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Wildland Firefighting Part 2

  


    The steps to becoming a wildland firefighter are pretty simple. You will need a high school diploma and to take a course on basic wildland firefighting in order to earn a job as a basic wildland firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service. Now, you will also need to complete pack tests to prove that you are capable of doing this physically demanding job. Like any job, the more experience and education you have the faster you will move up the chain of command. 



    You've probably heard of the fire triangle, fuel, oxygen, and heat, which has been key information to fighting fires for decades. However in recent years another element was added making it a fire tetrahedron, a chemical chain reaction being the forth. In order for fire to exist you will need fuel, oxygen, heat, and the chemical chain reaction of all three. So in order to stop a fire you will need to remove at least one of the elements. This is what firefighters do. 



    The main tools that a wildland firefighter uses are what's called a Pulaski, which is a combination of an axe and a hoe for chopping and scraping, a special shovel, that has sharpened edges to cut buried roots and branches, a Mcleod, which has a rake side and a cutting/ scraping side. Hand crews use these tools to dig a Fireline. 


    Another way firefighters cut lines is the use of bulldozers, if you live in California or you've driven on a highway in California during fire season, chances are you’ve seen a Cal Fire dozer being hauled off to go rip through brush and create one hell of a Fireline. 



    Sometimes. In the right conditions fire can jump over fire lines and roads, which is definitely not ideal. One way to prevent this is by a strategy called back burning, where firefighters will light unburned fuels (grass and brush) so there is nothing left for the fire to use as it advances. 

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