As most of our Dear Friends know, we
closely follow the wild fire season each year. Ever since we moveed
to Flagstaff in October 1980, we've had a special affinity for Hot
Shot crews. Our first roomie in Flag was a member of The Happy Jack
Hot Shots. Oh, the stories he told. In early 1981, Mark even helped
me get a temporary job with a the Blue Ridge Hot Shot crew. The
1980-81 Winter was a drought. Fire crews set fire to slash piles in
late fall expecting winter snows to extinguish those fires. Well,
there wasn't enough winter snow to do the job. So, we rode a Hot
Shot bus around Mogollon Rim Country putting out slash pile fires.
The job didn't last long and, back then, I had no interest in
becoming a seasonal forest fire fighter. But those experiences laid
the foundation of my interest and affinity for all-things-Hot-Shot.
These days Hot Shots are formally known as IHC's. The acronym means
“Interagency Hot Shot Crew.”
A few years back, I began following the “fire season” much more closely. And then came The Yarnell Hill Tragedy. The loss of The Arizona 19 greatly affected my emotions. After that sad, heart-rending incident, I began to follow the IHC's with much more interest, even becoming a “fan” of a few of them.
The IHC I began to follow most closely was The Geronimo Hot Shots based in San Carlos, Arizona. Somehow, the all Native IHC crew really captured my attention. It's so tough for a Native man to avoid drugs, alcohol and the other common pitfalls of life on a reservation. Following the exploits of the Geronimo IHC filled my heart with pride and respect for those 20 men.
A few years back, I began following the “fire season” much more closely. And then came The Yarnell Hill Tragedy. The loss of The Arizona 19 greatly affected my emotions. After that sad, heart-rending incident, I began to follow the IHC's with much more interest, even becoming a “fan” of a few of them.
The IHC I began to follow most closely was The Geronimo Hot Shots based in San Carlos, Arizona. Somehow, the all Native IHC crew really captured my attention. It's so tough for a Native man to avoid drugs, alcohol and the other common pitfalls of life on a reservation. Following the exploits of the Geronimo IHC filled my heart with pride and respect for those 20 men.
As we
began planning our Southeast Arizona Road Trip, I realized that we
would be going right through The San Carlos Reservation. I
immediately made plans to detour into San Carlos, Arizona, to attempt
to find and meet one or more of the Geronimo IHC. Then we had to
change our plans because of the on-going NPS fiasco with the closed
road in Chiricahua National Monument. I admit to be saddened that we
wouldn't be going through San Carlos.
Fast forward to Friday, March 4th. We left Douglas, Arizona, heading north on Old US 80 to Rodeo, New Mexico, and the renowned Cave Creek Canyon beyond. We eagerly anticipated passing the 1934 Geronimo Monument and pulled over in Apache, Arizona, to stand and reflect on the surrender of Geronimo at Skeleton Canyon in the nearby Peloncillo Mountains. Somehow standing there at that odd, lonely monument we had a flood of thoughts about America's Natives both past and present. Of course, we thought of the Geronimo IHC and wondered if they had ever visited the area of their namesake's surrender. We also thought of Wayne Ranney. Wayne was here on September 6th, 1986 for the Geronimo Surrender Centennial. Wayne invited us to go along and we didn't. It's something we've regretted ever since.
Fast forward to Friday, March 4th. We left Douglas, Arizona, heading north on Old US 80 to Rodeo, New Mexico, and the renowned Cave Creek Canyon beyond. We eagerly anticipated passing the 1934 Geronimo Monument and pulled over in Apache, Arizona, to stand and reflect on the surrender of Geronimo at Skeleton Canyon in the nearby Peloncillo Mountains. Somehow standing there at that odd, lonely monument we had a flood of thoughts about America's Natives both past and present. Of course, we thought of the Geronimo IHC and wondered if they had ever visited the area of their namesake's surrender. We also thought of Wayne Ranney. Wayne was here on September 6th, 1986 for the Geronimo Surrender Centennial. Wayne invited us to go along and we didn't. It's something we've regretted ever since.
As we left the Geronimo Monument, we noticed a distant smoke plume in the Peloncillos. We assumed it was a managed burn and didn't give it any thought. Little did we know the smoke was from the 6,500 acre Guadalupe Pass Fire, a human-caused incident in the Peloncillo Mountains near Skeleton Canyon that began March 2nd.
We set up our base in the Sunny Flat Campground and then went back down to Rodeo the following day. While buying ice in the Rodeo Grocery and Cafe, we learned the gracious owners provided free WIFI. So we set up our laptop and settled in for a long stay. We ate a leisurely lunch and began posting to various social media.
And then, out of the clear blue sky, who should walk into the grocery store but the Geronimo Hot Shots! My Heroes! I admit to being stunned by their arrival. However, it didn't take long for me to begin talking with them and telling them that I actually had planned to go to San Carlos to try to meet one or more of then.
The crew boss introduced me to Squad Leader Mario Dia. He's the guy who makes videos of The Geronimo Hot Shots exploits. One of the guys helped find Mario's latest video and bookmarked it on my laptop.
Here's the link to the video of the Geronimo Hot Shots 2015 season:
Several of them reluctantly posed for a photo by Susun and then,
poof, they were gone. What are the odds that this amazing
coincidence would happen?
We were so happy that we finally, actually got to meet some of the Geronimo Hot Shots, most especially Video Master Mario Dia. It was a great vignette of Road Trip Karma.
We were so happy that we finally, actually got to meet some of the Geronimo Hot Shots, most especially Video Master Mario Dia. It was a great vignette of Road Trip Karma.
Here are two links:
The Geronimo Hot Shots website:
The Geronimo Hot Shots website:
WooHoo! Nothing better that a Cochise way of life!
ReplyDeleteIt actually brought tears reading your post. I really respect the hotshot crews, and all wild land ffs. There is also an all women hotshot crew; PBS did a program on them a couple of years back. Thanks for posting those links, I'll follow them.
ReplyDelete