Life as Grangeville Smokejumper

At some point each spring, every Grangeville Smokejumper travels to the Aerial Fire Depot in Missoula, Montana in order to hone their firefighting and parachute-handling skills.  Veteran GAC jumpers complete two weeks of refresher training, a chance to strengthen critical capabilities and to catch up with colleagues from the Missoula and West Yellowstone bases (the other two components of the Region One Forest Service Smokejumper program).  GAC rookies pay a longer visit to Missoula, as every new Region One Smokejumper must successfully complete five weeks of arduous physical and operational training in order to qualify for a jumper position at their respective home base. 

Once back at Grangeville many of the GAC veterans gear up and head off to jumper bases in places like Fairbanks, Alaska and Silver City, New Mexico—locations which often experience large amounts of early-season fire.  As “boosters,” or reinforcements, these GAC personnel function as regular components of the programs hosting them, jumping fires with their Forest Service and BLM compatriots.  Meanwhile some of those back in Grangeville prepare cargo, equipment, and facilities for the beginning of fire season in the Northern Rockies, while others assist with local projects (including hazard-fuel reduction, prescribed fire, and the training of firefighters on local districts).  By late June GAC jumpers begin responding to fires on the Nez Perce/Clearwater Fire Management Zone and the adjoining administrative units.  And about this time, successful members of the GAC rookie class arrive from Missoula for placement in the jump rotation at Grangeville. 

The daily life of a Grangeville Smokejumper combines rigid routine with extreme variability.  Unless on fire assignment, every Smokejumper devotes part of each working day to physical conditioning, and at Grangeville, this might mean a morning run on the Camas Prairie, strength work at the base, or both.  The first eight jumpers on the list run or bike on restricted routes so they can be located quickly in the event of a fire call.  By mid-morning these personnel must be in boots and field clothing, and from this point on, these jumpers can don jumpsuits, helmets, and parachutes within a couple of minutes.  After the official crew briefing (emphasizing weather, fire conditions, and other safety and operational issues), GAC jumpers disperse across the base.  Some head to the loft area to rig parachutes; others go to the sewing machines to repair chutes or manufacture specialized backpacks; and others work in the maintenance area, refurbishing hand tools, powersaws, and cross-cut saws.  More often than not, afternoon at GAC means breaking for a crew-wide “flip,” a ritual involving yelling, stomping, and ice cream for everyone (all at the expense of the day’s official “winner").       

With a fire dispatch, things change fast.  A jumper may suit up and board the Twin Otter without knowing his or her destination.  An initial attack assignment could mean a night of digging line followed by a ten mile hike to the nearest road carrying 120 lbs. of firefighting and parachute gear—but a growing fire could mean a one or two week stay (with extra gear shuttled to jumpers as time allows).  Release from an assignment might mean immediate transportation back to GAC.  But it could just as easily mean demobilization to Missoula, Montana; McCall, Idaho; or Battle Mountain, Nevada—followed by an extended stay as the newest name on the local jump list.  The Smokejumper program features a highly modular structure, and like all jumpers, GAC personnel learn to stay flexible and to expect the unexpected.

As the summer wears on, GAC jumpers with appropriate qualifications often receive single-resource assignments on large fires around the west.  Alternately, GAC personnel may travel with colleagues from Missoula and West Yellowstone as members of twenty-person Smokejumper hand crews.  Meanwhile GAC jumpers continue to perform initial attack on local fires.  Come fall a few GAC personnel continue working at the base, where they assist with the manufacturing and/or repairing of equipment; others work at administrative sites elsewhere in the country, where they help with a large array of resource-management operations (from arborist inspections in New York City to prescribed burning on the Gulf Coast).