My First Forest Fire, Part 4

         Finally off in the distance, I heard the whop, whop, whop of the helicopter, it was just like in the beginning of MASH, the TV show.  The chopper came into view with a rush from behind the trees, circling us, and then settling down in a flurry of flying dust, twigs, and noise. 

        When it shut down, Grant climbed out, along with Ron and Guy (two local loggers) who were to be the Fire Bosses. A bus carrying the firefighters arrived about the same time.  It was decided that Grant, along with JJ, Bob, and I, would fly in first, so we could begin to set up the camp.

        Securely buckled to my the seat, and feeling lucky to be sitting in a window seat, we lifted off.  My eyes were scanning every where; the scattered farm houses and hayfields shrank as the horizons expanded. There was the Fraser River, now under us, and soon we were moving along the slopes of the snow- capped mountains which cradled the McGregor river.

        “There’s the fire,” I heard Grant say through the earphones, as he pointed out a thin white column of smoke that was twisting up from a ridge. I snapped a picture, even though I didn’t see any raging flames of orange, eating its way though the trees. It’s a good thing I took that picture, because it was the only time on this fire fighting adventure that I was to actually see the forest fire. 

        The camp site was a lightly treed open area beside a creek. We cut saplings for tent poles and roped up the canvas tents between the trees. We hung tarps and made tables and cut logs to sit on.  It took many helicopter trips for all of the supplies and the firefighting crew to arrive.

    As the crew disembarked they began to take over the construction of the camp, while Bob and I began to concentrate on helping JJ put the kitchen together and prepare the supper.  When JJ finally had the meal ready it was 9:30 PM and all of the many stories I had heard about eating well in Fire Camps were confirmed. Tired and hungry, everyone with their overflowing plates in their laps, sat on logs and rocks and ravished the steaks, potatoes, and peas by the dim, flickering light of the lanterns and a campfire.

        The photo shows JJ the camp cook on the left, and Bob the First Aid Attendant, giving JJ a hand with food preparation.   

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