A firefighter goes on the offensive, using a driptorch to ignite the unburned fuel between the main fire and the fireline, thereby starving the advancing wildfire of its fuel.
My town is bordered by forest; twice I’ve watched those forests burn. Among the chaos I’ve met unsung heroes—wildland firefighters who brave smoke & flame to protect communities in their path. Arriving under a shroud of darkness & leaving weeks later with little fanfare or recognition, they work in the shadow of anonymity, sacrificing family time, health and even their lives for strangers who will never know their names.
Firefighters are silhouetted against the glow of a night burnout operation on the Thompson Ridge Fire, NM. Firefighters executed the burnout to protect the old-growth trees and historic structures on the Valles Caldera National Preserve.
