Pictures from Musselshell Helitack, Clearwater NF

2007 Fire Season

Above:  Me on the Bighorn fire on the Clearwater NF, with the Slick WFU in the background.

    The 2007 season marked my return to the mountains and the Forest Service.  I was pretty excited to finally get to work on the Clearwater NF after hearing a lot about the country from two of my mentors who had worked on the Clearwater in the "good old days" of the Forest Service.  This season was, like most seasons, different from the one that preceded it.  I guess I got a little spoiled by Fort Howes and Ozark NSR, as in those three seasons I was on about 70% of all the fires I've had in my career.  The 'Shell was a little less active in terms of fires, but still good in terms of money earned and experience gained.  The highlight of the season for me was when I was sent to Alaska for a helicopter crewmember assignment.  Not only did I get to return to Alaska, but the incident I was assigned to happened to be on the Kenai peninsula, one of my favorite parts of Alaska.  I ended up spending 10 days in Homer supporting the Caribou Hills fire north of there, burning partly on the Kenai NWR.  10 days in Homer was fantastic, and was probably the most fun I've ever had on assignment.  I got to work on a Bell 212 and an Astar B2.  I'd worked with 212's before, but this was the first time I'd worked on an Astar.  Flying over Alaska was great, and seeing moose and bears was a common occurance.

    Back in Idaho, when our ship came up from Santa Fe in mid-July, we started working long days immediately.  The season started off with us and helicopter 67H heading to the Salmon River RD (Slate Creek) on the Nez Perce NF to support and IA a few small fires.  That lasted a few days, and then we almost instantly returned to the Clearwater NF to IA a few fires on the North Fork RD.  Shortly after that we went to the Powell RD to support a few larger fires, including the Bridge WFU burning near Elk Summit.  Support of the fires consisted mostly of flying daily recons.  This was the pattern for most of the remainder of the summer for me.  We IA'd a few more fires on the North Fork and Lochsa RD's, but other than a few small busts we mainly flew recons of WFU's and large fires.  Not exciting, but a money maker for sure.

Some images, in no real order...

The Salty Dawg Saloon in Homer, AK	Another look at the famous establishment	Helicopter 6CH and a sandhill crane at Homer helibase
6CH lifting for bucket work on the Caribou Hills fire	8EH, an Evergreen 212, at the Homer helibase	A Coast Guard Jayhawk visiting to fuel at the helibase
Me on a helispot for the Caribou Hills fire	AK firefighter and all-around cool guy Mike Hayes on the helispot	AK native crew hiking off the helispot to the fire
Me in some of the infamous Alaska brush - this is the short stuff - and I'm standing on the "trail"	The exit helispot at the bottom of the hill.  Notice the bug-killed white spruce trees	Homer AK, viewed from the air
S-61 (heli-tanker 703) dropping on the Fish Lake fire, North Fork RD	Tanker 703, again on the Fish Lake fire	Another look at a drop from 703 on the Fish Lake fire
View from the  Fish Lake fire	67H dropping water on the Fish Lake fire	Bethany on the Fish Lake fire, sporting the latest fashion
Burned out western red-cedar on the Swamp fire, North Fork RD	C-faller Doug after dropping the cedar on the Swamp fire	Jon on the Cannonball fire, Salmon River RD, NPF
67H getting ready to move construction materials for a lookout renovation project, Kelly Forks WC, North Fork RD	67H lifting a cement mixer for a lookout on the North Fork RD	Nate & Thomas at Kelly Creek, during a break in the project work
Musselshell Crew picture, taken at Powell RS	Sam on the Bridge fire, Powell RD.  Pic by K. Spangler	Doug with a mantis, Russell Ridge fire, Craigmont IDL
Jerod looking, well, like he does, on the Fish Lake fire	67H landing at Powell RS	Musselshell Work Center (the entrance anyway)

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