Posted by Ranger Janet (165.83.6.33) on September 12, 2002 at 15:37:45:
In Reply to: fire stuff posted by Dennis and KATY on September 12, 2002 at 14:39:04:
: HI,Ranger do you fight 1988 fire?Do you know if anybody died in the 1988 fires? Were any of the fires arrson?
: bye Ranger
Hi Dennis and Katy,
Back in 1988 I was working at another national park unit -- the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. Like park rangers throughout the country, I took a test, called the Step Test, to see if I were physically strong enough to fight the fires. I failed. But many of my younger and stronger ranger friends did pass and did fight the fires of Yellowstone that summer.
Since that time, I have worked an what is called "overhead positions". There are many different tasks that must be done for people on the front lines to fight a big fire. For me it using telephones to mobilize crews and equipment to fight the great fires across our nation in 1994.
While no visitors or residents of the area died in the 1988 Yellowstone fires, two firefighters lost their lives in fire-related activities ouside of Yellowstone National Park. The lives of area residents were severely disrupted for month.