Spilyay Tymoo
Warm Springs, Oregon
September 24, 1998 3
Warm Springs Interagency Hot Shot crew a
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Luther Clements
Every year the Warm Springs
Interagency Hot Shot 20 person fire
crew responds to fire dispatches all
over the Northwest as well as the
Southwest. It takes a special person
who chooses to fight fire for a living.
In the hot summer weather, tempera
tures reach well over 100 degrees in
the shade.
Some fire dispatches have taken
the Warm Springs crew away from
their families as far as Alaska,
Canada, Texas and other states.
This article will be used as an
introduction of who this people are
and why they choose to serve in the
Warm Springs Interagency Hot Shot
crew.
Thirty-four year old Tribal mem
ber and crew superintendent Luther
Clements has three daughters and
resides in the Warm Springs commu
nity. "I started in wild fire in 1984 as
a fire fighter on the engine crew. I
worked for the engine crew for ap
proximate 3 months and then trans
ferred over to the Forest crew. I
worked as a fire fighter for one fire
season and then started to work my
way up the ranks as a squad boss,
Foremen to where I'm currently at
now as the crew superintendent. The
organization started out as a type 2,
crew in 1984 to 1986. In 1987 the
type 2 crew was put on probation
with the forest service to become a
type one Hot Shot 2C person crew.
By the year 1988, the organiza
tion was recognized nationally as a
type one crew. My duties as the
superintendent vary. The two Maine
duties are safety first and to get
training for the Hot Shot program.
While on fire assignments, it is my
job to get information on the fire,
crew assignments, fire location, fire
objectives, fire hazards and time
frames. It takes a lot of time and
experience to manage a program
such as a Hot Shot 20 person fire
crew. As the superintendent, you
have to build trust within every
member of your crew. We have to
work as a team in order to go out and
Story teller Edmo performs
at The Museum At Warm
Springs
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fight forestgrass fires in a safe envi
ronment and take care of each other.
When we as a crew are out on wild
fires, we have to know when it is safe
to fight the fire or when we have to
pull out of the area and let the fire go.
As the superintendent, it is my job to
make these type of decisions and
make sure everyone involved is safe.
When I make a call to stay and fight
an out of control fire, I take the
responsibility of the crew in making
that call. You can' t sit in a class room
and learn when and where to make
decisive decisions. You have to gain
that trust from being out in the fire
environment getting that valuable
experience. A superintendent must
also have confidence in what he's
doing and not seconds guess his de
cisions. The things you learn inside a
class room are just tools to use when
you start gaining the experience and
making decisions. Back in 1 996 when
the Simnasho fire came out of the
Warm Springs Rivercanyon and into
our community, we had engine crews,
helicopters, air tankers and other
crews. The fire started to threaten
structures in the Miller Heights area.
We had to make a tactical decisions
on fighting the fire along with fire
fighter safety. How would you feel
in that position when structures or
even human life were lost? Would
you be willing to take that responsi
bility? That's just one situations out
of many various situations the crew
must get involved in. Even though
the crew was gone on assignment
during the Simnasho fire, I used that
as an example because I think the
community can relate to that situa
tion. The Warm Springs Hot Shot
crew lives and works through and
around these type of situations on all
fire assignments. I would like to en
courage more younger people to take
part in this program. It takes commit
ment and determination to endure
these type's of situations. When you
work for the Warm Springs Hot Shot
crew, you make a lot of sacrifices.
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Anthony Holliday Sr.
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Speaking for myself. I don't get to
spend much of the Summer's with
my daughters. They have to spend
their Summers with their aunts or
grandparents. We have some good
people working on the crew and that
makes my job a lot easier. The crew
also has a good foremen (Tony
Holliday) and three good squad
bosses Glenn Smith, Emerson Culpus
and David Johnson who will intro
duce themselves on this same article.
First, I would like you to read this
poem I picked up during a fire that
was written by acommunity member
in Florida. The Poem is called, Our
Own Special Angels.
Some say that angels come from
heaven; Visions dressed in gold and
white. But, the angels that God sent
to Florida were a very different sight.
They came from states both far and
wide to fight the fires of Hell, and
gratitude that we feel for them mere
words could never tell. Their love
ones were left behind to worry about
their safe return; But, the uppermost
thought in their minds was to not let
our homes burn. Their faces were
covered with blackest soot' their
lungs with smoke were filled. Sleep
was a luxury they could not afford.
We are thankful that none were killed.
They put their lives upon the line for
people who were complete strang
ers. They fought against
unfathomable odds with nary a
thought to all the dangers. The fire
licked hot at their heels but, did they
ever turn and run? No, they faced the
foe and turned it back. They were
heroes every one. They came in all
shapes and sizes. Sex and color mat
tered not. They were giants all, with
nerves of steel; not a loser in the
whole lot. Each night beneath the
red-tinged skies I'm sure their
thoughts did roam from the fires rag
ing around them to their loved ones
at home. Yet they put their own needs
back on hold and returned to the
tasks at hand. They faltered not and,
in the end, they saved our precious
land. They've all earned ourundying
thanks, and I'm sure you don't have
to be told that each and every one of
them have well earned their wings of
gold. Dear God, our prayers you an
swered when these angels you sent
our way. Please continue to bless
them and keep them free from harm
each and every day.
Anthony Holliday Sr. is a
27-year-old Warm Springs Tribal
member married, and has two sons.
"To make a long story short, says
Anthony after working at numerous
types of jobs (office work, Fish and
Wildlife and Forestry) I found a job
that I really enjoy-fire fighting! I
started as a firefighter at Bear Springs
Ranger Station in 1992. After work
ing there for a couple of months, I
transferred to the Warm Springs
Interagency Hot Shot Crew. I started
out as a firefighter, worked my way
up to a squad boss position, in charge
of six crew members, to the assistant
superintendant in charge of 1 8 people.
Made possible through a U.S. West Foundation grant, The
Museum At Warm Springs welcomed internationally acclaimed
poet, playwright, performer and traditional story teller Ed
Edmo September 12. "Edmo's performance was about Grand
mother Chokecherry."
"Grandmother Chokecherry" spoke about boarding school
experiences and the old Indian Rodeo days. She also tells of
personal tragedy, but also tells legends of hope. "Grandmother
Chokecherry loves Spam!" This free performance by Ed Edmo
at The Museum At Warm Springs, brought over 20 listeners. A
film crew from The High Desert Museum was also on location.
The film will be used by The High Desert Museum at their new
exhibit, "Native American People and Art." For more informa
tion contact The Museum At Warm Springs at 553-3331.
Photos from left to right "Grandmother Chokecherry" talks of
hard times while growing up. center photo shows the film crew
in action while others listen on. right photo, "Grandmother
Chokecherry."
It's a good feeling to be on an
all-Indian Hotshot fire crew, because,
out of a total of 68 Hotshot crews in
the nation, there are only four other
B.I.A. Hotshot crews."
" Each Hotshot crew consists of
20 highly skilled firefighters, each
person knowing what their specific
duty is. Whether it's grabbing achain
saw or tools for punching in a
handline to stop the (lames from de
vouring more timber, range land, or
whatever lies in its path. You'll find
it kind of ironic at times. For in
stance, we were in Alaska, being
bused to the fire, and all the commu-
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David H Johnson
nity members were racing by trying
to get away from the raging blaze,
and here we were trying to get into
the fire.
"In all the states we've been to
this year (Alaska, Colorado, Mon
tana, Florida and Washington), we've
never been to a place where we were
not appreciated after the fire was
over. We've met people who have
lost homes, animals etc. and were
still thanking us for being there to
stop the blaze.
If you'r up to a good challenge,
test out being on a Hot Shot crew. It's
very demanding work. You must be
committed and willing to stay away
from home for long periods of time,
work long hours which could range
from 12 to 18 hours per shift. On
some occasions we work over 30
hours just in one shift. You must stay
', in excellent physical and mental
condition. We go on long hikes, if
: there are no woods close by. Some-1
times we hike four to five miles' to a
fire. There are times when you think
you just can't finish the hike because
your feet are pounding, legs are ach
ing and drenched in sweat. When
you see the flames ripping through
the trees, all the aches and pains
seem to go away. The adrenaline, the
natural high you get, the RUSH,
overcomes all.
"Once we get done with the fire or
relief crews come in, it' s time to hike
out again. We end up in the middle of
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national resource
nowhere sometimes and spike out.
Spike camp is where we stay on the
safe side of the fire line. Someone
will fly food, drinking water and
sleeping bags to us. Sometimes we
spike out for three to six days at a
time. So, if you want to push yourself
to the limits, and get an awesome
natural high, test out being on the
Warm Springs Hot Shot crew. The
only down fall is being away from
your family during the summer. Other
than that, you make good money,
you get to see the country and meet
different people from different cul
tures." David H. Johnson is from Burns,
Oregon Indian reservation and is
twenty three-years-old and married.
"This is my fifth year fighting fire
for Warm Springs Fire Management.
I only spent one year on the engine
crew and the rest I have spent on the
Hotshot crew. I started as a crew
member on the hotshot crew organi
zation and moved up to a squad boss
position. Being a squad boss is being
in charge of six crew members. The
organization has three squads, two
of the squads are in charge of the
handline and the other squad is in
charge of saws, the Saw Team. The
saw team goes first and cuts out a
trail for the hand line crew. Once the
cutting is out of the way, the handline
crew goes through and constructs a
handline. A handline is the removal
of anything above mineral soil. We
have to dig down to mineral soil so
the fire runs out of fuel. The width of
the handline depends a lot on the
different things such as fuels, terrain
and slopes.
"There is a lot of training that
needs to be done in class before the
Hot Shot crew can be dispatched to
an incident. While on the Hot Shot
program, I have seen the dangers of
fire and the destruction it can do not
only to the forest but to our commu
nities. Earlier this year we went down
to Florida for a fire dispatch. The fire
had burned into many communities
and consumed many homes. While
we were there it was hard to see what
the fire had done to many families.
Even though many people had lost
their homes, the respect and hospi
tality was so great.
"Another fire where the hospital
ity was so great was the Carla Lake
Fire in Alaska. The crew was flown
in by helicopter into this little Chris
tian community that was in the area
of the fire. The community had many
fields for the crews to sleep in; Our
time was backwards, when the crew
came back to camp for dinner, the
crew was prepared to eat breakfast.
We were unable to ride the helicop
ter at times so we had a three to four
mile hike just to get to our assigned
destination. Hiking is very common
in fire fighting. The Hot Shot crew
has been dispatched to 1 3 fires so far
this year. The crew has also been to
six different states from Alaska to
Florida.
"When the fire season is good, the
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crew is out of town a lot and away
from their families. Some other things
that a fire lighter has to pass up is
being away from family and the
powwows that they go to. It is diffi
cult being a fire fighter but it's a
living and an income."
Glenn Smith is currently em
ployed by the Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs as a fire fighter on
the Warm Springs Interagency Hot
Shot crew. The crew is a national
resource for fighting fire in the U.S.A.
He is 32-years-old and resides in the
community of Warm Springs,
"As a Hot Shot crew member, I'm
currently a squad boss and respon
sible for six other crew members.
I've been enveloped in the fire fight
ing business for the past 1 3 years and
have enjoyed every season.
"This type of job is not for every
one. For example, the crew is away
from their family for as long as 21
days at a time or maybe even longer.
Glenn Smith
That puts a lot of stress on the fire
fighters as well as family members
waiting at home. This year, fire
fighting has taken us as far away as
Alaska, Montana, Florida and Wash
ington. "Being on a type-one Hot Shot
crew, you're able to cover a lot of the
country and work with other fire
fighters from other states. We also
learn to work with other type of fire
suppression equipment. For example,
we're around helicopters, retardent
planes, dozers, chain saws and all
types of hand tools.
- "One memorable fire I recall this
year was in Montana. 'That was our
first dispatch of the year and we were
digging handline uphill. The fire
crossed the handline below us and
started tocome around towards where
we were. The fire chased us out and
we had to start another handline from
the bottom all over again. Looking at
those flames sure got the adrenaline
going on all of us. That is one ex
ample of why I enjoy my choice of
career so much. Each and every fire
is unique. No two fires are alike. You
never know what a wildfire is going
to do from one moment to the next.
This type of work can be very, very,
challenging."
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