Most nerve racking experience

In August I was assigned to a large 2500 acre fire located just outside Heppner, Oregon. The fire was very active on the sixth day that I was there. Numerous fire crews were dealing with multiple spot fires leading to jumped holding lines, primarily along dirt roads. The fire engine I was a part of consisted of an assistant foreman as well as a rookie firefighter, this was his first fire experience. Our engine was assigned to prep a cabin in case the flame front encountered it. Prepping consisted of using water with soap to soak the wooden roof, as well as removing any fire wood around the cabin. We were roughly a mile from the flame front which was approaching a road where firefighters were holding. My assistant foreman as well as myself possessed radios that we wore on our chests and were listing to the fire activity. Due to increased winds pushing towards the cabin I was quickly informed by radio that the fire jumped the holding road and started racing towards us. My assistant’s radio was down and I quickly took to action, grabbing a drip torch and running towards my other crew members so I could inform them of the news. Nearly seconds later I could first feel radiated heat coming from the head of the fire and then soon after I got a visual. Springing more rapidly into action I put good use to my drip torch and burned off unburnt fuel between myself and the fire. Seconds later the flame front reached the already burnt hourly grass fuels and the burning stopped. It did however spot farther behind the cabin and the fire persisted on, the cabin however was saved.

fig 1: This is a picture took shortly after the fire passed through of the saved cabin and area that was burned off by the drip torch