Pictures from the Fort Howes Helitack Crew

2005 Fire Season

Above: The original Fort Howes, built in 1897 by a local rancher.  The following is an excerpt on the history of Fort Howes from this website:

"Fort Howes, the rock structure pictured above, was built in 1897. The fort was build by local ranchers after a sheepherder was murdered by Indians. The women and children were sent either to Sheridan, Wyoming or Miles City, Montana because of the fear of an Indian uprising. The men then began to take rocks up the hill to build the fort. Fortunately, the "Indian Uprising" didn't occur. Instead, some 12 men were deputized by the Custer County Sheriff to go to Lame Deer to bring back those that were guilty. After much discussion through interpreters, the guilty men were turned over to the authorities, though later they were released to the reservation."

        The 2005 season was quiet for the Fort Howes fire station, with about 25% of the 5-year average for fires initial attacked.  It was also the greenest, wettest year the area had seen for quite some time, with the grass staying green well into July.  Nevertheless we managed to have some fun, and stayed sane, for the most part.  I was on seven fires in the area, and was assigned to two out-of-area fires as a helicopter crewmember.  Our helicopter, 2BH (2 Bravo Hotel), was a Bell 206L3 LongRanger.

        Fort Howes is a pretty remote station, with the nearest town being about twenty miles away, and offering only the most basic of amenities.  It's located twenty miles south of Highway 212 near Ashland, MT, about 110 miles south of Miles City, MT, and 70 miles north of Sheridan, WY, most of which is winding dirt road.  The station's remoteness is one of the intriguing things about it.  At times you feel as though you have stepped back into time, where the local ranchers are friendly, and neighbors really do help each other.  How many other crews can say that a local rancher has brought them homemade doughnuts the day after installing a cattle guard on a road?  How many other places can you work where someone will bring you fresh-baked banana bread on the fireline as thanks for doing your job?  Its remoteness also has a profound effect on the soul.  This is a place where life slows down, where quiet means only the sound of the wind in the grass and the calls of songbirds in the air, and solitude means being minutes away from being miles away.  Some love the vast distances and truly wide-open spaces, others loathe them.

And now the images...

Fort Howes Helitack 2005	Tom Mentzer with helicopter 2BH and H201	L-R: Me, Jeff (our pilot), and Jerry
Jeff (top), Tom, and 2BH	Tyler driving H201	Mark (L) and Josh at Fort Howes
The Border fire seen from the air, almost in Wyoming	The Border fire and 2BH after landing	Mark getting ready to pack out on the Border fire
Tom sawing fireline on the Prairie Dog fire	Tom bucking up a snag on the Prairie Dog fire	Tom (L) and Mark on the Prairie Dog fire
2BH on the Elk Creek fire	Carmen (L) and Jerry mopping up on the Elk Creek fire	Jerry (L) and Rick studying some clouds on the Elk Creek fire
H201 and BLM engines on the Gate fire	The Stroud fire	Another look at the Stroud fire
Tom (L) and Tyler on the Whitten Creek fire	L-R: Carmen, Tyler, and me	2BH on the Beaver Creek fire
H201 on the Beaver Creek fire	2BH and students during longline training at Stag Rock	2BH during longline training at Stag Rock
2BH during longline training at Stag Rock	2BH at Stag Rock during longline training	The Fort Howes Helitack logo
The last 8 images are captured from video, and are slightly lower quality than the rest of the images on the page.	2BH dropping on the Elk Creek fire.	2BH dropping on the Elk Creek fire.
2BH dropping on the Elk Creek fire.	Mark on the Prairie Dog fire.	Mark and Tom on the Prairie Dog fire.
Tom and a torching juniper on the Stroud fire.	Tom and a torching juniper on the Stroud fire.	Juniper torching during a burnout on the Stroud Fire.

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"You'd better be having fun on this job, because if you aren't, you can go somewhere else and make a lot more money." - Tom Cline, on wildland firefighting.