Sorry, got carried away...where was I?
Posted on 05/13/2003 10:25:58 AM PDT by madfly
CANELO - Fearing they would be overtaken by flames, three Forest Service firefighters were forced to take a rare and terrifying defensive action on Sunday: deploying their tent-like fire shelters in a small area they had just burned.None of the firefighters was injured in the dramatic start to the A-Bar Fire, which also managed to burn up some 400 pounds of marijuana that a group of smugglers had apparently stashed beneath a tree.
Officials said an escaped cooking fire from a separate group of illegal border crossers started the A-Bar blaze, 60 miles southeast of Downtown Tucson.
"One cooking fire confounded the actions of the other smuggling group by burning up their pot," said Gail Aschenbrenner, a Forest Service spokeswoman.
By Monday night, the A-Bar Fire had blackened 457 acres of rolling grasslands dotted with oak trees and manzanita bushes. Named for the draw near its origin, the fire was 35 percent contained, meaning about one-third of its perimeter was considered secure. Fire managers projected full containment by Wednesday night.
Although the A-Bar Fire has remained relatively small, Sunday's shelter deployment was a sobering reminder of the perils and unpredictability of wildland firefighting, a job that has claimed nearly 900 lives since 1910.
"The wind just shifted and all of a sudden we found ourselves at the head of the fire," recalled Mike McGuire, 39, a Patagonia firefighter who ran from the flames near where the three firefighters deployed their shelters. "It came right at us down the wash. Eventually, it started to get behind us. That's what scared the hell out of us."
"It flared up in the oaks and it just jumped," added crewmate Adam Ross, 28. "We were definitely running."
Wildland firefighters are at all times required to carry fire shelters - which look like silver pup tents when unfolded - but the devices are only supposed to be used as a last resort.
Their limited effectiveness in saving people caught in firestorms has earned them the nickname "shake and bakes."
Forest Service officials declined to identify the three firefighters who deployed but said they were from the Nogales Ranger District. One was a foreman with about seven years experience and the other two firefighters each had several years experience, said Mark South, assistant fire management officer for the Coronado, who talked with the firefighters Sunday night.
"The fire never impinged upon the shelters, but they said it was hotter than hell inside," said South, adding that flame lengths were reported at 20 to 30 feet. "They feel embarrassed, they're criticizing themselves and they're beating themselves up for something they did right."
While in their shelters, the three firefighters were able to talk to one another. Twice they moved deeper into the 40-by-80-foot area they had blackened with "fusees," devices similar to road flares that firefighters use to set intentional burns meant to consume fuel, South said.
South, who was forced into a shelter himself while fighting a fire in the Santa Rita Mountains in 1993, could only recall one other incident in the past decade when shelters have been deployed in the Coronado National Forest.
"This is still a dangerous business," South said. "It's still dry out here and things could still happen."
Investigators from the Forest Service's regional office in Albuquerque are being sent to the fire, which is standard procedure after any fire shelter deployment, Aschenbrenner said.
The A-Bar Fire began Sunday near Bishop Tank, where an investigator found evidence of an escaped cooking fire tied to the area's heavy traffic of illegal border crossers. The wind carried the campfire to the southwest, where it turned 11 bales of marijuana into ash. The contraband was wrapped in aluminum foil, stuffed into burlap sacks and thought to have been smuggled by a group of 15 to 20 people, Aschenbrenner said.
Wildfires caused by illegal border crossers have become common in Southern Arizona as much of the human traffic has shifted to remote, fire-prone public lands.
An Arizona Daily Star analysis of the 2002 fire season concluded that border crossers were suspected of starting at least eight major wildfires in Southern Arizona that charred 68,413 acres and cost $5.1 million to suppress.
The A-Bar Fire is burning close to where last spring's Ryan Fire scorched 38,000 acres after stiff winds pushed it across the high-desert grasslands. That fire was blamed on drug smugglers returning south to Mexico.
Some 220 people were assigned to the A-Bar Fire by Monday night, including two elite "hotshot" crews.
Ground forces were supported through the day by two helicopters ferrying water and two heavy air tankers showering rust-colored flame retardant that they picked up at Fort Huachuca's Libby Army Airfield.
Even from the fire's edge, very little smoke was visible Monday afternoon as crews worked to secure fuel breaks and stop the blaze from moving up the Canelo Hills and into terrain with heavier fuels and fewer places to stop the flames.
Although hesitant "to say anything overly optimistic," incident commander Rich Kvale said things looked good as he watched firefighters douse hot spots and dig up smoldering roots on a hillside so steep and rocky that standing upright was a challenge.
Heat rose in waves from the charred terrain as the firefighters scraped away vegetation, their metal hand tools clanking against the rocks.
"It's been a workhorse," said firefighter Justin Michael, 23, in his fifth week as a wildland firefighter. "We're just all out of shape."
The fire started on the San Pedro south of Sierra Vista a couple of weeks ago was intentionally started by an illegal border intruder. Border Patrol saw him do it, chased him back across the border, and came back to see the fire had grown to a large area.
And fire season just started...It's going to be a long summer.
"One cooking fire confounded the actions of the other smuggling group by burning up their pot," said Gail Aschenbrenner, a Forest Service spokeswoman
Getting pretty crowded out there in the back woods. I sure feel safe.
I am deeply saddened.
Knock knock
"who is it?"
"It's me Dave, let me it"
"Who?"
"Dave, let me it I think the cops are behind me"
"Dave's not here"
BARF!
Sorry, got carried away...where was I?
Not exactly sure what you're saying... Americans need to lower their standard of living to keep factories from moving away or illegals moving in? If so, that's the fast track to the third world.
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