I’m pretty sure the end of September/ start of October is the longest straight period I’ve ever worked, but I got to undertake a really cool work assignment on the weekends which made it totally worth it!
I was fortunate enough to spend the last weekend in September and first weekend in October working out on the neighboring Apache-Sigtreaves National Forests (A-S) to help with the annual A-S Women in Wildfire boot camp.
(You can read the stories I wrote here and here.)
It was SO fun.
While I’m really grateful to work with such awesome people who have typically been encouraging, inspiring and very forward-thinking, working in a male-dominated industry is a little tough.
While fire information is a very woman-dominated segment of wildfire — and we have TWO women in charge here both on the Coconino and at our regional level — fire is still very much male-dominated.
I was the only woman in my basic wildland firefighting training, and I’m routinely the only woman at Command and General Staff meetings.
So, I’m really glad that things like Women in Wildfire* exist.
(*Women in Wildfire isn’t technically exclusive to women. It’s technically open to everyone, and it does target underrepresented segments of the American population who are interested in fire, and works to eliminate those barriers.)
It was run over the course of two consecutive three-day weekends, and concluded on Sunday.
Participants went into the training with a little bit of online classwork so they had a basic knowledge to expand upon.
The entire training was run like an incident. Participants camped out at the work center, woke up early to dress in green Nomex pants and participate in physical training and morning briefing, and then spent their day working.
Except, instead of working on an actual wildfire, they attended either class sessions or field sessions.
Class work included sessions on things like sand table operations, navigating USAJobs, writing resumes, learning about firefighting strategy and safety and participating in after-action reviews, where they discussed lessons learned.
Field sessions included line digging, learning about firing operations, operating heavy machinery, caring for hand tools, navigating fire engines, taking wind and weather measurements, learning how to handle medical incidents and deploying fire shelters.
At the end of the training, participants were put through an arduous work capacity test — basically a physical fitness test — and then awarded with red cards deeming them qualified as Type 2 firefighters.
Throughout the whole event, I got to take photos and videos and interview participants and at the end of it all, I compiled some event coverage for the A-S to keep, and for me to pitch to local media.
It felt great to play local journalist again for a day!
I was able to write two 800-900 word stories (read em below) AND break out my old DSLR to take some photos.
Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests host fourth annual Women in Wildfire bootcamp
By Randi Shaffer | USDA Forest Service
Recent wildfires motivate area residents to train as wildland firefighters
By Randi Shaffer | USDA Forest Service
I also wanted to share a few of the snaps I took over the six days I was on site.
Also… man. I didn’t realize how OLD my DSLR was until this assignment. I kept wondering why all my photos looked grainy and then realized my old Canon Rebel XTi… from 2006… is roughly 20 years old.
Yikes. Time flies.
I promptly ordered a new camera body once my assignment ended. More on that later, probably.
All photos property of USDA Forest Service/ Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests.
My views are mine alone and don’t represent those of my employer, agency or the United States government. All photos were taken by me and/or credited photographer unless otherwise noted. You can read more on my disclosure and privacy policy page.
