More of What These Guys Do
After last week’s column, I got several really nice comments from readers. Since I have more than 200 folks on my mailing list, the copies of “Daunt to Dillonwood” spread out to email boxes literally all over the world.
Back to the various skillsets found around the fire, and in fire camp. Maybe a brief description of the term “fire camp” is also in order.
Depending on the size of the fire, there can be anywhere from a few hundred residents in a centralized sleeping and eating location, up to several thousand. As the fire progresses, the numbers grow as more and more crews and equipment are requested. The location of a fire camp isn’t just dependent on sufficient size and ease of access, but must also be a location safe from being threatened by burn-over. Finding a safe place, large enough to house all the equipment required to provide the needs of the firefighters and their support folks, can be a real challenge. Fairgrounds, public parks, city and county parks, campgrounds, an airport, several schools, and even an old lumber mill, are examples of the various locations where I’ve been assigned over the years.
There are at least three different kinds of “water truck drivers” around most any fire. First are the trucks who carry water out to the big fire engines working in different sections of the fire. Their powerful pumps may support and charge a large network of what we jokingly call “plumbing” across the breadth of the fire. Hoses may be strung long distances, in order to provide water which is available to spray on the fire. These engines are attached to a network of hose to carry water where the truck can’t travel.
This may be down into steep canyons, or up over equally steep ridges or mountains. Often the network of hoses are spread around residences and buildings in what is termed “structure protection.” Regardless where the hoses lead, to refill the supply tanks in the engines they’d have to disconnect and travel to a supply, unless the water trucks come to them.
The drivers of these “water tenders” have to negotiate rough and rugged roads, usually quite dusty, to reach the thirsty pumps of the fire engines. Often more trucks are assigned to spray water on the roads to minimize the choking dust. This group of water trucks carry only non-potable water, not considered suitable for human consumption.
Obviously, there then have to be a group of trucks providing potable water, which is generally around fire camp. The kitchen needs an adequate supply of water to prepare the food, plus the handwashing stations near the porta-potties also need clean water to wash hands. The showers sometimes provide their own tanks but often they need to use big flat rubber bags as supply containers. The potable water trucks make the rounds to fill, or top off, each supply bag and tank during the day while the day crews of firefighters are out on the fire line.
The kitchen, showers, and hand washing stations don’t just run their grey water out on the ground. It fills other flat empty rubber bags, until it gets hauled away for ultimate disposal. Soap, shampoo, toothpaste, shaving soap, plus human body grime and oils, infuse the grey water. Some nearby farm or ranch will sometimes agree to let the grey water trucks dump their loads in an unused draw or ravine to let the percolation into the earth remove the particulate matter suspended in the water. Other times and other situations will have the grey water trucks going to some city or country sewer farm for disposal.
One other group of trucks with tanks on the back, are the group of notso-sweet-smelling Portapotty Pumpers. These are usually provided as part of the contract to provide the large number of Portapotties, and subsequently, their daily maintenance. As the porta-potty is used, human waste collects in the bottom tank. Unless the tank is refreshed at least once a day by pumping it empty and refilling it with water and fresh chemicals, the stench becomes onerous. In some camps, there are enough people using the “blue phone booth” as they sometimes are dubbed if made of blue plastic, the pumper truck will have to come twice a day. While the truck is pumping the bottom tank dry to refresh it, the odor wafting about is often far from pleasant.
One more truck with a tank on the back is the fuel vender. This is often a diesel engine tanker truck with both gas and diesel tanks. We see them delivering fuel to the local gas stations, often as a tractor-trailer unit. On fires, the company usually only sends the tractor with a divided tank carrying both regular gas and diesel.
During the early morning hours the day crews who didn’t fuel when they came into camp last night, will stop and fill up on the way out to the fire for their shift. Once that group of vehicles have made their fuel stops, usually around 10 a.m., the fuel truck starts around to all the diesel-fueled portable light towers, and tops off each tank. Some light towers run all night, others only until 10 p.m., then start up again at 5:30 a.m.
I thought two editions of the column would be enough to cover all the various folks in and around Fire Camp. But it’s going to take one more day to finish. If you have friends or family who would like to get an emailed copy of the column, copied and pasted just as it appears in the Recorder, drop me a note to thefoothillwriter@gmail.com and I’ll be glad to add them. Of course, there’s no charge.