Crane Flat Fire Lookout
06:45—We’re awaiting the helicopters to start flying at about 08:00 to bring us some water so we can finish this job. We got a line around the smoldering trees last night, but couldn’t extinguish them because we had no water to do it with.
08:57—Well, we’re still waiting for the helicopter. It seems that the helicopter isn’t even going to be in the park until 09:15. To kill some time we went over and stirred the coals a bit and found a couple of hot spots.
I’ve really tried to be optimistic through this whole thing. I reasoned that even though we’re being sent on snag fires, we’re freeing up people to go out on the important blazes. But I can’t help but wonder what good we’re really doing. I realize that even one smoldering tree can spring into a full-blown fire, but these things have taken so little effort that I wonder if they were worth the time and money that was put into them.
Three Years With the C's 