Spotfire!

In a field long defined by grit, endurance, and tradition, Sue Husari has spent nearly five decades helping shape what wildland fire can be, both on the fireline and within the culture surrounding it.

Sue’s career began in 1975, when she took a summer job in fire while in college. What started as a practical decision quickly became a calling. She stayed for the people, for the purpose, and for the deep connection to land that fire work demands.

When people think about firefighter safety, they usually imagine the obvious dangers such as flames, falling trees, aircraft accidents, or thick smoke. But many of the most serious threats to wildland firefighters are far less visible. Firefighters already face enormous physical and mental stress from long seasons, low wages, time away from family, and exposure to traumatic scenes. On top of that, research is revealing a disturbing truth: the gear they wear and the food they eat on the job may also be exposing them to toxic chemicals linked to cancer and other serious illnesses.

This white paper provides recommendations around Tribal sovereignty and environmental justice that we hope will be useful to organizations and individuals as they comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) amendment. We hope that these suggestions reach a diversity of organizations and individuals with divergent visions of federal land management.

For U.S. Forest Service squad boss Jess Hamner, wildfire isn’t just a job, it’s a way of connecting to the land and the people around her. Now in her fifth season on a Type 2IA hand crew in Utah, Jess says what she loves most about fire is the chance to travel to places few people ever see, build deep relationships with her crew, and feel rooted in the landscapes she helps protect. “When you live with 23 people on a truck for a summer,” she says, “that’s family.”

The majority of wildland firefighters are a super exploited seasonal labor force with abysmal wages and horrible working conditions. The job has inherent dangers from numerous environmental and occupational safety risks and health hazards. Crews suffer often in silence from chronic social and environmental stresses that impact their mental health.

by M. Beasley

“This is not about choosing between suppression and stewardship. It is about recognizing that both are part of the profession. The most capable firefighters in our system have always understood this.

They know that suppression alone cannot solve the wildfire problem. And they know that fire applied thoughtfully can reduce risk in ways that no mechanical treatment or technology can fully replicate.”

by M. Beasley

Let’s start with what this fire was not.

The Ranger Road Fire was not driven by federal timber harvest levels.
It was not burning in overstocked national forests.
It was not the result of environmental regulation.

NASA classified it as a “fast fire” These are wind-driven grassland fire behavior under extreme drought and low fuel moisture. Fine dead fuel moisture was reported at 5%. Seventy-four percent of Oklahoma is in moderate to extreme drought. Winds exceeded 60 mph.

I come from an older generation of wildland firefighters who had to uphold a can-do attitude for every suppression assignment no matter how dumb, dangerous, destructive, or delusional it was. We had to suck it up and dutifully carry out whatever we were told to do no matter the physical, mental, or emotional toll from those orders. Of course, in the glorious days of my youth I believed I was indestructible, even immortal. Yes, there were some years that it took months to recover my sense of smell and taste after suffering from hideously smoky incidents, but I didn't smoke tobacco and believed that my lungs would recover eventually. Now I feel the diminished lung capacity from all the smoking forests I inhaled. The chronic pain afflicting my knees, ankles, and back are not just the inevitable markers of aging but can also be traced to specific injuries suffered on the firelines. But these ailments I can admit to my friends. After all, they're the sacrifices made by "heroes," right?