Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 12, 1995 TAG: 9504120058
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER NOTE: above
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Why would anyone fight forest fires?
"It's the adrenaline - once you've tasted it, you gotta keep getting it," explained Valery Lambeth.
Lambeth, a 15-year veteran from the Sequoia National Forest in California, is one of the many "addicted" firefighters who've traveled to Southwest Virginia to get a taste of the action.
"You're out there right in it and the flames could take you if you don't take care of it," said firefighter Daniel Howerton.
His crew, trained through an Arkansas Job Corps program, arrived in Roanoke Monday night after battling a blaze in Kentucky for four days.
Many of the crews from out west are on a "call-when-needed" basis, dropping everything, including college or other jobs, to go where the fire is burning.
"A lot of these guys are from Mexico, here legally, who plant trees or other work during the winter, then spend all summer earning money fighting fires," said Eli Revas, a Sequoia crew representative.
The Sequoia crews flew into Roanoke Tuesday morning and were taken to the Salem Civic Center, headquarters for the coordination effort.
In the arena, green cots supplied by the American Red Cross cover the floor. Several hundred firefighters, exhausted from fighting the flames all night, lay bundled up on available cots.
The overflow stretched out wherever they could find a flat area - in the hallway, between seats in the arena aisles, even outside on the wet grass.
Red Cross Emergency Services Chairman Dianne Patterson said she planned to bring more cots from as far as Charlottesville and Radford.
The shelter, she said, was the biggest one the Roanoke chapter has opened in 25 years - even larger than for the flood of 1985.
Fire crews can travel with only one "red bag" - a backpack about the size of a small duffel bag - that's stuffed with everything they'll need for up to a month on site.
"You have to be flexible, and patient ... and self-entertaining," Lambeth said, pointing to her half-completed crossword puzzle.
As one of two women in a 157-person group, Lambeth said she had to develop thick skin. But, she said, it's worth it to feel she's doing something worthwhile.
There's also the money.
Many firefighters gain overtime, sometimes by the third or fourth day of work. Some collect hazardous pay, depending on the conditions.
The Arkansas crew even got paid for the 12-hour ride to get here from Kentucky.
"It'll be great to have this extra money when we get out of the [Job] Corps - to buy a car or something," Geoff Schaffner said.
And with forest fires breaking out in North Carolina and Alabama this week, crews will continue to be in demand.
Some of them will be used once the fire is extinguished to begin rehabilitation, such as reseeding and working on erosion control.
Out west, the fire season hasn't begun. Last year, the hundreds of fires in Northern California alone kept Lambeth so busy she saw her husband only about once a month.
"You also have to be a little crazy to do this," she said.
While they're in the East, Lambeth said she hopes her crew will be able to fight initial attacks on any fires that may spark unexpectedly in the next few days.
"It'll be good practice for us," she said, with a gleam in her eye.
by CNB