Pictures from Ozark National Scenic Riverways

2007 Fire Season

Above:  Sunset seen through smoke and fire on the Campbell Point RX, Ozark NSR 2007.

    January 2007 found me traveling south and east to Missouri for the winter/spring burning season as a Senior Firefighter at Ozark National Scenic Riverways.  I had a decided to take a year off from school, and this left me with some free time to try something new.  And new it was.  To a guy like me who is from the mountain west, and is something of a "new-westerner," the rural setting of the Ozarks was somewhat of a surprise.  For starters, it wasn't "rural" as I had defined it previously.  The number of towns, and density of population was much greater than Montana, even the rapidly growing areas around Missoula and Bozeman..  In Missouri, a small town was one without a Wal-Mart.  In Montana, a small town is one with a Post Office and maybe a bar and gas station.  The town of Van Buren, where the park was headquartered, was smaller in population than my hometown in Montana, yet had two grocery stores, a Chevy dealership, and a McDonald's.  My hometown has one grocery store, and no fast food joints or car dealerships.  But I digress... 

    Burning in oak/hickory leaf litter was fun and exciting for me.  I hadn't really worked with prescribed fire much before, and had never worked in hardwoods, so I had to adapt to new ways of doing things.  Constructing line with leaf blowers was one new thing, and doing pump-and-roll operations with an ATV was another.  Also new to me was rolling to arson starts at 11 pm on a Friday evening.  It was interesting being out in the woods at night, seeing headlamps that don't belong to anyone on your crew, and realizing that perhaps whoever started the fire is still around, and maybe not a fan of the U.S. Government.  Throw into the mix an ice storm that was a once-in-a-lifetime event that kept the crew busy cutting damaged trees out of roadways for two weeks at the beginning of the year, and it was a unique and unforgettable experience.  I had a blast working with fire folks from Ozark NSR, Black Hills Fire Use Module (FUM), Buffalo FUM, and the Mark Twain NF, and hope to get back there one day..

Some images from the 2007 winter season at Ozark NSR.

Engine 862 at the Big Springs fire cache.  January 2007	Driptorch and flames on the Devil's Well fire, Ozark NSR.  February 2007	Another look at the burnout on the Devil's Well fire, Ozark NSR. February 2007
Night burnout on the Malden Hollow fire, Mark Twain NF.  February 2007	Before we could fight fire, we had to fight ice.  Wilson's Creek NB, Springfield, MO.  January 2007	A Norway spruce, encased in ice.  Wilson's Creek NB.  January 2007
Pile of chips from downed limbs.  G.W. Carver NM, Joplin, MO. February 2007	Jack plays king of the mountain. G.W. Carver NM.  February 2007	A look at the Current River, near Van Buren, MO.  February 2007
ATV torch on the Dry Branch RX, Mark Twain NF	Fire pulling in, Dry Branch RX, Mark Twain NF	Holding crew on the Dry Branch RX, Mark Twain NF
Fire backing into an open oak/hickory stand, Campbell Point RX, Ozark NSR	Ignition and holding ATV, Campbell Point RX, Ozark NSR	Fire burning out of oak/hickory forest into green field, Campbell Point RX, Ozark NSR
Black Hills Asst. Sonya taking a break from lighting on the Campbell Point RX, Ozark NSR	Initial Attack dozer on the Mark Twain NF	Typical backing fire after burning out behind the dozer on an IA, Mark Twain NF
Scenic shot of Blue Spring, managed by the Missouri Conservation Department and Ozark NSR	Dogwood in bloom, with dozer line and fire in the background.  Conway Twins fire, Mark Twain NF	Jack, the Asst. EML at Ozark NSR, on the Dry Branch RX, Mark Twain NF
Greg, the other Senior Firefighter at Ozark NSR, in full attack mode during prep work	Eric and Sarah, the other two seasonal firefighters on the crew	Arthur the fire rooster, our mascot for the season, on the Cotton House lawn

Previous Gallery - Fort Howes 2006

Next Gallery - Musselshell Helitack 2007

“Good judgment is based on experience, and a lot of that comes from
bad judgment.” – Will Rogers