AFIREAFIREAFIIIRREE!!!!!!! A REAL OONNNEEE!!!

i just got back from 5 1/2 days on a FFIIIIIIRRRREEEEEE!!!!  it was just a few miles into colorado and laramie was the first crew there!  it started out as 10 acres (one acre is almost the exact size of one football field, that's what they told me because i can never visualize the size...) and then the second day it was pretty windy and there were a lot of spots that started burning, so with all the spots and the main fire, it ended up about 50 acres, i believe. 
anyways.
so much line to dig (like making a trail so the fire can't get out...)
so much gridding around the line - climbing through giant sage brush and juniper and spider webs looking for spots
so much mopping up - with and without hose.  (also.  i carried 300 feet of hose up a cliff.  had my man muscles on for sure.  ok it wasn't actually a cliff, but it was pretty dang steep.)
a few naps
a few crazy games
a lot of snacks
waaaaaaay too many burritos...

this is thursday morning.  we are in a "safety stand-down" and so we can't cut down trees with our saws, so we have to let the machines cut down the trees and then we pick up after them. 

so we were waiting for the machines to finish so we could do some work...

brian, johnny, booker, ME

i was booker's model for his "rule of thirds".  he says he's a photographer.  jay is in the background.  we were having the hopefully one time annual fuels crew woodchopper's jamboree.  we were having races cutting down trees with axes since we couldn't use our saws.

i cut the smallest tree and it took me 8 minutes.  i lost.

duh duhduh daaaa!....THE FIRE!!  we are all gearing up to go down the mountain to the fire to start digging line

johnny, ME, jay, logan booker, kotula

(left to right - not closest to furthest...)

unfortunately for you (ok, ok, me too), i didn't have my camera with me - i don't take it to work because i tend to break those kinds of things - so no action pictures.  there were so many photography moments too.  i'll be honest, i'm a little sad.  but next time.  i'll have it next time.