Helicopter Ride

Last night as I was in line for dinner (which was a specially made cheese lasagna just for myself and one other person because the rest of the lasagna had turkey meat in it) the call came over the intercom that the two crews remaining in camp would be going out on a fire call after dinner. This announcement changed the entire demeanor of just about everyone in the dining hall – me included. I hurried and ate the very delicious cheese lasagna. Everyone else in the dining hall also ate very quickly and the conversations were minimal. There are many guys who look forward to these fire calls but when they happen on Friday nights, it seems no one wants to go out on a fire call. My feelings are somewhat ambivalent. I know this is my lot for the moment and I accept it. I don’t get overly excited – for me it is what it is. I do my best to stay positive in everyway. Truthfully, I wasn’t looking forward to responding to a fire call last night which potentially could have cancelled any visits I may have this weekend. However, I have no other options and I must do what I am told.

I finished my meal and set off to my room to prepare. Of course, just like previous calls it was hurry up and wait. The other crew headed out while my crew waited for our Captain. About an hour later, an announcement was made that my crew wouldn’t be leaving tonight, instead we would be going out at 6:00 am in the morning. In a perfect world these fire calls would occur on weekdays leaving the weekends for visits but this is not realistic. But I am doing something I never thought I would ever do and soaking in every moment.

I boarded the fire bus at 6:00 am and we were off to the fire which was about an hour away in a desert area of Anza. Since the fire was in a very remote and rugged location, a helicopter was needed to access the area. We could have hiked to the area but that would have taken several hours through some hilly and rocky terrain. For once we didn’t have to hike since the helicopter was available. Many of my fellow crew members were very excited about the prospect of flying on the helicopter. I too was excited because this would be my first helicopter ride. I remember flying on a very small airplane with my father and sister in the Poconos when I was a child. This was a scenic tour of the area and the small plane functioned like a helicopter. I also remember wanting to take a helicopter tour of the volcanoes in Hawaii but after reading how often these crash, I chickened out. Today I had no choice but to fly in it since it was the quickest way to get to the burn area.

The helicopter seated 8 passengers with 1 pilot. Payload is a very large factor in determining the seating capacity for the ride. Each of us was asked our weight combined with the weight of our backpack in order to figure out how many crew members can fly on the helicopter. Yes, of course, I weighed the least with a combined weight of 185 pounds. (145 for me and 40 for my backpack) The other weight ranges were in the 200 plus range and the helitack crew did all number crunching to see who was flying with who. The other crew went first to scope out the burn area and if need be we would join them later. We waited an hour and a half and got the call that they needed assistance. We were then given the safety precautions about entering and exiting – which were to stay away from the back because this is where the tail rotor is located and to not move during the flight. Movement makes the helicopter very unstable and if the pilot senses this he will set the helicopter down.

I was in the second group to board and since I was the last person I got to sit next to the window. I entered very cognizant of keeping my head down for fear of the center rotor. To my surprise, this was well above my head – about 10 feet from the ground. I did sit next to the window which was also next to the door. The helicopter felt much like a very small airplane with the one exception of being able to take off straight up. The short ride of 3 minutes was very smooth and so was the landing. As I was up in the air, I thought to myself, “What a great experience.” Here I am in prison yet I was in a helicopter headed to fight a wildfire. Yes, my situation keeps getting better as each day passes.

As I disembarked the helicopter, I surveyed the burned area and once again the fire was essentially out but there were a few areas which were smoldering. A fire line had been put around the small area of 4 acres. I also noticed the surrounding area which was all desert with some vegetation. The fire could have gotten out of control, but based on the surrounding area even with high winds, it would have been a slow moving fire. This was one of nature’s fires because it started by a lightning strike. I believe nature knows what it is doing and mankind is screwing this up. In my mind there wasn’t any reason to not let this fire take its course. There were no structures and the location was remote. Nature has been doing these kinds of things for millions of years and the earth has flourished. Anyhow the fire was contained from the night before with airplane drops of fire retardant. This turned some of the area a shade of orange. Yes, the fire blackened the area and destroyed some vegetation. The smell lingered in the air but I also noticed a very nice smelling fragrance which I really enjoyed. This almost smelled like Eucalyptus, but it was not, it was a juniper bush.

I was smack in the middle of a desert and fortunately the temp only reached 100 degrees with the humidity at 20%. Our task was to rake through the white ash and to stop anything which was smoldering. I actually put out 2 fires (real fires – well very small fires which were in the root of a cactus) using my McLeod and dirt. I did my best to keep raking throughout the day but towards the afternoon many of us were tired and most of the work was complete. We took several breaks during the afternoon and shade was a prized commodity. There weren’t many tall trees and sometimes shade was found behind a large rock. However, rattlesnakes have a tendency to frequent these locations so sitting there is not recommended. I didn’t see any live snakes but I did see a snake skin. It appeared the snake was killed in the fire as only the skin was left. Another interesting thing about literally being in the middle of nowhere was there were flies everywhere. I couldn’t figure out why because there weren’t any live or dead animals around nor was there any water nearby, but there were plenty of flies.

Finally around 4:30, the Captain radioed for the helicopter and we started moving out. Just like our arrival, the helitack crew crunched the passenger weights and put us in order. The ride back was the same as the smooth ride this morning. I was in awe of the surroundings. The ride only lasted 3 minutes, but I was in the helicopter as an inmate and I am very blessed to have this opportunity. Sometimes even though I do my best to maintain positive outlook, I do get down. Being in the helicopter for a total of 7 minutes today outweighed anything negative from the entire day. I am truly fortunate to have been given this new lease on life and I am making everyday count. I do have an incredible life which gets more incredible with each passing day.