The fire lines you put in, the burn outs you conduct, the retardant you call for, the fires you let burn, they are now a part of the land.
Tighten Your Chaps & Talk About Rocks
Lessons from 2020 incidents about chainsaw cuts and heavy equipment rollovers.
Saws, Rocks, & Trees
Here are a few more pieces of the 2020 Infographic. This portion simply lists a few numbers we added up based on reports we received. The numbers by themselves may be enough to generate discussion, but a bit of context is always helpful.
Writing Wrongs
People died fighting fire last year. Quite a few. Each one of them matter. Each one of them count. Whether those individual human lives are reflected in the final figure after the excruciating task of tallying up the "numbers" is done, the living are the one’s left to create meaning out of tragedy.
‘And Then What?’
I think the single-most dangerous thing for a Logistics Chief is indecision, the inability to make the uncomfortable decision with limited information.
Learning from the Bridger Foothills Entrapment and Shelter Deployment
Three members of a helitack crew are overrun by fire inside the meadow that serves as their helispot. Only two of the firefighters have fire shelters.
Smug and Satisfied
We are not “a special breed” or uniquely tough or deserving of anything extra—especially not a cape. Falling down the hero hole will halt your growth.
The Quicksand of Complacency
A first responder can only relax when they are retired or dead, and sustaining that pitch of mindfulness is a hard road.
Where Do We Go From Here?
What do we want to take with us moving forward and what should we leave behind?
The SOG Fire Rock Strike: Lucky? Or Prepared?
SOG Fire Rock Strike “Being lucky is often stated when something attributed to a miracle happens, but preparation is what really creates the outcome.”