Florida Fighting 102 Wildfires

I haven't mentioned it before, but from 1989 to 1998 I was a member of our state's elite State Fire Team (Team 4).

If a fire in a region got too big for that region to contain it, it would be declared a PROJECT FIRE, and we, the STATE TEAM, would get called in. We would come from far and wide, some of us lived in Olympia and some in Okanagan, some would drive and some would get flown in on the agency 7-person plane (I got that "fun" task assigned to me TWICE [scary, it was through a lightening storm])

In addition to a whole lot of smaller fires I worked at Washington's HUGE 1991 Fire Storm in the Spokane area, 1992 Golendale fire down near the Columbia River, 1994's HUGE second Fire Storm again MANY MANY fires all over the east side of Washington state (end of summer dryness, lightening & wind), this time I was the first team to get sent out, initially to a fire near Tonasket where we were set up at the Ferry County Fairgrounds. (I got over one hundred horse fly and mosquito bites on each foot, not to mention how many I got EVERYWHERE ELSE.)
It was a very painful fire for me.

Then after THAT fire was out, since there were SO MANY fires burning around the east side of the state, we were held at base camp, not demobbed home, and after a day we were sent to another fire. We carravanned to Cashmere Washington to set up ANOTHER base camp up at the Chelan County Fairgrounds. That was the Rat Creek Fire and that took another 10 days to put out and mop up. I think I was gone for about 21 days that time.

Going out on fires those 10-years was a great experience for me. I was a single mom, and it was a win-win. I was around a lot a GREAT people, doing a GREAT thing, helping in an EMERGENCY!

Second - I made a lot of over-time money and that helped with school clothes every summer for the boys. AND, I usually made enough to pay off a few bills too.

AND, the boys had Larry to stay with while I was gone. He and his parents were GREAT!!! Thank you to Larry! The boys loved you SO MUCH!!!!!