JOHN CARR
Firehouse.Com Contributing Writer/Photographer
Despite all the improved technologies and equipment, structural firefighters still need to advance hoselines to the seat of the fire and put the "clear stuff on the red stuff". The same holds true for wildland firefighters. Extinguishing the fire still requires ground crews to be up close and personal, using hand tools that have seen action for nearly 100 years.
Handcrews have been working the firelines as long as we have been fighting fires. They generally are made up of 20 firefighters. Depending on their skill levels, crews are divided into 5 member squads. The more qualified crews will have specialized personnel such as sawyers. Each squad has a boss. There is also a supervisor, and an assistant, for every crew.
With an emphasis on safety each crew has a "lookout". A lookout is someone with considerable experience who monitors the work of the crew and also the fire. Rather than working with the crew the lookout's job is to insure their safety.
Qualifications for handcrews are strict. Training is stringent. Standards are established by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG).
Federally recognized handcrews fit into three general categories, or types. While qualification into each category is tough, competition is tougher. Firefighters can work for years to advance up in rank. A Type I Hotshot crew is the most elite of the handcrews, followed by Type I and Type II crews. Type II crews are made up of seasonal firefighters. A 20 member Hotshot crew will have as many as 7 fulltime, career firefighters on the team.
Handcrews have been affectionately named "groundpounders" Their days generally start at sunrise. After breaking camp, crews often board converted school buses for a long bumpy ride to the fire. (Federal Hotshot crews have specialized rigs to carry crew members and equipment) Once on location crews grab their hand tools. Tools such as a Pulaski, a McCloskey or a Combi have all been adapted for working the fireline. With a backpack weighing up to 25 pounds the crew's next challenge may be a hike of several miles. Once at the fire, hand crews may spend up to 12 hours digging line.
Crews begin constructing fireline from an anchor point. An anchor point is a barrier to fire. It can be a road, a lake, a stream or river, or a large rock outcropping. It is used to prevent the fire from flanking the crew as they construct line. A fireline is a control line cut or dug down to mineral soil. Working side by side crews use their tools to build a containment line around the perimeter of the fire.
To help construct containment lines handcrews often rely on airtankers. Retardant drops from fixed wing aircraft can help advance lines. In areas that are difficult to access on the ground slurry can ad firelines from the sky. Slurry is a retardant. Retardants do not stop advancing fire they are only intended to slow a fire's progress. In most cases handcrews are still required to improve the quality of the line.
Fuels are divided into several categories. One hour fuels are grasses, weeds, leaves and branches up to ¼" in diameter. 100 hour fuels are trees and brush up to 8" in diameter. 1000 hour fuels are trees and heavy timber. Fuels are classified by the amount of time it takes for the moisture content of the fuel to equal the humidity of the surrounding area. Wet grass in low humidity will equal the relative humidity of the air in an hour or less, thus one hour fuels.
The NWCG sets standards as to how much fireline a type of handcrew should construct in an hour. Lengths are noted by numbers of chains. A chain equals 66 feet. A Type I team is expected to complete 30 chains (1980 feet) of line in short grass per hour. A Type II team should complete 18 chains (1188 feet) in an hour. In brush a Type I crew should complete 6 chains in an hour and a Type II should complete 4 chains. The fireline has to be taken down to mineral soil with no combustibles inside it. The line is usually cut to a width of 2-3 feet.
In short grasses and light fuels a 36" fireline should halt the advance of the fire. In denser and larger fuels a fireline is merely a starting point. To prevent a fire in timber from jumping a fireline there are many variables. It may take an area of fireline, void of combustibles, more than 100 feet wide to halt the fire's spread. To achieve this, firefighters often rely on burnouts. If conditions, such as wind, permit, crews will start a fire at the fireline and allow it to burn to the approaching main fire. With all of the combustibles in its path depleted the fire should die.
Similar to structural firefighting an attack on a wildland fire can be offensive or defensive. An indirect attack constructs line a considerable distance from the main fire's edge. Crews usually build an indirect line if the fire is moving quickly, or is very intense. Indirect lines often use backfires to remove intervening fuels between the indirect line and the fire. A more aggressive attack is the direct line. A fireline is constructed on the edge of the fire. In conjunction with a direct line, firefighters usually attack the fire itself. In a direct attack use of hoselines and water drops are common.
Finally safety is of paramount concern. Despite the physical requirements of fighting a fire, crews and managers must always keep an eye on the fire, and their mind on safety. Having a safety zone is a requirement. Safety zones are large areas where crews can move to should the fire threaten them. As crews move so should the location of the safe zone. Safety zones can be a clearing, a previously burned area, or an area burned of fuel as firefighters move into them.
In the event that firefighters are cut off from their safety zone they may be required to deploy their fire shelters. A fire shelter is a small tent like enclosure made of aluminum looking space age materials. The shelter is designed to reflect the heat of a fire off of the firefighter. A deployment zone is an area at least 4' by 8', devoid of combustibles, where a shelter can be set up to protect the firefighter. "Shake and bake" is a term firefighters use to describe deployment. Covered by their aluminum tent a deployed firefighter becomes a baked potato in a campfire.
Wildfire handcrews exemplify the American spirit. Loading their tools on their backs they are self sufficient. They are expected to work hard, and long. Sixteen hour days are the norm. They often eat and sleep where they work, without luxury. They face danger daily, and survive. They command our respect.
