(172) Bet You Didn't Know...

My husband is a wildland firefighter. Not the kind of firefighter that responds to house fires or structure fires. He fights these kinds of fires...



And in fact, he is on this exact fire. A fire that has burned around 45,000 acres, destroyed roughly 31 homes, and taken the life of a volunteer firefighter (although I think it has been determined that it wasn't the fire that killed him). And there is no known containment. Read that as: there is no known end.

Looks scary, doesn't it? Well, it is. It can be very scary. And intensely hot, smokey, and loud.

But you know what? He LOVES his job. LOVES. He lights up whenever he talks about anything wildland. It is his passion. He takes pride in it. He loves teaching others about his passion... he taught me most of what I know. And he is good at it. He has taken HOURS of training and been across the country fighting these fires.

I love that my husband has a passion. I like to listen to him give me all the details of his day. He talks about the fire behavior, and who made stupid decisions, and what he saw, and who he talked to. When he can, he will call me with his coordinates so I can map them in Goodle Earth and know roughly where he is. I know he leaves out the gorey details. It is a dangerous job to have. There are so many unknowns to a wildland fire; so many variables... the wind could shift or become even gustier, the fire could jump the line and make a run. I try not to focus on that stuff. In fact, I never think about it. If I did, I would be in the fetal position on the floor. Seriously, I would be. So to protect myself, I take a naive look on it. Deep down I know that an accident could happen and he would not return home. But he is a smart firefighter... always situationally aware. Years of experience has taught him that. I know, smart does not always equal safe. It does help to ensure his safety. One moment at a time. One day at a time.

This go 'round, he is working with dozers. And engines. And maintainers. And apparently a Black Hawk. Say wha? Yeah, I questioned that one too. I like these kinds of assignments for him... makes me less nervous to know he is on the ground. Although working around heavy equipment can be dangerous too. Luckily, he isn't handling them, he gets to tell them where to go. The nervous assignments are the ones in which he is a helicopter crewmember. I can't handle those. And bless his heart, he does try to turn those down because of how it makes me feel. We both understand that his job affects everyone in the family, as a group and as individuals.

I cannot imagine anything different for us. I don't want to. I am so very proud of him.

So. Very. Proud.