It has been a moooooonth.
This past Tuesday was the first day I’d had off work since mid-June because fire season f*cking showed UP.
I was binging “The OC” (don’t judge me) on my couch in my sports bra and leggings after back-to-back hot pilates and spin class on Juneteenth when the Pocket Fire broke out between Flagstaff and Sedona, and I got the “hey, we need your help real quick” call from our forest deputy fire staff officer.
So, I was up and to my office… and then that fire kept me busy for nine days.
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My Type 3 Incident Management Team (IMT) mobilized within a few hours to take the helm for about 24 hours until Southwest Area Incident Management Team 2 (a complex IMT with a bigger capacity) could arrive to assume command of the fire.
The lead Public Information Officers (PIOs) for Team 2 were nice enough to let me stick around for a little more than a week and help them out, which was very kind of them! I’m never one to turn down a fire assignment — especially if it’s in my community.
I mostly spent this assignment working in the office branch, which means I write, edit and distribute products for the public: daily updates, news releases, social media posts, etc.
We had our Incident Command Post set up at Fort Tuthill County Park, and we were treated to an appearance by the therapy dogs a few times!
After the nightmare situation that was the caterer on the Dragon Bravo Fire (Latitude, I’ll name-and-shame) it was such a pleasant surprise to have a caterer that not only didn’t suck- it was actually good.
While I mostly focused on writing up content to share with the public, I did get to make it out of the office a few times. I was able to fill in on trap lines for a day, which is always the most fun assignment (in my opinion). “Trapliners” are the PIOs that, essentially, hit the streets with a staple gun and a bunch of fliers, and spend their days sharing updates with local businesses, or stapling maps on fire information boards, or standing outside and talking to visitors or really anyone interested in the fire.
I also got to staff a table at the Flagstaff Farmers Market for several hours, where I shared fire information with the public against a very smoky horizon.
The week-plus was pretty chaotic. Working fires on my home forest is always a bit of a tough situation, because I know so many people who are deeply affected by them. We had several friends in Kachina Village who were put on “set” status, and Ryan spent his days off helping to grab sentimental items for some of our friends who were put into “set” status while they were out of town on vacation.
It was definitely a bit of a harrowing fire being so close to town — both Flagstaff and Sedona.
Thankfully, our forest has done a lot of fuels mitigation treatment work south of Kachina Village, which definitely helped save infrastructure given the Red Flag Warning wind conditions.
Just a little reminder to support your local prescribed fire projects!
And thankfully, most of Team 2’s operations section chiefs work here on the Coconino. Local knowledge is always a huge boon.
Thanks again Southwest Team 2 for letting me help out my community! A little more than a week into the Pocket Fire, the IMT I’m formally rostered with (Southwest Team 4) got an order, so Team 2 cut me loose so I could head to Colorado for a fire assignment with my IMT. I’ll share a bit more about that one at a later point in time.
After my two weeks in Colorado, I ended up back on the Pocket Fire with my Type 3 team once again to close it out as monsoons (thankfully) started rolling in.
Finally, I was able to demobilize Monday and take a few days off this past week.
Definitely a busy month, but also a rewarding one!
