Wildfire fighter

Forestry student wields chainsaws, fends off destruction

Marissa "Jo" Daniel not only takes Smokey Bear's mantra – "only you can prevent forest fires" — to heart but also takes it one step further. When the icon's wisdom has gone unheeded, Daniel is there to snuff out the flames.

Since 2007, the University of Missouri School of Natural Resources senior majoring in forestry and wildlife biology has served as a part-time firefighter for the United States Forest Service.

She has fought fires in Utah, California and Oregon. She has a Type 2 Initial Attack fire certification and is qualified to wield a chainsaw to cut away brush and trees that could fuel a fire.

Daniel's interest in firefighting was sparked by a book she read in high school book that detailed the job of smokejumpers – elite firefighters who parachute into remote areas to fight fires. They're usually the first responders and are considered the best trained and best equipped.

As a high school senior in Bethany, Mo., Daniel made a field trip to Wisconsin to explore her interest in fisheries and wildlife. She came to admire and respect the smokejumpers she met there.

During her first two years at MU, she took the training and tests to be rated as an entry-level firefighter, a "probie" in the profession's jargon. For certification she had to complete a three-mile walk in less than 45 minutes with a 45-pound pack on her back.

During the dry summer of 2007 she received the call to go to her first fire – the Mathis Complex Fire near Kenilworth, Utah. Caused by lightning, the fire had spread over 1,300 acres and was consuming sage brush, grass, juniper and mixed conifer trees. Six firefighting crews — 250 people — were dispatched using four helicopters, 10 fire engines and two bulldozers.

Though a relatively small fire, it was considered dangerous because of the dry conditions that provided ample fuel. A nearby coal mine was of concern, also. Almost a half-century earlier another nearby coal mine had been touched by such a fire, and the buried coal still smolders today.

On-the-fire training

Daniel flew to Las Vegas and then to Salt Lake City. From there, she took a six-hour bus ride to Mathis, Utah, followed by a school-bus ride to one of the firefighters' spike camps. These camps, adjuncts of the main camp, are sited closer to the fire.

"You could either pitch a tent or throw your sleeping bag on the ground," Daniel said. "It was gorgeous with the bright stars overhead and the fire burning in the darkness of the distance. I didn't get much sleep that night looking at all of the wonderful colors."

The newbies were at the end of the line to select their military Meals-Ready-to-Eat. "I got meatloaf," she said. "It wasn't very good."

Daniel's job as part of a five-person squad was not to put out fires but to clear brush and trees ahead of the flames, providing a break to block the fire's progress toward the coal mine.

She and her squad trekked through steep mountain terrain to a position along power lines. There, using axes and other hand implements, they cut and moved potential tinder away. It was hard and unglamorous work in the hot and humid conditions.

Her second day was more of the same.

The third day expanded her fire fighting education. Her squad followed a Hot Shot Crew, a senior team rated to make initial attacks on fires.

"If smokejumpers are at the top of the firefighting elite, sort of like the Green Berets, then the Hot Shot Crew are like the Marines," Daniel said. "They are better trained, rated for the most demanding and dangerous missions, and have better and more specialized equipment."

Daniel enthusiastically answered when the Hot Shot leader asked whether she was having fun. The leader invited Daniel to work with his teammates, who were starting a backfire to protect the mine. With a magnesium flare, Daniel ignited a long line of fire in the sage brush. Then for the next three days, she and the crew used shovels and rakes to extinguish embers that could re-ignite the fire.

A big moment came one morning when she grabbed an industrial-size weed eater. Though not then rated for a chainsaw, she used the tool like one and attacked brush and small trees up to 4 inches in diameter. It was still hard work, she said, but more fun than swinging an ax.

Daniel said the most dangerous moment in her career occurred during that first fire. Her crew was dispatched into a box canyon – dangerous if flames blocked the only exit from the area.

"I wasn't nervous about being there," she said. "I had confidence in our training and our crew boss. I knew that the system would work."

Her most memorable moment came during the later California fire, which burned not brush but large Douglas fir and sugar pine trees. The squad boss there was dubious about whether Daniel's slight frame could handle a heavy chainsaw for hours.

Daniel took the challenge and, under the tutelage of the senior firefighter, piloted the heaviest chainsaw available on the hardest tasks.

"I earned his respect and confidence," she said.

Wildfires, a dangerous part of the American West

A wildfire is any uncontrolled, non-structure fire that occurs in the wilderness. They occur in grasslands, woodlands, bush, scrublands, or where peat and woody materials create a source of fuel. Wildfires can burn up to 1,000,000 acres. The velocity of the burning front can be as fast 7 mph in forests and 14 mph in grasslands.

Wildfire behavior is often complex and dependent on fuel type, moisture content in the fuel, humidity, wind speed, topology, geographic location and ambient temperature. Weather patterns, such as droughts, and cyclical climate changes, such as El Niño, also can dramatically alter the behavior of wildfires.

It's dangerous to fight a wildfire. The burning front can unexpectedly change direction and jump across fire breaks. Cliffs and canyons can trap firefighters. The intense heat and smoke can lead to disorientation.

In addition to shovels, water and radios, wildfire fighters need intensive training to be successful. Wildfire fighters must know that fire intensity increases during daytime hours; burn rates of smoldering logs can be five times greater during the day due to lower humidity, increased temperatures and increased wind speeds.

Wildfires can change direction instantly as they follow air currents over hills and through valleys. Sunlight warms the ground and causes air currents to travel uphill. At night it travels downhill as the land cools.

In extreme weather conditions, wildfires can act as if they are guided by a military general. Wildfires can advance tangentially to the main front to form a flanking front, or burn opposite the direction of the main front by backing up. Winds or vertical convection columns can carry hot firebrands through the air over roads, rivers and firebreaks.

A prolonged drought in the western U.S. has left many areas suffering from too much fire. The increased fire frequency has eliminated native plant communities and replaced them with non-native weeds.

Classroom education helps on the front line

Daniel said her School of Natural Resources training gave her valuable insight into being safe and effective in fighting wildfires.

"We all had daily weather briefings," she said. "My MU meteorology classes helped me to understand the significance of the weather on our efforts and to better observe the changing conditions of the fire. My forestry classes about eco-systems helped me to know what was burning, how it was burning and what effect that burning would have on the environment. My forestry classes showed me how to make saw cuts in trees in such a way that would heal faster and wouldn't show as much as the forest recovers."

Dendrology, the study of trees, equipped her with knowledge about the burning characteristics of each tree that she saw. "Osage orange burns really hot and for a long time," Daniel said. "A cottonwood burns hot, but fast. Oak burns more slowly but for a longer period of time."

"My wildlife interface class was of great help, too," she said. "It gave me insight into effectively working with the many regulatory agencies that can get involved on a large fire."

After graduation this December, Daniel plans to rejoin the forest service, using her education in trees and forests to help protect such resources in Montana or Missouri. Back to the fire, again.

Learn More

Forestry Major

Posted June 11, 2009
Story: Randy Mertens
Photos: Steve Morse and Marissa Daniel
Makeup: Lauren Allmeyer