I retired in 2003. Shortly after retiring I was chosen by a Bark River Dog Breeder to transport two Blue Ribbon Pomeranian Puppies to Berlin, Germany. My daughter, Lynette, a student at University of Michigan joined me at Detroit and accompanied me to Berlin. It was quite an interesting experience.
That summer I refinished our kitchen cabinets which turned out to be quite a job. Rose was at Northern Michigan University teaching a class at the time, so no interruptions. The following summer my brother George and I replaced three bottom logs at the camp, that was a big job, but was ready for hunting season in 04. Rose was elementary principal and was very busy. I had to do something, applied for a job at Mackinaw Island as a tour guide with the horses. Only problem had to work week-ends, days off would be in the middle of the week. I was at a funeral wake, saw Jim Pilon, asked him where his wife was, he said she was working as a dispatcher out on a fire in the Pacific Northwest for the U S Forest Service, sometimes she would be gone a few weeks and return home. That gave me an idea; shortly after I went to U S Forest Service (USFS) and inquired. He told me that I would need quite a bit of training to be a dispatcher. After discussing my experience as a township firefighter, he thought I could be trained to be a radio operator (R O), there was a need for them. He gave me an open book test to do and return it in a few days. I did and after going over it he sent me to Rapid River to get my gear, which included a pup tent.
This was on Thursday. He told me I was on call and expect a call any day. On Monday he called and told me that I would be catching an early morning flight tomorrow morning for a fire in N. E. Idaho near the Canadian Border. Lots of excitement at the house! When I notified Rose, she was at the house at noon.
As a R O, I travel by myself. That fire was contained, so they transferred me to a very large fire just South of Walla Walla, Washington. I was transferred by a USFS lady, a 7-hour trip.
My son was with Prineville Hot Shots at the time. I did not know where he was in the P N W. This fire was unique because many of the supervisors were from New Zealand and Australia, at times a little difficult to understand on the radios. There were two radios, a couple days after I arrived another R O showed up and he was from Michigan. His name was Joe. To keep us separated I mentioned to the boss I had a nickname of Buckshot. She said that was great to keep the Joes separated. There was a young fire girl from San Juan Island, Washington, who really liked my nickname. There was a large wall map of the fire, and on the map, there was a mountain with no name. This fire girl named it Mount Buckshot.
As a RO you relay messages to the fire and take in messages to be delivered to the appropriate sources. All messages are to be recorded; time, message, incident, etc. On occasion the meteorologist will bring in a weather report to be relayed to the fire personnel. Also, the R O is trained to do Medical Emergencies, which can be quite hairy at times. R Os issue radios, document to whom they are issued, make sure there is an ample supply of batteries, document radios as they are returned as the fire is contained. The R O is responsible for the inventory of the radios, an audit is usually taken daily on a large fire or every other day. One would be in big trouble if a radio was not accounted for. (It never happened in my fire experience.) Every RO is responsible to attend the daily briefing at 0600 so you are aware of the plans for the day. You also receive the daily Incident Action Plan. Both the Briefing and Incident Action Plan are important so when fire people call in the RO has an idea where they are at and what is going on.
The USFS uses Military Time and the International Phonetic Alphabet for communications. No 10-4 stuff in communications😊 Another item about the fire was the catering. On our side of the fire camp it was accomplished by prisoners from a nearby large state prison. They gave us Cadillac food and service. Once I went on the other side of the fire camp to the private caterer; the prisoners had them beat.
I should explain a fire camp. It is a large set up away from the fire. It reminded me of a military operation. There are operations, supply, medical unit, safety, meteorologists, map makers, finance, logistics, human relations, communications, air support, public relations, catering service (private contractor) and ground transportation.
The fire crews return in the evening, so there are many personnel in early morning and late evening.
The fire camp was located at the local fairgrounds. There was a sea of pup tents at this location, approximately 1700 personnel.
Communications contains a communication leader (Comm L), he has normally two comm techs, who repair radios, set up relay towers, maintain them. Etc. On occasion there is an INCM (supervisor of radio operators) if none the Comm L is in charge of the ROs.
After being there a few days, a fireman came in the large trailer we were in, to return his crew’s radios.
Shortly after the door opened, I happened to glance over towards the door and there was my son. I yelled Cel! He yelled Dad! He did not have a clue I was there nor did I know he was. The name of his crew was misspelled in the Incident Action Plan.
When the Comm L heard this, he came out and told me to go out and spend some time with him. He was training as a squad leader and was returning their radios. We went for a walk and he introduced me to his squad. It was quite an experience. On another fire N E of LA, Anne called and told me Cel was on the same fire that I was on. There were two parts to the fire, he was on the East Side. My Comm L arranged to set me up to deliver a number of radios which belonged to the East Side and were turned in to us. So, I got a chauffeur from ground transportation and he brought me over to the East Side, a two-hour drive, and I met with Cel and the whole crew. They were leaving to go back to Prineville.
The major accident on the Washington Fire happened as a driver of a water tender was heading down a steep grade loaded with water. He lost his brakes, and on the first curve he rolled over several times, enough centrical force ripped the tank right off the frame of his truck and even rolled further. Fortunately, he had his safety belt on and was just badly shaken up.
When I finished at this fire I was chauffeured to Pasco, WA where the Snake and Columbia Rivers join together, for air service back home. I registered and went to the bar, not even cleaned up. A short time later a well-dressed suited fella came in. After a short time, he asked me what I did and a conversation began. He was an official for the Department of Social Services for the State of Washington, in Pasco for a meeting.
After a couple beers I ordered a meal at the bar. It was served, the fella was about to leave so he bid good bye. I said I got to go wash my “paws” and away I went. When I finished the meal, I asked the bartender for the bill. He said it was paid for, when you said you were going to wash your “paws”, he paid for your beverages and food before he left. I was gone for three weeks, exciting new adventure.
I served on various fires in Idaho, Washington, California, Oregon, Montana, and Texas. After I put my name available, I was on call. One time I put my name out in the afternoon, that night I was told to be at airport in morning and I was headed to Bastrop, TX. A high wind caused power lines to slap each other during a prolonged draught and in less than 24 hours 1500 residences were destroyed. I flew to Austin, picked up a rental and headed East to Bastrop. I checked in and headed to the Com Unit., at about 5:00 in afternoon. The Com L was there and no one else was there. He asked me to assist in putting lines out, etc. We worked into the Night and when the comm was operational I was the R O. My day started at 6:00 am when I arrived at the airport, at 7:30 am I was relived, some 25.5 hours later. The rest of the crew began arriving around 6:00 am or so. The Comm L said I would be working the night shift, so I headed back to Austin where I was to stay at a Hotel. When you work fires in a fire camp, you are not allowed to work more than I think 16 hours, a federal rule. It was fun when I went to finance and turned that time in, I had them going around in circles, but the circumstance dictated it. Most of the time I stayed in my pup tent, only a few times I got to stay in luxury. In Texas I was on another fire and stayed in a hotel too, reason being it was in such a drought it was extremely dangerous to use the tent. While at a fire at Usk, WA I stayed in a bridal suite in Priest River, ID 45 miles away from the camp. Most mirrors I ever saw in a hotel room.
Another time I was called two days before hunting season and was requested to catch a plane to JFK, pick up a rental and report to hqs downtown New York City, the Bronx for assignment for Hurricane Sandy. I spent the first night on an antique Navy Ship docked at Staten Island. The next day I was assigned to an Emergency Management Team at Long Island. I was back home 8 or 9 days later, another interesting experience.
I spent a few birthdays on the fires. On the second fire in Texas I was working nights and on a Sunday morning instead of going to bed I found a Catholic Church in Henderson in a Hispanic neighborhood.
When Mass was over Father was asking parishioners, who had a birthday today, a few got up and each one was recognized, Happy Birthday! and clapping. I was not going to say anything but he was at the end
was still asking, I was in the second pew in the rear, I got up and yells it was my birthday today too. Everybody turns around and wishes Happy Birthday! and they all clap. A lady behind me shouts out, (I had a fire t-shirt on) and she shouts he is a fireman too. So, everybody turns around again and claps.
On another fire it was my birthday, I mentioned joking, it was my birthday and I was going to be 27. Yea they say, and I say oh I get my numbers mixed up as I grow older, just transposed them by mistake. I am 72 today. They got a kick out of that. So that evening, I got off at 8:00, just before I left for evening one of the firemen from operations stopped in and asked me to go to operations for a meeting. We go and when we entered the tent everybody shouts Happy Birthday! and they had a large Birthday Cake with 27 candles on it.
This was in Montana and at a Spike Camp. It is a very scaled down fire camp; besides working you can have lots of fun there. The camp was located just below a large mansion, with a huge kitchen with many stoves. I talked to one of the fellas who toured it. It was owned by one of the family members who owned the Food Channel and Hospitals in Southern CA. He was a local volunteer fireman and while he was there, he would tour our operation. He also had 4 or 6 Mastiff Dogs in different colors, did not see them close, but pretty and huge at a distance. They had those swing doors to go inside and out. There were large green houses, barns, out buildings, it was quite a place.
The fire experience was a great adventure.
Schaffer Quips 