Ben Walters - Fire Crew: Stories From the Fireline

FIRE CREW: Stories from theFireline
COPYRIGHT 2011 Ben Walters
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

SMASHWORDSEDITION

Available in print atbookstores and online retailers

Cover photos by Kari Greer/NIFC - kariphotos.com
Design by Kelly Andersson - editor@wildfirenews.com

Smashwords Edition LicenseNotes

This ebook is licensed foryour personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold orgiven away to other people. If you would like to share this bookwith another person, please purchase an additional copy for eachrecipient. If youre reading this book and did not purchase it, orit was not purchased for your use only, then please return toSmashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respectingthe hard work of this author.
Contact Ben Walters at jbtaktez@msn.com
ISBN-10 061555248X
ISBN-13 9780615552484

Privacy Notice:
Some - but not all - names have been changed to respect privacy(or, in some cases, to protect the guilty). Organizations, places,situations and descriptions are otherwise all authentic.

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For Sam and Will

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CONTENTS:

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Reviews:

Every year, thousands of young men and womenthink they would like a job as a wildland firefighter. And everyyear, tens of thousands of them do it they fight the summerbattles of wildfire on the forests and grasslands of the West. Somedie. Some have the times of their lives. And many forge lifelongfriendships and collect the memories of a lifetime.

This is the first book to vividly andhonestly portray what it's really like from the spine-chillingfear of a wildfire entrapment to the simple joys of a warm meal anda chilled soda. From the steep mountainsides of Idaho to thesweltering humidity of Florida, Ben Walters tells the stories ofthe fires he fought and the friends he made during his years as awildland firefighter.

FIRE CREW: Stories from the Firelineis the real thing, a must-read for anyone who's done it or wantedto.
In this book, Ben Walters captures the perspective of a young mancast into the world of wildland fire - a world like one could neverexpect. He clearly and honestly portrays the realities of wildlandfirefighting and explains changes in firefighting strategies andpolicy, all of which are still very much in debate in 2011 and willremain in debate because of the lack of corporate and politicalwillpower to make changes.
~ Mike Dietrich, Fire Chief, San Bernardino National Forest(retired)
Alligators and water moccasins mix with jet planes and housingdevelopments and thundering flames -- in this insider look atwildland firefighting today. Ben Walters realistic, day-to-dayaccount of life on a BLM engine crew provides a welcome update onwhat it takes to defend the ground where homes and fire intersect.Sometimes its a picnic, sometimes it raises mortal fears. Waltersportrays the army of young people who battle the flames inreadable, often funny, and always engaging style.
~ John N. Maclean, author of Fire on the Mountain: The TrueStory of the South Canyon Fire
A hilarious, albeit accurate portrayal of life as a young wildlandfirefighter. As wildland firefighters, we have all lived thesestories in some way or another; to read this book took me back intime and invoked the unforgettable smell of smoke, as if it wereyesterday."
~ Emily Webb, former wildland firefighter
What a great book. Couldnt put it down. Made me want to sit on asandwich and sleep on a pile of ants.
~ Brian Ballou, Fire Prevention Specialist, Oregon Department ofForestry
Send in the Marines?? Hell, what are the Marines gonna do?? Withall due respect ... what we need are firefighters, wildlandfirefighters!! Hotshots!! Engine slugs!! Smokejumpers!! Ben Walterscaptures it all, from the first thigh-burning run to the partynights in Florida ... from missing the girl back home to a newworld of best friends bonded through shared life-alteringexperiences.
~ Tony Duprey, Captain, Chumash Tribal Fire Department
"A hilarious, albeit accurate portrayal of life as a young wildlandfirefighter. As wildland firefighters, we have all lived thesestories in some way or another; to read this book took me back intime and evoked the unforgettable smell of smoke as if it wereyesterday."
~ Emily Webb, former wildland firefighter
"This is one of the few books - if not the only one - to accuratelyportray the realities of being a wildland firefighter. Ben Walterstells the story for many of the young men and women who live thislife, and he does it with humor, sadness, and vivid storytellingthat captures the days and nights on the fireline. FIRE CREW:Stories from the Fireline offers insight into why people do thishard, dirty and dangerous work."
~ Marc Rounsavile, Area Commander Team 4, retired
"Walters' narrative offers a unique insight into the archetypalcharacter of the American wildland firefighter."
~ Steve Jackson
"Light, humorous and easy to read, this book brings back memoriesof a fun time to be working in fire. It's extremely accurate - Iknow because I was there!"
~ Bob Mallett, Deputy Fire Management Officer, Idaho FallsDistrict

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Preface

THIS STORY BEGINS IN THE WINTER OF 1993 andends somewhere around the first part of the 21st century. Thenarrative is as close as possible to true, based on my memory andmy extensive notes from those years. There were so many strange,crazy, and fun times during those fire seasons that it would be ashame not to put it down in writing while I am still young enoughto remember so much of it.

I would probably be described by some whoworked with me during those years as the quintessential classclown. Once I became comfortable with the people on a fire crew, Iwas pretty jovial - and loose enough that I would never make itbeyond the first tiers of management, regardless of myqualifications and experience. Those with whom I developed a closerrelationship during those ten seasons knew me as more introspectivethan your average buffoon, and able to work hard once in a while. Istill count those people as good friends, though we seldom have theopportunity to visit now.

During my fire crew years, I never missed thechance at a good time or a good laugh, whether on the job or offduty - and on fire crews in those days, there wasn't always a clearline between the two. Sometimes life seemed a strange sort ofsitcom: real people doing and saying almost unreal things, andunreal situations that really did happen. I was fortunate towitness people at their finest, and sometimes at theirnot-so-finest, and I became friends with some with whom I'd thoughtI had nothing in common. Many years and many jobs later, I believeI have finally reached a proper perspective for those days, and Imiss them.

If you were a character in one of life'shuman interest stories that played out somewhere, during somesummer, in the United States, in yellow and green or black andgray, I have one remark for you - It was fun, wasn't it?

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No Happy Hour