Wildland Firefighter’s Ride to Colorado Springs
Jan 18th, 2008 by admin
A Wildland Firefighter’
“Mann Gulch”, “Dude”, “Storm King”–just a few of the wildfires indelibly etched into the minds and thoughts of all wildland firefighters. These fires all had multiple fatalities of seasoned and experienced firefighters. As a wildland firefighter, the names of the people involved in these incidents have always meant more to me than the names of the IAFF firefighters who gave their all in countless incidents across the
I awakened Thursday morning with fever and body aches. I was still chilled with fever Friday morning as I loaded the motorcycle with our gear, in a haze, no real connection between my hands and my brain. “I’ve got to do this”, I thought, “I have to get to
Early Saturday morning, on the bike, and at the gathering point for the Ride to Remember, all I thought about was making it through the day. My curiosity about the ride, the ceremony at the memorial, and the people who would be there drove me to function in my fever-induced fog. I was astounded by the presence of firefighters from all across the
It was with amazement and an overwhelming mixture of emotion that I sat through the celebration of life, of shared experience, of remembrance, of honor, for the 114 IAFF firefighters whose names were etched onto the walls of the memorial this year. I was in awe of how the IAFF family supports those that had career ending injuries, lost-time accidents or gave it all. The infrastructure is in place, it is practiced (sadly), and it is effective.
Wildland firefighters do not have the equivalent of an IAFF. Wildland firefighters vary from part-time crew members to seasonal workers to full-time agency employees. Many of the firefighters have no benefits, no retirement, no organization to help with the workman’s compensation-
I learned that there is no difference between firefighters, something I intuited by watching fire departments become increasingly involved in wildland fire as urban America moved to the woodsy suburbs over the last 100 years. We all, as firefighters, put our lives on the line to protect lives and property. We do it without thinking about it. It doesn’t make an iota of difference whether the job is in downtown
As long as firefighters never make it home due to an on-the-job injury or fatality, the Brothers and Sisters in dress blues or green-and-yellows will support the families and the fire service with honor. Some of us have IAFF, some of us have the WFF.
Please give to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, it’s important to provide for those outside the IAFF. The WFF website is www.wffoundation.