KatieTheKat

Official Wildfire Fighter Uniform

The last couple of days I have worn my reds and blues.  We don't normally wear them around base since they're made of fancy fire-retardant material and we don't want to wear them out, but this is the outfit I wear whenever I'm called out to a fire or doing other special training activities.

That doesn't mean I've been to fires in the last couple of days... a real fire for me is yet to come.

But Wednesday after work we met the local volunteer fire department up at the airport for a training exercise.  It involved setting up portable water tanks for the fire trucks to fill and from which we pumped foam onto on imaginary fire in the blackberry bushes along the side of the runway.  My job was to get the pump running and man the artificial water source, and all went well.  Meanwhile the fire department guys helped with spraying the bushes, transporting the water, and setting up sprinklers to "protect" a building from the "impending flames".  It was fun!

Yesterday we did our own fairly similar training exercise at our base along with our CFFs (contract fire fighters who are called in as needed).  I ended that exercise soaking wet because the hose filling our portable tank from the municipal water main at some point started gushing out like a fountain, drowning the pump.  I had to try to wrestle it back into the tank and find a way to make it stay put while I got the pump going again... which I did not all that successfully hence the wetness.  Luckily it was a sunny day  and again I had a lot of fun.

As of an hour and a half ago, I am on minimum standby for the weekend.  This means that between 8:30am and 10:30pm today and Monday, and between 10am and 10pm Saturday and Sunday, I could get a call telling me I need to be at base and ready to hop in a truck or helicopter (in my reds and blues) within 20 minutes.  It takes me about 13mins to pedal hard from my house up the hill to the base, so I have a little leeway for getting my things together and getting changed once I get there.  I will not be able to stray far or to do any activity that leaves me away from my phone (like say going swimming), as I must be ready to respond.  I think I may be doing a lot of at home yoga classes and arts and crafts this summer..