Fire Flight

Over the wup wup wup of the helicopter blades, Ventura County Fire Capt. Jim Ackerman shouted a command to the seven men who squatted behind him on the asphalt.

Grabbing their chain saws, shovels and rakes, they bowed their heads and ran across the pavement.

Minutes later, the wide-bellied copter heaved itself into the air like a pregnant dragonfly and headed for Lindero Canyon.

As the fire season gets into full swing, these eight men will be on the front line of the Ventura County Fire Department wildfire team, ready to fly into the most isolated and inaccessible hills and canyons of the county and battle the flames with hand tools.

Once there, they will make lines of dirt, stretching from several hundred feet to three miles, over which the fire cannot cross.

They are members of the Ventura County Fire Department Fire Fly Crew. The 22 men--ages 18 to 30--are assigned to two separate crews, with one squad ready to go at any time.

Flown in by helicopter, they are often first on site, laboring with one foot in the burn zone and the other out, making a line of dirt to contain the fire so that trucks and other crews can follow.

From May to November, these firefighters practice two to three times a week.

Friday’s 108-acre fire near Thousand Oaks was the first significant blaze of the season, and a fire crew was on hand.

Sandi Wells, a public information officer for the Ventura County Fire Department, said that grasses grown lush with the rains of El Nino could make this one of the worst seasons in memory.

“We have a lot more grass than we’ve had in years,” Wells said. “When grass is around, no matter how much moisture there is, it’s going to burn.”

When the large brush is dry, she said, the grass acts as a wick that can ignite hillsides.

Normally, Wells said, the fire danger would be worse next year, after the brush has more chance to grow.

“But this year we have really hot weather,” she said. “That’s different.”

On this day, the eight men will fly to Lindero and Sycamore canyons--areas known to be highly flammable. They will search for safe spots to land and practice loading and unloading from the helicopter in the field.

“You may have the wind blowing, you’ve got to be aware of the blades, and then you’ve got the adrenaline of knowing that you will be fighting a wild-land fire,” Wells said. “And you’ve got to be to the point where you don’t need to think about it.”

Their order leaving the copter is determined by the tool they carry. The man with a chain saw goes first, chopping away weeds and brush, then a man with a grubbing tool, one with a rake, and finally one with a shovel to heap dirt on the fire.

The captain often uses special tools to gauge the moisture in the air and the direction and speed of the wind.

Hours can be long, sometimes 24 hours straight.

They carry water and a blanket of foil, in which they will wrap themselves if they get caught in the fire. They also carry flares to start backfires that will push the fire away from them.

They subsist on power bars, granola bars and bland high-calorie military-style MREs (meals ready to eat). Said fly crew member Mike Yzaguirre, whose father and uncle also fought fires: “Sometimes that feels like a Thanksgiving meal.”