eddie...

...is a smokejumper, one of a crew of 90 at the Missoula US Forest Base and one of 900 smokejumpers in the US at seven Forest Service Bases.

I have been intrigued by the idea of smokejumpers since reading about their activities and as Missoula is one of the seven bases the opportunity to learn more too good to pass up. Disappointed by the 'closed for the season' sign on the visitor centre door M and I knocked on others and Eddie offered to not only open the centre but give us a tour of the base!!!
So here's a little a bit smokejumpers.
They are rapid response team that are literally parachuted in to fire zones (emerging fires or long established fires) with a personal pack of gear followed by drops of larger packs containing food and water supplies, saws and picks used to remove dead timber and create fire breaks (extra). Established in 1939, the first operational were made into Martin Creek in the Nez Pearce National Forest and the Missoula Aerial Fire Depot was established in 1954. The fire season is just about over and Eddie will soon return to his home and family in California. All the jumpers have been deployed this season to fires and in some areas they still burn.
A brave,talented and fighting fit bunch they are (about 10% of the jumpers country wide are women) and very personable as Eddie demonstrated, patiently answering questions and guiding us through the life of a smokejumper (extras)

A simple memorial honours the wildlands fire fighters who have died (extra), a heart shaped piece of charred timber collected from the 1949 Mann Gulch fire in Montana that claimed the lives of 15 firefighters, 13 of whom were smokejumpers. More recently in 1994, 14 smokejumpers were killed in the South Canyon Fire in Colorado.