{"id":1442,"date":"2016-05-06T21:06:35","date_gmt":"2016-05-06T21:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/?p=1442"},"modified":"2019-06-12T10:24:02","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T15:24:02","slug":"wild-west-firefighters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/2016\/05\/06\/wild-west-firefighters\/","title":{"rendered":"Wild West firefighters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Help wanted for a job in the wilderness. Beautiful scenery with camping accommodations and an occasional shower. May be smoky conditions with long days and no days off. Must not mind walking in ash up to your knees and must be able to carry up to 50 pounds. All day. Required to keep an eye out for poison ivy, poison oak and falling trees. And maybe bears or bear traps.<\/em><\/p>\n

Such an ad doesn\u2019t really exist, but if it did, who would answer it? Probably someone like students Tony Schneider and Matthew Gillstrom, whose summer jobs are fighting wildfires in the western United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely not for someone who can\u2019t take a 16-hour day of hiking and climbing,\u201d Gillstrom said. \u201cOur bodies do go through a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former Marine and health and exercise science major has spent the last two summers fighting wildfires. Gillstrom says he enjoys the firefighting job because he is a lifter, runner, hiker and climber, basically \u201canything that tests your body. I push my body to the breaking point or until my dog can\u2019t run anymore,\u201d he said, laughing.<\/p>\n

Last year, he recruited Schneider, a criminal justice major who was in the Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity with Gillstrom, and this past summer, both completed two 14-day stints (not including travel days), Gillstrom in Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming; and Schneider in California and Colorado.<\/p>\n

Gillstrom enrolled in the wildfire certification course that is held on campus through the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 2013. In order to gain the certification, participants must, among other tests, carry a 45-lb. weighted vest and walk three miles in under 45 minutes. Schneider earned his certification the next year.<\/p>\n

Fighting wildfires usually entails long days, 14 days straight. A normal day starts at 5 a.m. to get everything ready and make sure their tools are sharp. If it\u2019s nothing \u201ctoo crazy,\u201d they\u2019ll begin the hike back to their campsite around 6 or 7 p.m., eat dinner, hang out a little and talk.<\/p>\n

A lot of the work involves clearing trees and creating breaks, usually two to four feet wide, to detain the fire. Or the crew, which is normally comprised of 21 or 22 firefighters, may work in a fire\u2019s aftermath, cutting down trees while wading through ash and flames; or spraying down stump holes to put out the fire in the roots. The men said they have to watch out for the widow makers, branches that fall and bring another tree down with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou do worry about debris, snags or trees falling,\u201d Schneider said. \u201cBut I really thought it was going to be more dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes it is. Once, Gillstrom and his crew were eating lunch on a hillside when the lookout radioed, \u201cGet out; run down as fast as you can,\u201d because the wildfire was heading their way.<\/p>\n

On the first two-week assignment this past summer, Schneider said he was able to take a shower just once throughout the 14 days, and Gillstrom admitted a Wyoming trip allowed only one shower after 12 days.<\/p>\n

\u201cBaby wipes are baths, but some guys don\u2019t even do that,\u201d Gillstrom said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Both like the firefighting job and plan to sign on this coming summer, too. The pay is great, and they enjoy the travel, being outdoors and the excitement; really, they said, they enjoy the entire experience.<\/p>\n

Schneider remembers climbing to the top of a mountain and marveling at the scenery below.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great thing to do in the summer,\u201d Gillstrom said.<\/p>\n

<\/strong>The wildfire fighters journal <\/strong><\/p>\n

If wildfire fighters like Matthew Gillstrom and Tony Schneider had time to keep a journal, it might read something like this:<\/p>\n

Day 1. We <\/em>hiked 45 minutes to the work site.
\n<\/em>Day 2. I have six blisters on each foot.
\n<\/em>Day 3. The crew came across old bear traps in the mountains today.
\n<\/em>Day 4. <\/span>I woke up feeling like I smoked five packs of cigarettes the day before.
\n<\/em>Day 5. I\u2019m with a good crew this time; that makes a big difference.
\n<\/em>Day 7. <\/span>Got back to camp early enough to do an After Action Report \u2013 the crew circled up and\u00a0 discussed what the goal was, how we did, what we could have done better.
\n<\/em>Day 8. Sometimes you just have to focus on one thing just to get it done.
\n<\/em>Day 9. <\/span>I saw a mountain lion today.
\n<\/em>Day 10. I\u2019m starting to count the days until we\u2019re done. Our bodies are so tired, so drained.
\n<\/em>Day 12. <\/span>Finally got to take a shower.
\n<\/em>Day 13. I\u2019m so sore, I can hardly get up in the morning. We\u2019re all hurting so bad. The last two days are the worst.
\n<\/em>Day 14. <\/span>Hiked two hours in to start working. Finally, the last day.
\n<\/em>Day 16. I\u2019m home.
\n<\/em>Day 17.<\/span> I want to go back.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Help wanted for a job in the wilderness. Beautiful scenery with camping accommodations and an occasional shower. May be smoky conditions with long days and no days off. Must not mind walking in ash up to your knees and must be able to carry up to 50 pounds. All day. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[56,18,48,33],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1442"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1442"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4426,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1442\/revisions\/4426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}