Blaine Vandehey spends his summers rappelling from helicopters into active wildfires.
This is his 12th year in the U.S. Forest Service. And he鈥檚 worried about going to fire camp this summer with the menace of COVID-19.
Fire camps are a hotbed of social un-distancing.
鈥淕oing to a fire camp is like a huge summer music festival,鈥� Vandehey says.
This year, fire camp could be as dangerous as the wildfires, and top Western managers are deep in planning how to make fire camps COVID-19 ready for fire crews.
is Washington鈥檚 commissioner of public lands. She says state, federal, tribal and local officials are trying to make fighting wildfires safe during a pandemic.
鈥淗ow do we fight fires in the age of COVID?鈥� she asks.
Franz says state, federal, tribal and local officials are trying to make fighting wildfires safe during a pandemic.
Crispy Underfoot
There are already signs the fire season this year could be more severe.
Bunchgrass in the Columbia Basin is because it鈥檚 so dry, so early. Winter wheat in the Horse Heaven Hills south of the Tri-Cities is nearly knee high, but turning a tinge bluish from drought stress. Fuels are built up from a lighter fire season last year.
滨迟鈥檚 . And . Some areas of the Northwest haven鈥檛 seen a good, wetting-rain in about more than a month.
Red flag warnings have already begun. So far, there鈥檝e been about .
Protecting Crews In 鈥楥lose Quarters鈥�
Just getting to a fire is a problem.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e on the fire line in close quarters,鈥� Franz says. 鈥淯sually, we might have four people on an engine, but with four people on an engine you can鈥檛 operate with social distancing rules. Same with our helicopters and aircraft.鈥�
She says engines may need to only carry two crewmembers at a time. 滨迟鈥檚 harder to distance people in the air.
The actual firefighting is directed by incident commanders. The worst fires 鈥� most complex fires sometimes threatening homes or towns 鈥� are classed as Type 1. Like , California. And for the entire U.S., there are .
鈥淚f we start having those people go down, our capability falls off very sharply, very quickly,鈥� says Michael DeGrosky, who鈥檚 in charge of preventing and putting out fires on about 50 million acres for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.
He says top wildfire commanders tend to be older, and he anticipates:
鈥淵ou鈥檒l see a lot more closed camps, where visitors just won鈥檛 be allowed.鈥�
鈥楥amp Crud鈥� Is Everywhere
At the end of their shift, firefighters go back to camp. Blaine Vandehey listens for the drone of generators to lead him to the center of camp and to the food.
鈥淵ou can usually get a good feel, cause there鈥檚 usually the hum of generators, like massive generators.鈥�
Vandehey says after a firefighter gets to camp, it鈥檚 easy to spot the people in their first year. They wear their work gloves clipped on their belts and their dirty yellow shirts to chow. And they touch stuff.
鈥淭hey have these stainless steel stairs that lead up to a window where you pick up your food,鈥� Vandehey says. 鈥淎nd everyone knows, you don鈥檛 touch the railing on the way up.鈥�
Vandehey remembers when he was new, and an old-salt firefighter told him in a gravely, gruff voice: 鈥淰andehey, hands off the rail.鈥�
Firefighters call what鈥檚 on the railings, tabletops and shower floors 鈥榗amp crud鈥� 鈥� anything from raging athletes' foot to a bad case of the flu. Crews are crammed together. They share picnic tables, outhouses and showers. Vandehey says some wildland firefighters just stop bathing.
Camp crud spreads 鈥� pardon the pun 鈥� like wildfire. It even contaminates the little white plastic screw caps on cubees, those communal five-gallon water jugs.
鈥淓veryone drinks out of them,鈥� Vandehey says. 鈥淪o, if one person touches the inside of that container when they open it, or the inside of that cap, they鈥檝e in essence, inoculated five gallons with whatever the bug is that鈥檚 going around.鈥�
This year鈥檚 camp crud could be COVID-19.
Stopping it is essential. And natural resource managers don鈥檛 want fire camps to become clusters of the infection that鈥檚 already swept around the world in a few months.
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