(dramatic electronic music) - It's not all about the adrenaline. (wind blowing) (motor revving) (helicopter whirring) That's the smallest part of it. It's the hard work. It's finding out something about yourself. (fire rumbling) You come out and you work in
the woods all summer long, it's bound to do something good for you. (helicopter whirring) You'll come into this job
and you'll push yourself harder than you could've ever imagined. All right, so go over real quick. Everything that's going on, the map is not big enough, obviously. So plan for the day, go in,
finish up our chunk of line. It's pretty much done. You guys just have some snagging to do. There's some line improvement
through the real grassy stuff. So looking at the new primary line because of what we scouted yesterday, what was already in
place became contingency. My guess would be if we had
to start defensively firing, it's gonna be right off
this saddle, probably. So, that would be my assumption, probably just to start it
there and buffer this corner. So, okay? Load up. It's hard to describe what
it's like out on the line. I've got friends and
family that see everything in the news and, you know,
they assume that's what I do. We try and paint the picture for people, but it doesn't really come together until you see the work that's
being done on the ground. (metal clanking) (motor humming) - Engine 312, Craig-Bravo-One, tech. - [Crew Member]
Craig-Bravo-One, engine 312. - [Harry] Hey, yeah, we
just passed you on the road. We got one of those trees
down here that could use water sooner rather than later. - [Crew Member] Copy,
we'll roll straight to you. - Copy, thanks. So, we got that one I was
standing by right there. And then this guy here as well. Logan says all the time
that we are land managers that are really good at fighting fire. But, our primary goal is
not to save every tree, 'cuz obviously the
forest does need to burn. But if a really beautiful
tree that's been there for a long time doesn't
need to go onto the ground, and if we don't need to cut it down we'll absolutely leave it. - What are you thinking? - It's got a very slight downhill lean and gray canopy lean this way. So, downhill and that'd
be primary, secondary. I think I can hit it this way without putting a ton
of the tree in the road. Let's cut! Tree coming down! Wait for the line! (chainsaw buzzing) I first thought about fire in high school. I needed to make some money,
I needed a summer job, so I just went out on the engines and I saw what hotshots did, and I thought it was really, really cool. From then on out I just called crews, trying to figure out who I could get with. And finally I landed
on Craig and, you know, when I called my second
year, I was like, all right, I'm putting my app in, here's this. And he was like, yeah,
man, you got no chance, type of thing, but we
can help you get here. And that was one of the biggest things to hear over the phone was like, we can build you to be able to
be a candidate for this crew. (chainsaw buzzing) My first year here it
was a brand new crew, there was only three returning. And then my second year
everybody came back. And then the third year
all of those people moved on to really,
really great opportunities of jumping, repelling or shot
crews near their hometowns, and really got the opportunities that they wanted out of their career. (fabric crinkling) - You know, being a hotshot is more than just swinging
tools or cutting down trees. It's hard work. But I think mentally being
able to overcome obstacles that are constantly thrown at us is way more important than
the physical aspect of it. You know, we're trying to
build career firefighters, we're trying to build land managers, and a lotta crews are
broadening their perspectives into prescribed fire,
into getting people detail opportunities to make 'em more
well-rounded firefighters. (chainsaws buzzing) Your final tree, whatever
that final cut is, you can do whatever
you're gonna do on that, but just protect all those other back cuts with a pocket or wedge or whatever. Other than that, the only
option I see is to cut it. Traditionally, being a
hotshot was all about, how hard can you work, how much
misery can you put up with, and that's still relevant for sure, but we're trying to
make it more than that. (axes thumping) - You guys can start on refurb. (crew chattering) (radio talk chattering) - [Crew Member] Sorry. (water trickling) (crew chattering) (crew laughing) (crew laughing) (soft acoustic guitar music) (helicopter whirring) (fire crackling) - Six-Echo-Charlie, Craig-Three. - [Crew Member] Yeah, man, what can I do? - Okay, now priority is trying
to hold this ridge right now. So any area that's bumping the ridge line and that you can be effective in it, think right now we got three
fingers that are coming up. (helicopter whirring) - [Crew Member] Craig-Three,
Six-Echo-Charlie, I'm gonna air-drop. - [Chris] Hey,
Six-Echo-Charlie, Craig-Three. - [Crew Member] Yeah, is that
working, any feedback on that? - You know, I can't see over
this next little sub-ridge, kinda where you're dropping. I'll see if I can, still working my way around to the other side. See if I can get better
eyes on it for you. Hey Katie or Manny, Chris on crew. - [Katie] Go ahead. - Hey, we got a finger that's starting to come up the drain, it's pretty harsh. Are you guys in good spot, or you got a lookout still up top? - [Katie] We're at the ridge. - Okay, is anybody else in there? - [Katie] Yeah. - Okay. (helicopter whirring) Right now the rest of the
crew is out prepping some of the indirect line that had been put in by the heavy equipment a few days ago. So they're just coming and fine tuning. And you know, ultimately, I
think the plan is gonna be to fire the indirect piece out
from the top of the burn scar back down to where our rigs
were parked this morning. (solemn ambient music) - Yesterday was a pretty big fire day over on the other side of the fire
on the northeast divisions, and I think today they'll be even more, so we'll see what it brings. And then looking at the
weather forecast tomorrow, it's even more, I think, single digit and higher winds. So yeah, about to see what this
thing wants to do again. (fire crackling) All right, so, night shift again. Obviously, there's fire
coming down the hill. The goal for tonight is to close it off from Weber on the steep chunk of dozer line where we've been. Firing, Jeff and Katie
will be doing firing. Chris will be doing holding, and then Chase will will also be doing a small firing operation
down in the bottom towards the end of the night to tie it in. - So the plan for us
is to just kinda finish off this last little
piece, like from where, like the end of the
holders were down there. So we're gonna go up kinda just on the other side of
this little dozer push, like we're gonna go up
the ridge a little ways. And then we're gonna start bringing fire down the ridge, probably
have like the three torches, and then if I need to shoot rounds I'll start shooting rounds
a little bit deeper. Yeah, we'll just bring
fire around this road, just the exact same way we walked up, and then back down and
around to the black. - Tie it in?
- Yep. - [Crew Member] Cool, cool, cool. - Yeah, I'm just kinda like
working this piece headed down. Logan, Katie. - [Logan] Go ahead, Katie. - Yeah, hey, we're about to get started. - [Logan] Okay, copy. Yeah, and just burning and, you know, quickly as you can do it, moderately would be preferred. - Okay, copy. Yeah, I think we'll probably have to, we'll go pretty light on the fuel. It's pretty dry on this ridge. - [Logan] Copy. - All right, Eli. - [Eli] Okey dokey! (soft string music) - To me, a good crew boss
is somebody who would never ask you to do something
that they wouldn't do, who is always looking
out for their people, like always putting the crew first. You think about somebody like Logan, the first project we did, you know, those guys chapped up
when they were cutting, or they were digging, you know, they were always there with the crew like doing the exact same jobs that they were asking us to do. And yeah, they'll go out, they'll, you know, look
at the big picture, make the plans, but then they'll come back to the crew and they'll help do the work. It's a really good quality in a leader. - [Chase] Yeah, Katie, go ahead. - Hey, are you still kinda
working on the ridge? - [Chase] Yeah, I'm making one more pass then I'll be at that tree when we stop. - So if you wanna come make
a pass, like up to this, like maybe this like pondo right here, and then one more pass back, like just kinda the top
of this dead and down. And then we'll like start moving this way, working the ridge around that corner, and then we'll reline out and we'll just hit this like at once. Like all working that way. So like up in here, like up on this ridge, and then around this landing
and then like along the road. (fire crackling) I had wanted to get on a hotshot crew from the first fire I ever went to. I kinda noticed like the hotshot crew's always getting the best assignments and doing like the most fun looking stuff. And that's kinda just what I wanted to do. My favorite aspect about fighting fires is that you get to go all over the country to places a lot of people don't get to go. You get to know 20 other
people really well, and you guys all kinda suffer together through the same long miserable shifts and you build a really strong team that is able to accomplish tasks that, you know, most people would
probably not be able to do. I think that being on a
hotshot crew is probably the hardest I'll ever work in my life. I like to work hard, that's part of why I'm
here, you know? (chuckles) (radio talk chattering) How's it going? - It's going. - Is it going, where are they? - They're right down there. - I mean, are they far, or
how far have they made it? - Maybe 200 foot down, 250 foot down, maybe. - Just going real slow? - It's going real slow. - Out of necessity. - Might be worth having you guys bump down and helping Chase out. I think there's only
three of them down there. - Okay. Do they need more lighters, more? - Potentially, yeah. Lighters and holders. So, we're gonna have 'em bring that fire right there all the way, it's kinda hard to see through the smoke, but you can see.
- I can see their lighter. - Yeah, see the open timber
- Uh huh. - [Clay] coming down the dozer line? We're gonna bring it all the way down through that and then hold it once it hits that heavier timber. - [Katie] Yeah, I'll hit up Chase. I guess, the four of
us could go down there. Chase, Katie. - [Chase] Hey, Katie. - Hey, just tied in with Clay up here. He's saying the four of
us could possibly bump down and tie in with you guys,
help you out on that piece. Does that work for you? - [Chase] I mean, hey sure, Katie, if you guys aren't needed up
there, yeah, we'll take ya. You know all we have
is the engine holders. - [Katie] Copy. Yeah, we'll head down. - [Chase] Okay, copy. - Since I started back in 2002, one aspect that's changed in
fire is just the idea that, you know, as hotshots we're gonna go down and beat the fire into submission. And you know, we think
a lot differently now of really what's the best
way to accomplish a task. What's the best strategy or tactic to get around this fire? We'll go out and we'll still work hard every day, we'll give it 110%. But we're not gonna just go out and do work just for
the sake of doing work. You know, if we're doing
busy work just to be busy, you know, we're taking on
additional risks all the time. You wanna switch me or
you gonna hang up here? This was the empty. - How much, did you combine 'em? - Yeah, I just topped him
off to like three quarters, so they're good for a while. - You know, ultimately it's
still my responsibility to make sure everyone comes home at the end of the day
and after every roll. And so really, if I can focus on how to do things efficiently
and safely, you know, that's gonna achieve that objective and really provide a little better physical and mental health for people. Firing! You got your EarPro in, man? - [Crew Member] Go ahead. - You're good?
- Yep. (shot firing) - [Logan] You know, there are
times when we're just sitting by the road waiting to see what the fire's gonna do, waiting to engage. You know, sometimes we're in the public view and people
don't necessarily like that. You know, they see us sitting there and while the fire's blowing up, and they just look at it like, hey, why aren't you guys
in there doing something? And it's like, well, we can't, you know, there's nothing
we can do right now that we can accomplish safely. And so, we need to take a step back, make sure everyone's in a safe spot and come up with a better plan. (crew chattering) - [Crew Member] You wanna bump in there, about where he started, come down a little bit
and take some dots back? - [Logan] It's not like
we're not working hard. We're not taking on risk. There's always gonna be risk. It's just a matter of how much risk is acceptable and where that line is. (fire crackling) We spend 100 days plus out
on the line some seasons, and you know, the more we're out there, the more the risk is gonna add up. And so, eventually, if you're taking risks that you shouldn't, you know, one of those might catch up with ya. I mean, one bad decision
has that potential to have the absolute worst consequence. - [Katie] I guess we
could just do four of you. How's your torch, Cuba,
you got enough fuel? - [Crew Member] Just over half. - [Katie] Okay. Maybe we'll do you,
Brittany, and then these two, and you guys just do one
more pass to that fire. And then we can bump out to the line. Did you guys hear what Chase was saying? - [Crew Member] Yeah. - [Katie] We'll just
like all work together to bring it back. - [Crew Member] Okay. - [Katie] Does that work? Does that make sense, Conrad, everybody? - [Crew Member] Yeah. - [Katie] Okay, where's Brittany? We'll talk to her. Manny, Katie. - [Crew Member] You wanna
be at this end, right? - [Katie] Hey, Manny,
got the burners here. We're gonna make one more
pass high up on the slope, and then we're gonna
bump out through the line and work from that other end. You guys feel good about that piece, you could grab the holders
and we'll meet you over kinda where the dozer
line took off to the west. - [Manny] Copy. - Yeah, just do like maybe like, like 20 feet off each other. We'll do one big swath. (somber electronic music) (fire crackling) - [Logan] It's not the easiest job. It really takes a lot
of commitment physically to put the work in to where you
can be effective at the job. Mentally, it takes so much
to focus on the safety of yourself and the crew. Really takes its toll and it
takes a lot of commitment. (fire rumbling) It can be extremely frustrating when you're beating your head
against the wall every day, and you're trying something new, and you're losing a burn every day, or you're putting in a
line and it's not holding. You just want one plan to actually stick. You want one thing to work, or you want a little
reprieve in the weather or the fire behavior where, you know, you come up with a good
plan and it actually works and you can actually make progress. And that's really what's
kept me coming back is those days that we can really feel good about the work we went out and did, and you know, I feel like
we really made a difference. Those days are important. And I can't really imagine
doing anything else. Who's the furthest burner
in on your side, Chase? - [Chase] That's me. - Okay, yeah. You got me over here. - [Chase] Affirm. So this about as far as I'm gonna go, and there's a little,
like you were saying, a sub draw on this side, so I'm just gonna put some
stuff on the top of it. - Okay. Yeah, I'm shooting straight across to you, and then Manny will cut the rest in half. We'll pick him up and get out. - [Chase] Okay, copy. I'll just lock this pass out,
and then you guys are good. - Copy. And take that side and we'll just zig-zag back and forth and take it out. - [Crew Member] Copy. (solemn electronic music) - Despite all the risks, despite all the hard things about the job, you know, I do know that I love it, and it's why I keep
coming back all the time. You know, and ultimately
if we can make a difference and keep these places around
for future generations to enjoy that's just another big part of it. You know, I think it's not for everyone. Some people are gonna like it. Some people are gonna hate it, but for the people that
can really commit to it, deal with the sacrifices that it takes, it's truly a job that
could change your life and, you know, something you
can be proud of every day. Night division, Craig-Tech-Five. - [Crew Member] Craig-Night, go ahead. - Yeah, we're complete with the ignitions. - [Crew Member] I copy, all tied in, everything looks really
good from out here. - Good to hear, thanks. (fire crackling) (two-way radio beeping) (crew chattering) (crew member laughing) - [Crew Mwmber] Circle up! - [Crew Member] We got everybody? Okay. ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ ♪ Happy Birthday dear, Chris ♪ ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ (crew cheering)
(crew applauding) - [Chris] Thank you. - [Crew Member] Didn't
we just talk about this? - [Crew Member] No, he wasn't
there for the talk, so, maybe. - [Crew Member] All
right, who wants a muffin? Chris doesn't want it, you want it? - [Crew Member] Oh, I'll take it. (crew chattering) - [Crew Member] Birthday muffins! (birds chirping)
