‘It’s Just Us’: The Firefighter, His Son and a Treacherous Choice

Over time, he noticed how inconsistent the directives were. One day, his crew might be told to clean up everything 10 feet into a burned area; another day, 100. Sometimes the supervisors sent them back to the same patch again and again, stirring up more ash. “It was like, ‘We’ve been here five times — there’s nothing left,’” he said.

He figured these were at least safer assignments, farther from flames. In fact, mop-up is among the most carcinogenic work on a fire.