who they are who they work for 2 2 1 how hotshots work where they

Monday, July 15, 2013 News 7
Orange County Register
1
WILDFIRES
M E E T
T H E
HOTSHOTS
A Vista Grande Hotshot firefighter pauses to
assess his surroundings during a night burning
operation at the Station Fire in September 2009.
ALL IMAGES: DAVID I. GROSS, ZUMA PRESS
Who were these 19 firefighters killed recently in Arizona? Hotshots are elite, mobile firefighting
crews, based at strategic points around the country, ready to move on a moment’s notice. And yes,
not only do we have Hotshots here in Southern California, the Hotshot concept was born here.
WHO THEY
WORK FOR
WHO THEY ARE
Interagency Hotshot crews — or
IHCs — are special 20-person teams
of firefighters, hired, trained and
assigned to fight wildfires around
the country. Crew members can be
professional firefighters or temporary or seasonal hires. They’re
required to be available 24 hours a
day, seven days a week during fire
season — which can last up to six
months, the U.S. Forest Service
says.
Hotshot crews are
employed by the U.S. Forest
Service, the Bureau of Land
Management, the National
Park Service, Native American tribes and even states:
Alaska and Utah field IHC
crews. National standards
are used to train and
operate the crews.
Hotshot crews originated here in
Southern California in the late
1940s in the Cleveland and Angeles
national forests. The name is a
reference to being in the hottest
part of a fire.
Most Hotshots are young men in
their 20s or early 30s, USA Today
reports, but more women are
joining.
HOW HOTSHOTS WORK
Crews travel primarily by
truck, van or plane but can
also be flown in by helicopter.
They must backpack in all the
water, food and other
supplies they need for their
long workdays.
Here’s how a typical 20-person
crew is set up:
1
Superintendent
2
2
U.S. Forest Service Hotshot firefighters
emerge from the forest after setting advance
fires near Soledad, Calif., in July 2008.
Assistant
superintendents
Hotshots do their thing with
little or no logistical support,
National Geographic reports.
Think of them as the Army’s
special forces. “They don’t
have big equipment like
bulldozers,” Frank Carroll, a
retired Forest Service public
information officer and
former Hotshot squad boss
told National Geographic.
“They use chain saws and
teamwork to get the job
done.”
Squad or
module leaders
15
Crew
members
Because of the long
hours and hard work,
Hotshots need to be in
top physical shape. The
“arduous level fitness
test” requires candidates to hike three
miles in 45 minutes
carrying a 45-pound
backpack. They must
also be able to do 40
situps in a minute. They
train and work out at
least 40 hours a week.
Hotshots are
trained in risk
management,
safety, fire behavior, communications, fire shelter
deployment and
various suppression techniques.
Eighty percent of a
team must have at
least one previous
season of firefighting experience.
As federal workers, they
make about $13 an hour, but
that goes up dramatically
during fire season. Sixteenhour days are not unusual.
Their specialty is wildfire
suppression, but Hotshots
are also assigned other
tasks, the Forest Service
says:
Search and rescue
missions
Disaster response
Thinning and habitat
improvement
Trail construction
The primary hand tool of the
Hotshots is the Pulaski — kind of a
cross between an ax, hoe and shovel.
Crews typically sleep on the
ground and are lucky to get a
shower every couple of days,
the Forest Service says.
WHERE THEY ARE
There are about 107
national Interagency
Hotshot Crews in the
U.S. At least 27 are
right here in
Southern California:
Lytle Creek
San Bernardino
Forest Service
National Park
Big Bear
Bureau of Land Management
Vista
Grande
Bureau of Indian Affairs
County
Lake
Elsinore
Sources: National Forest Service, National Park Service, National Geographic, USA Today
Ramona
It’s named for Edward “Big Ed”
Pulaski, a forest ranger who singlehandedly rescued a team of 45
firefighters in Idaho in 1910. He
created the tool in 1913 and put it
into use in tree planting in the 1920s.
It became standard issue in 1936.
Pulaski was a descendant of American Revolution hero Casimir Pulaski
of Poland.
These
yellow
shirts are
made of
flameresistant
Nomex
fabric.
COMPILED BY CHARLES APPLE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER