E S S A Y

 

THE FIRE WARRIORS

“Through These Portals Pass the Best Firefighters
on the Forest”
- Inscription over the doorway of fire camp HQ, somewhere in California

By
NICK MICHAELS

 

The thumb drive appeared in my mailbox in an unmarked envelope. A torn sheet of distressed paper, like something you might try to light a fire with, was crumpled around the drive. I flattened the paper and found

You’re welcome.
– Condor

The message had been scrawled with a Sharpie, graffiti style.

Naturally curious I rushed to open the mysterious files but worried that it might be a malicious prank to pilfer my data and incinerate my entire digital life in one negligent click. I’m not the only journo who makes enemies for telling truths.

The little black pill sat on the edge of my desk. It beckoned me down its rabbit hole for two days and I nearly flicked it into the waste can over six times.

I finally contacted a friend of a friend with “white hat” hacker connections. My friend’s friend advised that his friend recommended tossing it, but said that if I was still curious, he could safely disable an autorun registry key and perform a little black box wizardry for me.

The next day, a teenage Latina in a “Kershaw” Dodger jersey expertly slid up to my car on her skateboard and casually snatched the envelope. One Bitcoin transaction and one day later I had been assured the drive was clean and it was delivered via the same courier, different jersey. Today, it read “Seager.”

The little black lozenge contained one file but it held over 50 photographs taken from the front lines of the worst forest fire disaster in California history. Some fires started before this writing are still burning but the current Cal Fire accounting is a jaw dropping and tragic tally that enumerates: over 4 million acres burned, nearly 10,000 “incidents”, 11,000 structures and most sadly, 31 fatalities.

For several months I had pleaded with varied US departments of Forestry and Bureaus of Land Management to let me and a photographer embed with a “Hot Shot” crew.

Hotshots are elite firefighters trained to fight wildland fires and respond to other emergencies nationwide. They are the crews in the trenches, cutting lines, felling trees and otherwise racing to ground zero to protect or rescue not only civilians but the forest itself. The reaction to my request never wavered: “You couldn’t keep up and we can’t be responsible.”

I can’t imagine exactly how Condor found me. I was often seen badgering the Supervisors based out of Ojai, California.
I am fairly confident that the photos originate from the Los Padres Hot Shot Crew. One of the oldest such crews, LP was established in 1948 as an initial attack and follow up crew for the Los Padres National Forest. The Padres stretch from Monterey to Los Angeles, California and in 2020 it saw some of the most terrifying fires in our nation’s history.

The department frowns on photographs by crew members, although the unspoken code was established when cameras weighed 1,000 pounds and hung around your neck, unlike a smartphone that slips neatly into your pocket.

Honestly, from my interviews with crews, I can’t imagine when they would have even a moment to snap a picture but I was thrilled when I saw the images on the flash drive.

I’ve come to believe that the photos are not only those of Condor but may in fact be from several photographers over a number of incidents.
In each image, there is a sense of wonderment at the scale of the forces against which they battle and an underlying theme of teamwork.

Thanks to Condor, we have a glimpse into a life of disciplined action that requires not only fitness and mental toughness but an appreciation of the beauty and importance of our natural surroundings, an appreciation that inspires one to thrust themselves into the face of danger. To Condor, I say “Thank you."

~ Nick Michaels, Journalist and now Art Curator