Respect For Fire

I would like to write about the first time I realized fire was something you have to respect. I was on a volunteer department in Oklahoma during the third year of a severe drought and on top of that an arsonist was reeking havoc. There is one specific moment when I learned fire could change in the blink of an eye if the fire behavior triangle is altered. In Oklahoma the land is flat and we are able to drive next to the flames and shoot water down on them, I was on the back of the truck with the hose and my captain was driving. We were chasing flames across a hay field and the fire was spreading in a fairly constant manner. We were just about to have the fire contained to a small area when I got a gut wrenching feeling and my instincts told me to drop down in my cage. At the same time my captain had the same feeling and turned the truck away from the flames. In the next instant the fire exploded and engulfed the truck, luckily we were both fine and walked away. We later found out that the landowner had just leased his property to an oil company due to the large amount of raw oil that was seeping out of the ground. As we chased the flames they found one of these oil pockets. This taught me to always respect fire and even if you know the fuels, weather, and topography in your situation something unexpected can always happen.

Photo courtesy of Jeremy Hart, Maramec Volunteer Fire Department