Man made are the killers. Of course there are carcinogenic compounds in every type of smoke, but if natural material smoke was deadly, no one could consume grilled food without cancer side effects.. The man made materials are very toxic when burned.
Mostly from structure fires/synthetic materials. Although everything is carcigenic when burned, the synthetic materials are absolutely terrible. Wildfire smoke has traditionally been thought to be relatively harmless, but emerging research is beginning to suggest otherwise. Not to mention, that it's compounded if structures are burning as well. I've been involved in some very large wildland fires that involved countless homes, one in particular, one of the colleges did a blood analysis on some of the first responders after the fire. I didn't test, but my partner did and he had dangerously high concentrations of heavy metals/other bad *s-word for months afterwards.
You’re not the first person to ask me that
In all seriousness, I guess you could say I’m a jack of all trades, and master of none. I’ve always enjoyed learning more - doing whatever I feel I am capable of. I’ve always followed what interests me and ran with it until another opportunity opened up.
Honestly, it bothers me when I look back at all the jobs and “careers” I’ve had - I never wanted to be “that guy”. I always figured you go to school, get a career, and stay there until you retire. But I have no regrets - I have gained a lot of knowledge and experience from a lot of places and I use those skills daily. And every move I’ve made has been in a positive direction to improve myself.
I agree. Variety is the spice of life they say. And becoming restless or worse, complacent, because you get to the top of things is never good.
If I remember correctly, 93% of fire departments are volunteer, the rest are full time, fully funded…
I think the worst part about the volunteer departments is the lack of funding. We have to volunteer our time a few times a year (mandatory - so more like volun-told) for fundraisers just to bring money into the dept to keep up with equipment costs and training costs. The little bit we get from the townships for a contract coverage agreement isn’t enough to keep the trucks up, let alone $4500 set of gear per fire fighter and all the other tools and equipment.
Yes, we have been told that we need to wash our gear after every fire for this very reason. Lots of guys wash there turnouts. But how many wash there wildland fire gear?
That’s awesome. I’m sure your department appreciates that!
River Bottom Fire. That's a term I haven't heard before.
River bottom just means river canyon or channel. It’s the New River created by a mishap while tapping into the Colorado river to bring water to this valley around 100 years ago.
I think bottom is a southern term, like a holler. The river carved out a pretty decent canyon when it was created. Flooded the whole valley (Below sea level).
I guess it just surprised me. Our rivers mostly have water in them.
It was quite a river when it formed the canyon but now it is much smaller. It’s the only geographical feature through the middle of the valley. Lots of brush and small trees grow in it (mostly undesirable invasive salt cedar), lots of wildlife.
