lines and in many cases risk their lives to protect homes and properties of those they have never met.

High temperatures these past weeks have made the woods and grasslands tinder dry. We have been spared of major fires here for a couple of years, but fires at Swawilla Basin and Bridge Creek on the reservation and the brief fire that started near Sunbanks resort have changed all that.

Accordingly, smoke from the fires has provided discomfort to all of us.

My wife and I worked two fire seasons with a firefighter support company.

The Keeners from Bothell were well known by us, and when I retired the first time had suggested to us that we join their crew.

The company was O.K. Cascade. Support was in food, laundry, showers, and things like that. We worked on fires in both Washington and Oregon. The company was also involved in the big blaze in Yellowstone, although we were not on that one.

While support groups are not involved directly on the fires, the work hours were out of this world.

I can still remember 16- and 18-hour days continuing on until we were released to return home to wait for the phone to ring for another fire assignment. Sometimes it would be the same day we got home.

Setting up and taking down our camps was difficult. Everything had to be packed, and even empyting the portable toilets and huge greywater sacks fell to us.

It takes a huge support staff to take on a forest fire.

One thing that the Keeners did was to provide good meals, often huge steaks, to the firefighters. Those who couldn’t come in to base camp were still provided, by helicopter, all the food they could eat.

We pitched tents and were provided with throw-away sleeping bags.

We often got little sleep and were up by 4 a.m. to prepare breakfast. It wasn’t unusual to have 300 firefighters lined up for breakfast. Our cooks provided your eggs any way you liked them.

We owe a lot to the people that take on dangerous fires.

We completed our second year and wisely decided that we were getting too old to go for three.

However, I still remember the feeling of those energy- and sleep-deprived days. So there is nothing wrong with making up signs thanking those who take on these tasks.