It’s been a season.
Nationwide, we’re still in Preparedness Level (PL) 5 — which means wildfire response is an all-hands-on-deck situation and we’re pretty strapped for resources.
I just got back from my third (and last) fire assignment of the season, which was the Bench Fire up on the Warm Springs reservation in Oregon.
My team (Southwest Team 4) is still available for more wildfire response this summer, but since our foreign exchange student has arrived and is getting settled, I’m done with fires for the year so I can dedicate my time to her. It’s so worth it- she’s amazing.
Overall, it was a pretty good assignment, especially since it was a pretty quick turnaround from the Pocket Fire to the Willow Fire back to the Pocket Fire to the Bench. I got to work with all the PIOs rostered on my incident management team (IMT) and a few extras we were able to order in to help us out during our time on the Bench.
While the fire was located on the Warm Springs reservation, we ended up working out of the Madras High School over in Madras, since it was logistically most feasible.
We’re always really wary of creating a strain on local resources when we set up camp anywhere.
Central Oregon was really dry and really hazy during my whole time up there. I really feel for the communities.
I worked with our team’s liaison officers to coordinate a visit by Sen. Wyden, which was pretty cool. I’ve helped a bit with VIP visits on fires, but I’ve never taken the lead from the PIO perspective, so it was a great learning experience.
We were based out of a school again, which is always nice, because it means bathrooms with running water (!) and toilets that flush (!!!).
I have high standards in this job.
We were placed in the math teacher’s classroom again. Mr. Wilson also happened to be the golf coach, and he was nice enough to stop in while we were working and get us the keys to the school’s courtyard, which had a little putting green.
Thank you Mr. Wilson!
Because I’m terrible at golf, Iric beat me at a game of HORSE both left-handed and blindfolded, which is par for the course (pun intended).
Don’t let the photos fool you- I really only played one game because 1. I did have real work to do, and 2. It was 100 degrees outside every day.
In more serious fire camp news, we celebrated two birthdays in the PIO shop. As it turned out, both Jay and Javin (who also goes by Jay) had their birthday on the same day.
Naturally, we made a banner, got cake, and launched a weather balloon.
Normal fire camp birthday celebrations.
We also had a few therapy dog visits.
And, we created a display of all the thank you cards we received. The communities of Madras and Warm Springs were both so kind!
Outside of fire camp, I was also able to see the smallest bit of central Oregon.
First- I was really excited to learn more about the Warm Springs tribe.
The Warm Springs reservation is the largest in Oregon. We were lucky enough to take a trip to the Museum at Warm Springs to learn about the tribe’s history and culture.
In addition to learning about the tribe’s culture, I also snagged a gorgeous pair of handmade earrings from a local indigenous artist.
Since we were working out of Madras High School, I found a little bit of time to venture into downtown Madras. I was able to try a few restaurants for lunch and dinner, including Curry Nest (delicious!), Rio (also delicious enough that we went twice!), Mazatlan and Lao Teng (a Thai food truck).
I also did a bit of shopping- my favorite store was Blackbird Magical Tea & Tales, which was this cute witchy-themed bookstore, souvenir shop and costume store.
I also drove into Prineville a few times to run a few work-related errands, but definitely took advantage of the chance to grab some huckleberry milkshakes.
My favorite was at Dawg House.
Outside of Madras, I also had a few hours on the tail end of my assignment to make the one-hour drive over to Sisters, which is a central Oregon tourist town that’s kind of like, western-hipster.
I honestly could have spent a few more days in Sisters. The few hours I spent there was not enough!
I started with an iced chai latte at Sisters Coffee Company, which was packed but a vibe.
I walked around and checked out some of the stores (my favorites were Paulina Springs Books,
I stopped by the Barn, which is one of those permanent-bar-buildings-surrounded-by-open-food-truck-courtyard situations I love a lot.
Even though I couldn’t have a beer or anything, I did have an amazing vegan bowl from Rootbound (which was fantastic after two weeks of high-calorie fire camp food) and enjoyed a bit of time in the fresh air.
Madras was pretty socked in with smoke during our whole assignment, so I totally embraced the fresh air in Sisters.
Afterward, I did a bit of shopping around. I checked out Paulina Springs (always a sucker for a cute local bookstore) and a few other downtown stores.
I loved Rescued Living, Sisters Hats + Co, Inscape Plant Co, Landmark Fine goods…
…honestly, every store was great. I bought some goodies, like huckleberry jam, stickers, greeting cards… and a disco cowboy boot vase, which was probably the most Sisters-esque souvenir I could think of.
After two weeks, it was time for the whole team to demobilize. We all packed up, said our goodbyes, and left for home.
I was treated to this banger of a sunset on my 18-hour drive home.
So, that was about it! I’m honestly a bit bummed my season is over so early this year. I love wildfire work — if there was feasibly a way to quit my day job and do it full-time, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
However, I also absolutely love Krissy, and giving up the rest of my season for her was the easiest decision. She’s great.
Already looking forward to next year!
My views are mine alone and don’t represent those of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Forest Service or the United States government. All photos were taken by me and/or credited photographer unless otherwise noted, and are property of either myself or the USDA Forest Service. You can read more on my disclosure and privacy policy page.
