Wildfires on the West Coast.

Photo Courtesy of photoblog.nbcnews.com

As the temperatures continue to increase and the lack of rain continue to happen. The wildfires on the west coast continues to wreak havoc and destroy countless number of houses and thousands upon thousands of acres of forest and land. 3 days ago the U.S. Military is sending 200 soldiers to help the thinly spread 30,000 firefighters that are out there already battling the wild fires. 

With me being a former volunteer firefighter I have seen some wildfires as well. And they can start just about any way possible. Could be that some one was driving along the freeway and tossed a cigarette butt out the window in the the extremely dry conditions. A reflection through a piece of class from a stationary object with an effect like a magnifying glass focusing the light in to a point. Or it could be just that dry that the material just starts to burn through spontaneous combustion due to the flash point.

I'm going to share with you an experience that I had with one particular wildfire.


I was in a Forrest fire in Corriganville MD. back in 2001 It was about 2 weeks before the 9-11 attacks happened.  We were there creating a fire line clearing trees, leaves and everything that was combustible. We were put right in front of 28 foot sheer face of rock and we could see it in a far distance and just right after we got done with making the fire lines we were told to hurry to our positions. Just as soon as we grabbed our nozzles and got in to positions it switch from a bright sunny partly cloudy day to darker than night with in seconds, then we seen this orange glow and then about 30 seconds from that we felt this breeze. 


Just then the flames just shot strait up the 28 foot high sheer rock face and was 30 feet in the air!!!   I swear it was like standing at the lake of fire!!!!  All you could see was the real bright glow of the flames with the shadows of the trees. We were told to open the nozzles up full bore and fight for our lives! At that exact moment the flames shot up the sheer face 28 foot and an additional 30 feet in the air and everyone thought that it was going to jump the fire line and hit us dead on but it didn't.  The big guy was definitely looking after us that day! About 200 yards down from us was a natural gas well that was well protected as well.. so we all were extremely lucky!!

The firefighters that just fight wild fires know what they are doing from their years of experience and training that never stops. And they have to be in top shape as well. These men and women that fight wild fires put their lives at risk to help protect the forests, land, housed and even people from them. So if you know any one who either fights wildfires or is a Smoke Jumper, tell them thanks and that you appreciate what they do. 

Smoke jumpers have it extremely harder that anyone else. They parachute into the Hot Zone with just only a few days of supplies and they are totally surrounded by the fire its self. So when you see any media coverage or read anything about the West Coast Wild fires think about what the Firemen are going through and say a prayer to help protect them.