Helitak Daze

Helitak Daze - Chapter 2

Gaining national park status on March 1, 1872, Yellowstone became the first and oldest national park in the world. At 3,400 square miles, it stretches across Wyoming, but also has parts in Idaho and Montana. Everything about the park was awe-inspiring from the mountains and falls to the geysers and paint pots. The park was a great old lady, predominately made up of stands of lodge pole pines and aspen, but she was nearing the end of her life cycle. That’s how Katlin saw her world, as a living breathing entity.

Soil profiles show the old lady has a good burn every 250-400 years. Mature forests accumulate ladder fuel. They have old burns where many young trees start to grow. Most of them don’t make it, but remain upright leaning against old mature trees. Aging trees “self-prune” old branches that have become shaded by new foliage, at the top of the canopy. These branches tangle in the dead younger trees. Needle-cast drapes the dead trees, fallen branches and understory plants. This understory fuel ladder acts like a zip line to bring ground fires to the forest canopy. Young forests do not have the fuel load to support a good long, hot burn, but Yellowstone was currently between 200 and 250 years old. It was literally a tinderbox waiting for lightning to strike. Being a Ranger was everything she had dreamed of, until she discovered Helitack.

A love of helicopters and the forestry service mated perfectly, for her personality. Its primary job is fire support and search and rescue. Even when working fires, they are always on call for S&R or back country emergencies. During the off season, Helitak helps with any number of park projects from tracking pesky bears to hauling debris from the backcountry. They can sling load supplies and materials for trail crews when motorized vehicles or horses are not feasible. Park improvement is never ending, as long as the budget allows it.

The Yellowstone Helitack crew is made up of seven members.  The program is overseen by the Fire Management Officer, Cody Daniels. The person responsible for suppression is Andrew Reeves, the Wildfire Specialist and working directly for him is Katlin Downey, the Helitack Foreman.  She in turn supervises the crew members that are hired seasonally to fight fire in Yellowstone Park.

Being the only woman on the crew, Katlin fills a lot of roles. Boss, friend, drill sergeant and when needed, she takes care of them like a mother hen. It is a close-knit community of uniquely trained specialists who know their jobs and do them with precision. In her opinion Helitak, hotshots and smoke jumpers are a special kind of crazy; ranger-firefighter-cowboy living on the edge and enjoying life to the fullest. Yet as wild and dangerous as it could get, safety and preservation of human life is the priority and they had the records to show it.

Summer was when it got really exciting. Helitack’s main mission from mid-June to the end of September is fire management.

The Wildland Fire Program has two goals:

1. To suppress wildfires that are human-caused or that threaten people, property or resource values.

2. To ensure that naturally ignited wildland fires may burn freely as an ecosystem process.

This fire season started much as any other year. A minor lightning strike, on a tree near Rose Creek, it burned out naturally, with no problems. No one could really imagine the extent of the park and surrounding areas that would eventually burn, before Mother Nature stepped in to put out her fires. During June, park staff heard mostly about bear activity near public areas and trails. A few fires had begun, but they were small and seemed insignificant compared to news about the worst drought since 1934. The Mississippi River was restricted by dropping water levels. In the south, National Guard was hauling water to people whose wells had gone dry. In the news, there were cries of the ‘Greenhouse Effect’ and Yellowstone was starting to feel the heat.