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Hotshot Crews
Perhaps you should really know what a
Hotshot Crew does. The very term "Hotshot" means many things to
many people. But those of us who recruit, train, and work Hotshots,
the job title is anything but glamorous. From experience we know
that fire-fighting is 90 percent physical labor for the Hotshot
Crews. The nature of the work is demanding. Only those of high
strength, agility, coordination, and stamina can cope with the
sustained physical exertion required of the average Hotshot. As a
Hotshot you will be required to not only produce physically but to
live together, eat together, sleep together in close, crowded
conditions. Complete compatibility is in itself a difficult
challenge. You must take orders, and carry those orders out at all
times, day after day. The emotional strain is extreme and the
competitive pressure of your peer group is always present. For a
crew is only as good as it's weakest member! When not on fire duty,
you will be required to engage in daily structured physical fitness
training that consists of running three to five miles, coordination
exercises, pushups, sit-ups, chin-ups, stretching, etc. The rest of
your day will be like every other day: hard labor using various
hand tools, other duties include digging weeds, picking up garbage,
cleaning up toilets, sharpening tools, piling brush, and other
duties as assigned. You will be expected to be ready at all times
to answer fire calls on the District or throughout the United
States. This requires you to be on a twenty four (24) hour alert.
On the fire line, the Hotshot Crews are singled out for the most
hazardous and difficult assignments. It is normal for Hotshot Crews
to be on the first shift up to thirty two hours before relief is
available. Succeeding shifts of up to 16 hours are necessary. On
occasion you will be "spiked" out away from the main fire camp,
thirsty, hungry, and sleeping on rocky ground, sometimes without
even a sleeping bag. You will hardly have the luxury of washing
your hands, much less facilities to bathe. You will be filthy,
exhausted, underfed, and hurting. There will be no privacy, no
sanitation, no shelter, and no doctors, however first aid is
available. The Hotshot Crew is so named because of the need for
tough, knowledgeable, rugged individuals who can be sent ahead of
the main contingent of ordinary labor crews, and independently
construct holding lines around critical segments of the fire, hold
their line, and survive with little or no support. You will be
required to walk long distances, sometimes packing heavy loads, up
and down extreme mountainous terrain, (carrying packs of hose,
chainsaws, or backpack pumps) cut trees into shorter lengths, drag
limbs and brush out of the fire's path: dig (3 feet to 10 feet
wide) fire lines to mineral soil: build trenches; haul hose, pack
heavy portable pumps and tanks; and burn out your line before the
fire gets there: then start extinguishing spot fires over your
lines. And that's not the end of it. The dirty work of mop-up
begins; digging and scraping all hotspots out and extinguishing the
heat source. Other features of the job are living and breathing
smoke for days, contending with mosquitoes, ticks, gnats, flies,
stump beetles, snakes, scorpions, spiders, rolling rocks and
falling debris, thorns, and cactus. It is dirty, dusty, hot, and
you are always sweaty and at times freezing cold. Hotshots travel
all over the United States and Alaska, often seeing home only a few
days a summer. We want the toughest and the best. Being a Hotshot
can be exciting, but very challenging. Many people try out for the
Hotshots and don't make it. This is not the time or place to get in
shape, you must be in outstanding shape and mentally tough when you
start work.About
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