2000

We are now in a new millennium so I may as well start with a new format.  Instead of breaking things out as RVing, Fishing, etc, I will use this page to chronicle everything that occurs during the year.

7 Feb

Well, I finally did it.  Bought a new (used) TOAD today.  After totalling my Toyota in an accident last fall we were debating on how to replace it.  For awhile we toyed with the idea of selling the Motorhome and getting a van which I could fix up for camping for my fishing trips and Fire Camp experiences.  After looking at several vans in our price range we dropped that idea and decided to keep the MH a while longer.  I liked the Toyota as a TOAD and was looking for something like it, which proved to be a bit difficult.  Finally a dealer recommended a Subaru.  I was sceptical as every Subaru I have seen had automatic transmissions and were not towable.  The dealer stated that the older models had stick shifts and could be towed.  That nite I looked in the paper and found a couple stick shift models.  The 87 I bought has high mileage, but is clean and seems to run good.  Now I have to get a new tow bar set up and get ready for the summer travelling.

It looks like the Motor Home is going to stay parked in the driveway all year.  I had to get a new
"TOAD" and have not gotten it rigged up for towing yet and I cannot conceive of going anywhere
without the TOAD.  Also, I am back in the fire fighting business and have been busy going to fires this
year.  As of 16 August I have been to six fires.  Guess I should have used the motorhome instead of
camping out, but some of the camps were in places I did not want to take the MH.

29 May-1 June  Azuza Fire, Lee Vining, CA

I got a phone call shortly after noon on Monday and was told my Sierra Front Overhead Team had been
called out for a fire at Lee Vining. This fire was caused by an unattended campfire in a campground. I was told to report to the Mono Lake Visitor Center and I was on the road at 1430.  Arrived at the visitor center and set up shop in one of the offices.  I was the Ordering Manager on this fire.  It was not a large fire and it was contained the next day.  We had a few days of mop-up and rehabilitation and we de-mobilized on Thursday, the 1st of June.  I was home at 1430.

27-30 June China Fire, Gardnerville, NV

Got called about 1830 Tues for this fire, and reported with the Sierra Front Overhead Team at the High
School in Minden by 2000 hours.  From there we convoyed down to the PA-WA-LIU Middle School
in Gardnerville where we set up the Fire Camp.  Once again we were inside and I was the Ordering
Manager again.  Another small fire and we we Demobilized at 0900 on Friday and I was home by 1000.
This fire was caused by a lightning strike.

09-12 July  Seneca Fire, Stead, NV

Another small Sierra Front Fire.  This was caused by a pick-up truck getting stunk in a ravine while Four-wheeling.  In trying to get out, the spinning tires caused some rocks to spark, setting off a fire that eventually reached 1500 acres.  I was the Time Unit Leader on this fire and we were set up in the Stead Middle School.  We demobbed on the morning of the 12th and I was home by noon.

15-19 July  Cherry Fire, Ely, NV
I received a call Friday evening offering me a fire assignment as an Ordering Manager on the Cherry Fire north of Ely.  I was not needed until noon sunday, so I decided to leave Saturday afternoon and spend the nite in Ely and go on to the fire camp sunday morning.  I left home at noon saturday and got into Ely at 7 Pm. Highway 50 is called the loneliest road in America and it sure is a desolate drive. Left Ely at 0600 and was at the fire camp by 8 AM.  Had to go north on RT 93 about 20 miles and then west about 30 miles on an interesting gravel road.  This was another lightning fire  that eventually reached about 7000 acres.  We demobbed on Wed the 19th and I left camp at 1000 and was home at 1900.

24-27 July  Feather River Fishing.

Finally got my first fishing trip in.  I had promised to take a fellow Elk fishing and he made arrangements to take a weeks vacation.  I called the dispatch offices and told them I would not be available for another assignment until the 29th.  We left monday nite and got to Oroville about 2100 and set up camp in the dark.  Up at 0430 to start fishing at first light.  There were a lot of fisherman there and a lot of big salmon caught.  I got one, a 27 pounder, but my fishing partner did not land any.  He had a couple of good hook-ups but they broke loose before he could land them.
 
 
 

30 July-7 August  Cricket Fire, Wells, NV

Got a call Saturday nite offering me an assignment as Claims Specialist on the Cricket Fire at Wells, NV.  This was another lightning fire that had burned about 7000 acres.  I left home at 0800 sunday and got to Wells about 1600.  US 80 across Nevada is almost as bad as Hwy 50.  Where Hwy 50 is a 2 lane hwy, US 80 is a 4 lane road and has more traffic, but is just as desolate. I was supposed to work as the Claims Specialist but due to unforeseen circumstances I also had to process some injury cases and  wound up working as the Comp/Claims Unit Leader.  We finally got the Cricket fire controlled at about 15,000 acres, but a lightning storm came in and started 6 new fires in our area.  We finally got them all under control and turned them over to the local BLM office.  Since there were several large fires burning in oregon, Idaho and Montana, many of the people demobbing were being reassigned to other fires.  I checked with the Demob section but there was nothing for me so I took my car back to the camping area and loaded up my gear.  I backed up to turn around and when I stepped on the clutch to pull forward, the clutch stayed down and nothing happened.  I did manage to get the car into gear and drove to the Ground Support area and had a mechanic take a look at it.  He tried a few adjustments and after looking it over informed me my clutch was shot and I needed a new on.  I called my friendly Rapid Response RV Road Service and they sent a truck out from Elko.  I fully expected to spend a few days in Elko  while a new clutch was shipped in but my to my surprise the repair shop was able to locate a new one in town.  There was a motel next to the repair shop so I got me a room for the nite.  After a short rest I decided to walk over to the repair shop to see what was happening.  As I was walking around the corner of the motel I heard someone call my name.  A couple of guys I had worked with on the Cherry Fire had seen my name on the Demob list and called the Cricket Fire camp to get me reassigned to the O'Neil complex about 60 miles north of Wells, but I had left camp before they called.  They were on their way to the Elko Dispatch Center so see if they could locate some personnel for the fire.  They wanted me to go up as the Ordering manager and I told them I would be up the next day as soon as my car was ready to go.

8-14 August  O'Neil Complex, Wells, NV

The O'Neil complex was a series of about 6 different lighting fires that burned about 60,000 acres.  To get to the camp I drove about 45 miles north of Wells on Hwy 93 and then 37 miles on a very rough dirt road to the fire camp.  The road had many sharp rocks and I blew a tire going in. I changed the tire and when I got into camp had the Ground support people order a new tire for me.  I did not want to go back out on that road without a spare.  The new tire came in and we put it on before I left.  Fortunately I got out with no more flat tires.  We finally got all the fires controlled and turned them over to the local BLM office.  We demobbed on Monday the 14th and I got back to Lake Tahoe about 2200.

22-23 Aug  Feather River Fishing

When I got back from the O'Neil Complex I was sure I would have another fire call before the end of the week.  But nothing happened so I decided to go back to Oroville for some more fishing.  I left home about 0800 on Tue 22 Aug and arrived at the fishing area about noon.  I was down fishing by 1300 and got one salmon on Tues.  Up early on Wed and fished all day.  Had several hook-ups but did not land anything.  Went into town to get some stuff for supper and came back to camp.  After supper I decided to try the bluff area for awhile and did manage to get  my second salmon just before dark  As I was heading back to my camp to put the fish on ice, I stopped to talk to some people I knew and while I was talking to them, I got caught in the neck by a hook.  Fortunately it was not in deep so we got a pair of pliers and cut the eye off.  Someone then pushed the hook through and cut off the barb and pulled it out.  When I finally got back to camp, I put the fish on ice and called my wife to let her know I would be home the next day, Thurs instead of Friday.  No you won't she said.  You are going to a fire.  Call the Forest Service, they are trying to get ahold of you. (Did not get any pictures of my fish so here is a picture of another lucky fisherman)

24 Aug-8 Sept  Storrie Fire, Feather River Canyon, Quincy, CA

I called the Fire management Officer at the Lake Tahoe Basin and sure enough he had a fire assignment for me.  I was to report to the Storrie Fire as a Receiving and Distribution manager.  Got up early Thursday morning and packed my gear and was on the road by 0700.  The fire camp was at the Yellow Creek Campground, about 20 miles west of Lake Almanor.  I stayed there Thursday nite and on Friday I was sent to a spike camp at Rogers Flat along the Feather River to establish a supply set up.  I still had my salmon in my ice chest so I talked to the Kitchen Manager and he had my salmon re-wrapped and put in the freezer.  After a couple of days at Rogers Flat, we demobed that camp and moved to Gasner Bar, a Forest Service Campground.  Fortunately there was a FS Work Center there and I put my fish in a freezer in the kitchen.  A few days later we demobed that camp and the main camp and everyone moved to the Fair Grounds in Quincy.  I asked our supply driver if there was a food locker or some place I could rent to store my Salmon.  She was kind enough to offer to keep the fish in her freezer at home.  My 16 day limit was up on the 8th of Sep. so I got my fish, packed my gear and headed home.  Arrived back at Tahoe about 1400.

20-22 Sep.  Concow Fire, Chico, CA

This episode actually started on Monday, the 18th.  The FMO called me and asked if I wanted to go to Montana.  He had an assignment as Ordering manager for me on the Valley Complex near Darby Mt.  Naturally I said yes and was scheduled to fly out of Reno on Wed.  My wife took me down to the Harrah's Casino where I caught the Airporter Bus to Reno.  Got checked in and went up to the loading area to wait.  I just got comfortable when someone tapped me on the shoulder.  I looked up and one of the guys from the Basin was there to inform me that it had snowed in Montana, my fire was essentially out and my assignment was canceled.  But they did have another fire for me.  So he drove me back to Tahoe and I loaded my gear into my car and went down to the FS Office.  I was informed I had an assignment as Receiving and Distribution Manager on the Concow fire near Chico.  So I headed north to the fire camp at the Chico Fairgrounds.  Got in about 1900 and worked till 2400.  Like many fires in that area it had made a big run on wed so a lot of resources were ordered.  By the time I got there the fire had died down and was in the mop-up stage.  So I worked all day Thurs and was told I would be demobbed on Fri.  I demobbed and left about 1000 and got home about 1300 Friday.

2-4 Oct.  Fishing Trip to Oroville

I had plans to go up to Oroville on the 9th for the last week of fishing, but my fishing arm started twitching so I decided to also go up for a short trip on Monday the 2.  I planned on getting back on Wed so I could make the Elks Lodge meeting on Thursday.  It turned out that fishing was terrible and out of 6 fish caught, 5 were released as they were completely black.  I did not get a single strike.  So I came home Wed as planned and decided to cancel out the trip for next week.  I figured the fishing was so bad it was not worth it to go back up.  The past two years there were some fresh runs that came up the river in Sept. and the fishing was good up through the close of the season.  This year the late runs did not show up and fishing had dropped off.

21-23 Oct.  Como Fire, Topaz, NV

When I got back from my last fishing trip I figured the Fire Season was over so I may as well unpack my gear and put if all away.  Right, we all know what happens when you do that.  On Friday evening, 20 Oct the phone rang and I was invited to still another fire as Ordering Manager on the Sierra Front Team.  The BLM was doing a controlled burn and when they reached their objective acreage they proceded to extinguish the burn.  Unfortnately, a strong wind came up and carried some burning material about a mile north of the planned burn area. The team was to meet at the Sierra Front Dispatch Center in Minder at 0900 Sat. morning. So I grabbed my flashlight and went out to our storage shed and found all the gear I would need.  I then grabbed a small bag and packed some clothes and personal items I always take to a fire.  Got up early Saturday morning and went to the local Raleys store and did my normal Saturday shopping, came home, put the groceries away and had breakfast.  left the house about 0900 and got to Minden in time for the team meeting.  Since the best access to the fire was from the south we decided to set up the ICP (Incident Command Post) at the Interagency fire station at on HWY 395 south of Topaz Lake at the intersection of 395 and Hwy 89.  The wind had made many changes and eventually blew the fire back onto itself, so by this time it was mainly a mop-up effort.  We were able to turn the fire back to the BLM District Office and demobbed Monday morning.  I took the Scenic route  over Monitor Pass, through Markleville and was home by 1000 hours.