Phoenix 2

I am a team leader.

Roomies at campus!

Yeah.  So I got an upgrade! That was my big fire news that I wan't to share but didn't have time before since I was crazy busy!  Out of all the firefighters who applied to be team leaders I was chosen to be the composite team leader! It's crazy! I don't know what I did, but apparently they like me back at campus... So yeah.  Now I'm in charge of my own team of 7 other crazy corps members, who originally I was in their shoes.

But now I wear a green shirt instead of a grey.  And I'm supposed to know what I'm doing and lead this crazy team of misfits while fighting wild fires and setting prescribed burns. WOW!

So I got pulled from Raven 4 early since they just finished their spike today, so I could go back to campus and meet my new team and get ready to set off into the unknown.

So here I am living on the The Great Dismal Swamp with some of the other fire crew.

Last friday we did our first burn, a 36 acre prescribed burn in the Piney Grove Preservation.  We did it to help protect the Red-cockaded woodpecker which needs a very specific habitat in order to survive and is on the endangered species list.  They are a tiny woodpecker that has adapted themselves to be able to peck their holes into living pines (which no other woodpecker can do), however this means that the pines need to be living and at least 70 years old.  So the trees have to be able to survive that long in order for the birds to use them.

Chandler

Lex

Kelly

Lina

The woodpeckers will also live one per tree and are very territorial, keeping about 200feet each.

So to keep their habitat viable the unwanted growth was thinned, and we came in to burn the underbrush/bushes etc. so the pine trees will have less competition and can survive to be 70years.

So my work days now usually consist of at least 9-13 hours.
I have no internet access unless I drive 25minutes into town.
And since we're in the middle of nowhere I have basically no phone reception.

So I'm sorry, but I know that for the next few weeks that this blog is going to fall into remission since I am just too busy.

It's crazy being a team leader.  Sometimes I feel like it's all a joke since I am just as clueless about fire related things as my corp members are, but who knows.  I'll figure it out once I  get more experience.  The burn we did up at Piney grove only had flame as it's highest of 10-15feet, just wait until I get some real burn experience... and more ticks