Wildfire!

For a brief moment, a flash of sun cuts the dense black smoke, only to be snuffed out as a huge red-orange fireball roars up the forested ridge, sending out a wave of searing heat in all directions. The exploding cataclysm devastates acres of eighty-foot pines, shooting multicolored flames hundreds of feet into the sky for a quarter of a mile along the horizon.

Pitch black, the swirling, choking smoke cloud squeezes out the weak afternoon light, bending and twisting the sun's rays into a mad whirling dance. Then day turns to night, and suddenly a six-point buck breaks out of the brush and springs to safety in a large clearing logged years before.

Not until hours later does the smoke begin to clear. At last the fire storm is over. Now begins the work of the fire crews who have been standing by. Their task: to extinguish what remains of the red mass.

Such a scenario is not a common one for fire fighters. Brush or forest blazes seldom get so far out of hand. But five months of dry weather can cause catastrophe. For me, the experience represented an unforgettable climax to a three-year adventure fighting and photographing fires while based in the Tonto National Forest of central Arizona.

I learned that it is not unusual for fire crews to spend an entire day on one fire, drive all night to work another, then board an airplane the following day to combat still another inferno in a neighboring state. You sleep when you can-often upright while traveling.

The images gathered on these pages do not represent a typical day in the life of a fire fighter. I documented events as they unfolded and when circumstances allowed. Some photo opportunities consequently were missed. But I had been hired, after all, to fight fires. When the two tasks conflicted, it was clear what had to come first. Accepting this wasn't always easy. In fact, it may have been the hardest part of my job.

Payson Hotshots are one of the U. S. Forest Service's fifty-four wildlands fire fighting crews strategically stationed across ten western states, and one of eight such crews based in Arizona. Their primary job is the initial attack on a forest fire and construction of a “fire line,” or fuel break, to contain its spread.

(OPPOSITE PAGE) Strenuous physical effort in extreme heat requires special gear, protective but not too restrictive. Hard bats, shielding for the eyes, and heavy, loose-fitting clothing are essential. Each crewman carries a backpack containing drinking water, first aid kit, headlamp, canned rations, and “turkey tent” (emergency fire shelter). Each is issued a shovel, Pulaski ax (pictured), or saw for the fire line.

(ABOVE) Turbulence created by massive, swirling flames blows choking dust and smoke into the eyes and lungs of fire fighters.

(LEFT) An amber fog engulfs the crewmen, forcing them to cover up and wait out a potentially deadly situation.

Wildfire!

Dense smoke clouds (ABOVE) rise thousands of feet, blocking out the sun and turning day into night. (RIGHT) Mopping up remnants of a wildfire can be tedious after the adrenalinpumping excitement of battling a raging inferno, but both go with the job. (OPPOSITE PAGE) Near exhaustion, the normally high-spirited Payson Hotshots recuperate after bringing a blaze under control. During the height of the season, they may be dispatched to another wildfire within hours. But being a member of an elite fire-fighting team becomes a way of life. Said one crewman, "If you do it for fun, you're a pyromaniac, and if you do it for money, you're an arsonist. But if you're there for both reasons, you're a Hotshot."

Wildfire!