2. 2009

Crazy Mountain Complex Fire - Circle, Alaska

An engine crew assignment on a portion of a 500,000 acre fire complex in Circle, Alaska. We were on this fire for two weeks, total.
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John moves down a well-constructed fireline carrying a bundle of hose we picked up along the way.
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John moves down a well-constructed fireline carrying a bundle of hose we picked up along the way.

CMSFDCrazy Mountain ComplexFirefightingAlaskaJohn Atwell2009

  • Danny entices a camp robber for the sake of the photos.
  • A camp robber eyes the camera as it decides whether to take our food.
  • Danny winces a bit as a camp robber takes the bait and gets up close and personal.
  • A camp robber gets away with a nice snack fresh from Danny's head.
  • Danny keeps an eye on the birds as he decides which one to bait for a photo op.
  • A camp robber does a swift grab-and-go without even touching down.
  • We pause for a moment on our road patrol to watch a tree torch off. Even after a bit of rain that cleared up our smoke, the fire burns on without much slowing.
  • Fire climbs to the top of a spruce, torching the tree in a matter of seconds with a noise like an incoming jet.
  • I spent some free time whittling a ball in a cage for Amber in supply who kept us well stocked with equipment and MREs. The scorpion on top was a number of things before it developed into this final product.
  • After a week or so on the fire a crew from New York moved into camp next to us. Danny shows them what a little coffee creamer can do.
  • John and Danny work to get a pump started at our water supply. This pump gave us some trouble and eventually we relied on another to keep water flowing.
  • Flame from burning cardboard drops into the flooded cylinder of the pump, helping to clear it of the puddle of gasoline inside.
  • MREs often include postcards on the cartons of fruit inside. We fired one home to our chief with a few touches of character added.
  • The small post office in Circle had the usual wanted posters on the wall, which included one that was interesting to us...
  • Brush 62 sits on the river's edge while we pick up all the hose used to protect a structure nearby.
  • John moves down a well-constructed fireline carrying a bundle of hose we picked up along the way.
  • John Atwell carries a heavy hoseload back to the road after the fire starts to die down and danger diminishes.
  • We picked up a large rock in our dualies on the riverbed, and John worked for a bit trying to pry and beat it out.
  • John and Danny work at prying a rock from our dualies.
  • While we were working at freeing the rock from our tires, a hotshot wandered over and advised us of a much better method of removal than beating on it.
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