I was there, on the Flagstaff Hotshots. We were one of the crews that made it up to the large clear cut and didn't have to deploy our shelters. Watching the fire burn up to the edge of the clear cut was one of the most amazing and scary things I've ever seen. Those lodgepole pine you can see in the video average about 90 feet tall, and the flames were at least three times as tall. Plus the smoke above was being reignited by the heat. It was a miracle no one died.
We get wildfires here in the Scottish highlands and they’re either caused by tourists using barbecues in hot weather or muirbuirns that have gotten out of control. They terrify me. Properly scare the bejaysus outta me and they’re tiny in comparison to the ones over in the USA, Canada, Australia etc. The firefighters who tackle these demon farts are my absolute heroes. Those fires can change direction in a second and they move like a racing snake - getting caught is a real possibility. To all firefighters and volunteers who tackle these things - you guys are fucking awesome 👍🏻❤️
After many lives lost due to trying to outrun the fire with 30+ lbs of gear it is now taught to dump the gear and run like a rabbit until the last possible minutes and then deploy unless already in a safety zone.. Sound advise IMO. I also ran from a few fires with my gear, luckily I am now retired after 30 years in the biz. We should now be grateful for the lesson's learned which were paid for by many firefighters lives. Thanks and RIP to those we lost!
Gas balls... I think that means it was hot enough it was burning the smoke in a secondary combustion, holy crap! The smoke was part of the fire! That is why it burned so fast and intense.
Rest in peace all the brave men that have paid the ultimate sacrafice. This is truly insane. Shelters must be so intimidating if you ever have to deploy.
Really gives onsite into what went wrong with the granite mountain hotshots, their deployment site was 1/3-1/4 that size of the survivable deployment site
I mean, they weren’t even able to adequately cut or burn out. Not to mention they were in a box canyon with a ton of fuel with temps exceeding 2000 degrees F. They estimate that Granite Mt. had less than 2 minutes between realizing they needed to prepare and the flaming front hitting them full force. So fast.
I enjoyed this video on deploying your fire shelter improve the sturdiness of the materials that shelters are made of why not include a compact breathing apparatus inside?
I missed a deployment on the Idaho side of Hells Canyon in 1987 or 88. I stayed on the district, but the people that went on the fire, my friends and co-workers, had to deploy their shelters. The cause of the fire determined to be hikers burning their toilet paper.
Reminds me of my youth. The closest I came to shelter deployment, was a large fire on the Siskiyou in Oregon. We had just tied in about 10 miles of handline, with another crew. The fire started to crown and jumped the handline on the ridge. It was burning on both sides now. We evaced to a rock outcrop. I took a photo of that big lumbering 4 engine aircraft as it layed down slurry around us. Spent the rest of the day building line around the slop over. Did burnout that night. Many years later, I became a lookout at various lookouts in Oregon. Witnessed many fires. Many aircraft making slurry runs at fires. I always had a admiration for those pilots. They did save my life once.
It's true what the Hotshot supervisor said. It happened to me a couple of times. When a fire makes a run at you. It makes a sound. A sound like a freight train coming at you. Once you hear it, you will never forget it.
As just a note. On a fire in Minnesota in 1988. A railroad caused fire on the Superior NF. . About 500 acres initial attack crew, July 4, 1988. After coming back from a fire in NE Ontario, Canada. Ended up on this fire in Minnesota. I was in a peat bog. thanks Impossible to put line around. We surrounded the area with spigot head sprinklers and Marc III pumps. 500 acres. Anyway. the railroad company gave us a tour of their mine and mill on the last day we were there. This was, and still is, I believe, the largest iron ore mine in the US. We were given a tour if the operation. Everything was huge. Then we got to the smelting plant. I will never forget that. I would think it would be a big operation. Lots of people. It was one man. Bare chested and no shirt. He said, this is the closest you will get to hell in this world.
