David Rasper, a firefighter with Santa Barbara County, rode in the first engine on the scene of the Burton Mesa fire, which scorched 300 acres of brush outside of Lompoc the last week of June.
“We made an initial attack on the fire,” he told the Sun. Armed with progressive hose packs—literally, a kind of backpack for holding firehose—he and his crewmates unloaded from their engine at 1:14 p.m. on June 29.
Rasper was there until 8 p.m. the next day. How did he stay awake? “Just working hard, and there’s a lot to do,” he said. “You’re amped up from the excitement, just keep pushing through and working hard.”
It’s a physically demanding job. Rasper said that they work out on every shift. He hikes on his days off. “Lots of cardio,” he explained. “Very arduous.”
A fire crew that works out together, Rasper said, is one that works well together: “It allows us to be more proficient, and working together as a team to incorporate all the skills, knowledge really helps us to be successful.”
There’s mental strain as well. “You’re away from your family; you’re not in the most comfortable environment, so it takes a lot of effort to stay focused and maintain good forward movement,” Rasper said.
It’s a hard job, but one that Rasper likes. “I think it’s a great career choice,” he told the Sun. “You get to work together as a team. There’s a lot of knowledge that comes into play. It’s exciting to be outdoors, work hard, and work together as a team.”
On the scene of a fire—not the most comfortable environment—crews need to plan and coordinate their attack carefully. Rasper said they consider several factors: the direction of the fire, the location, the types of fuels, the topography of the landscape, and the weather are all important to take into account.
“It’s planned out which way the fire is heading and what we need to protect,” he summarized. Fighting a fire is about flanking and teamwork: Crews try to get around it, trying to sneak up behind and encircle the blaze. Bulldozers and planes assist hand crews as they do work on the ground; tankers and helicopters drop fire retardant.
“We take care of the edge and put a solid line around the fire to break it,” Rasper said.
This article appears in Jul 9-16, 2015.
