A century after one of the most destructive fires in American history — 1910's "Big Burn" that devastated the Northern Rockies of Idaho and Montana — the fires of 2010 have proved to be far less tragic.
That didn't mean Amanda Bauman, who plans on returning to the University of Montana for this semester after fighting fires with the Sula Fire Crew in the Bitterroot National Forest, wasn't tired when she got back to base late Tuesday night after her crew spent six days fighting a fire near Hamilton. Six days of getting up at dawn, hiking into the woods, digging line and running hose will take a lot out of anyone. Especially when it's for 16 hours at time, day after day.
"You get up the next morning and do it again," Bauman said.
Even though it's hard work, Bauman should feel lucky to have a job making money fighting fire this summer, since many students who chose to work with private contractors — which usually pays considerably more — have been left without because the few fires that have flared up this summer have been taken care of by government agencies.
Jared DeMers, a 2007 UM graduate, works with Griz One Firefighting. DeMers started fighting fire in 2004 as a way to make money over his summer vacation. Like many students, he depended on it to survive the rest of the year.
"It's really good money because you're out there in the middle of nowhere and there is nothing to spend it on," he said.
With two consecutively small fire seasons the students who fight fire aren't the only ones suffering, according to Shane Hart, owner of A1 Fire Services, based out of Lolo, Mont. At any given time during a busy fire season, Hart has up to 30 people working for him, and has a list of 50 to 60 people ready to work every year.
He estimated that there are 400 private contractors in the region, ranging from ‘ma and pa' operations with only a few people, to full scale ones like his. With 2009 and 2010 being slow seasons, he predicted that many won't be around in a few years, but he remained hopeful about his own business.
"We borrow more money to get us through the lean times," he said. "About the only way to get through."
Hart said that he believes the main reason why private businesses have had a hard time finding work on fire lines is that government agencies have expanded the amount of equipment they own and people they employ. Although that means the government agencies can fight more wild flame, Hart said this will cost more for taxpayers.
"We're the last to get called, we're the low man on the totem poll," he said, adding that the government only pays contractors when they are fighting fire, not waiting to.
"The more they ramp up with taxpayer dollars, the more it hurts the little guy and the kid going to college," he said.
But even the students who were lucky enough to land consistent work with the government are going to be struggling, like UM senior Jordan Koppen, who worked for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. He spent much of his summer working in Clearwater Junction, north of Bonner, and even though there were different projects to do while not fighting fire, it still doesn't pay as much as when the flames are flying, which usually leads to overtime and hazard pay.
"I pretty much depend on firefighting, and it's been a tough year, so I'm scraping to pay tuition," he said.
And if future seasons look like this year's, Koppen doesn't know if he'll stick around.
"If something else comes up with better opportunities, I may just take it because times are slow with fire," he said.
justin.franz@umontana.edu
Justin Franz
Reporter/News Editor
Montana Kaimin