Handcrews

American River Hotshots of the USDA Forest Service in California gather for a group photo on a mountain peak after a hard day’s work. (*Photo courtesy of Bobby Blaine*)

There are three primary types of firefighting crews, Type 1, Type 2 IA, and Type 2. All crews have a mixture of men and women totaling 18 to 20 crewmembers.

Type 1 are known as Interagency Hotshots Crews (IHC), faster production, highly skilled, extensive training, advanced qualifications, and arduous physical standards.
Type 2 Initial Attack (IA), The U.S. Forest Service has crews that function as a normal Type 2 crews but can form into three or four separate squads of 4 – 6 people capable to initial attack fires separately with a qualified incident commander each.
Type 2 crews do not have IA capability or do not meet the same standards as an IHC.

Each crew, regardless of Type, is responsible to construct fireline. Resembling a hiking trail, a fireline is the removal of burnable woody material down to mineral soil that cannot burn or smolder. Firelines vary in width but are usually twice the height of the closet vegetation. Crews use chainsaws, Pulaski’s, shovels, and other hand tools to accomplish this. Crews may also use drip torches to burn-off excess vegetation before the head of a fire approaches, securing the fireline even further.

All crews begin constructing fireline from a safe anchor point. An anchor point is a natural or human made area that cannot burn. A road, lake, stream, rock outcropping, or even another secure fireline are good examples. Anchor points reduce the chances of crews being flanked by the fire while the fireline is being constructed.

Wildand firefighters dig into roots to extinguish smoldering underground fire. — Initial attack crews and an engine crew use various hand tools and fire suppressing foam to extinguish an underground smoldering fire in roots or buried tree limbs during the Beaver Creek Fire on the Sawtooth National Forest. (*USDA Forest Service photo by Lance Cheung*)

Also, during fireline construction, crews may request assistance from airtankers and helicopters. These air resources can drop water to wet, or cool down vegetation reducing fire intensity. Fire retardant (red in appearance) is dropped by airtankers ahead of the approaching fire to slow down and/or halt fire progression.

After a fireline has been secured, the fire mop-up phase begins. Mop-up is crucial in the suppression of every fire. In this phase, all burning, smoldering, and/or hot to the touch material is cooled. Crews may have to fell trees, trim brush, and dig-up remaining hot material to extinguish. If the conditions allow water pumps with hoses are used to assist crews to extinguish fire.

Safety is the number one priority in wildland firefighting. Safety is based on the Risk Management Process of the 10 Standard Firefighting Orders; the 18 Watch Out Situations; Lookouts, Communications, Escape Routes, and Safety Zones (LCES); including other concepts, principles, and procedures.

A Forest Service employee wearing safety gear stands in the forefront holding a hose. Other firefighters stand in the background looking at something off camera. — (*Photo by Kari Greer*)