Outdoors
Smoke Jumping for Joy
Outdoors Repor
“I was sitting right there,” smoke jumper Wanda Wildenberg said as she pointed to a seat in TNR 170, “when I decided I wanted to be smoke jumper.” Wildenberg shared her experiences working as a U.S. Forest smoke jumper at a UWSP Fire Crew meeting earlier in the semester. The Fire Crew invites speakers on occasion to share about various fire job opportunities for College of Natural Resources graduates.
Jordan Black volunteered to model the smoke jumper’s gear. Wildenberg first put an empty backpack on Black, which is used to haul gear when the smoke jumpers hike out. Black put a bulky dull yellow coat, with a very high collar and sleeves that were too long, over the backpack. The sleeves and shoulders had Kevlar® sewn into them, and the high collar served as protection when landing in trees. Next, Black put on oversized pants with suspenders and on each pant leg was a huge expandable pocket. Wildenberg then strapped the main and reserve parachutes onto him.
Last but not least, another pack was strapped right below the reserve chute, which held safety gear containing water, gloves, hardhat, fire shelter and other personal belongings needed for a shift on the fire line. Black then donned a motorcycle-like helmet with round wire mesh to protect the smoke jumper’s face. Wildenberg said that the safety pack came in handy sometimes, like when she had gotten caught in the top of a snag once and used the rappelling rope in a leg pocket to get down.
Wildenberg then pulled the main round blue and white parachute out, used by the Forest Service, to show its length.
“The Bureau of Land Management smoke jumpers use rectangular chutes,” said Wildenberg. She also showed the strap that is hooked into the cable inside the airplane, which pulls the main chute open when the smoke jumpers fling themselves from the airplane.
Assistant Josh Haen, who was well over six feet tall, held the straps of the chute up over Black’s head, so Wildenberg could demonstrate how the smoke jumper could change directions in the air by pulling on two cords. These cords opened and closed two vents on either side of the parachute canopy.
“I trained for about a year in order to pass the physical test to have a chance at being a smokejumper,” Wildenberg explained. She showed a short film of the physical test a prospective smokejumper takes to be accepted into the program. A basic requirement is that the candidates must have some forest firefighting experience already. The entry test consists of 45 sit-ups, 25 push-ups; seven pull-ups from a complete hang to chin over the bar, and a mile and a half run. The run has to be completed in 11 minutes or less. All of these tests are completed under the watchful eye of an experienced smoke jumper.
The four-week training program is even more grueling, similar to a military boot camp, complete with “hell week.” A smoke jumper trainee needs to do two “pack outs”. The first “pack out” is to carry a 110 pound 85 pound pack for two and-a-half miles over rough and hilly terrain. Both tests need to be completed in 90 minutes or less. They are also trained in parachuting, of course, and tree climbing.
“I love my job,” smokejumper Wildenberg said with a smile at the end of her talk.
For more information, contact Wanda Wildenberg at Missoula Smokejumpers, 5765 West Broadway, Missoula, MT 59808-9361.