Locals return from fighting California fires

Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Photo submitted Karen Jarboe of Lusby stops for a picture while fighting fires in California.Jarboe and Andrew Pavis of St. Leonard were sent to help with the firefighting efforts. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

Karen Jarboe of Lusby and Andrew Pavis of St. Leonard left July 21 with a crew from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service Division and spent 14 days on the fire line based out of Iron Complex, said Kara Turner, forest service communications office spokeswoman.

Iron Complex was recently in the news when a helicopter crashed near the site while transporting firefighters, and an 18-year-old firefighter based at Iron Complex died on July 25 from multiple injuries.

Jarboe said the first couple of days the smoke laid between the mountains caused her nausea and headaches, and she couldn’t eat.

‘‘I still have a cough,” she said. All 14 days the crew got up at 5 a.m., had 30 minutes for breakfast and 30 minutes to pack their gear and get on the bus for an hour and a half ride to the fire, she said. The first few days they didn’t get back to camp until about 9:30 p.m., and it was up again at 5 a.m., she said.

They carried a 20-pound day pack on their backs with protective gear and food as they worked their way around the mountainous terrain and fought the fire, Jarboe said.

‘‘Once you got use to it, it wasn’t that bad,” she said. Jarboe said she would do it again if she could.

It was run like a military operation, she said, walking in line and regimented. At times they could relax, she added.

‘‘I learned about myself and challenged my physically capabilities,” Jarboe said.

It also increased her teamworking skills and made her realize the dangers of wildfires, she said.

Jarboe, a 2001 Patuxent High School graduate and a 2006 graduate of St. Mary College of Maryland with a degree in philosophy, said she had the opportunity to go to California to fight the fires through her stipend position with Maryland Conservation Corp (MCC). Jarboe got involved with MCC because of her interest in conservation, and DNR trained her in fighting wildfires last fall.

Jarboe’s assignments ranged from looking for spot fires and extinguishing them, creating burn lines that create buffers guarding against fire spreading and mopping up, putting out the fire, she said.

‘‘When I first did a burn, I really felt the heat,” she said.

The heat lasts about 30 minutes and then it dies down.

Jarboe said she could also felt the heat on her feet when stepping into ‘‘white ash.” The boots hold the heat, but they will not catch on fire because of their thick soles, she said.

Andrew Pavis, a 2006 Patuxent High School graduate and a spring graduate of College of Southern Maryland in criminal justice, said the two weeks were rigorous and fighting a wildfire is much different than fighting a structural fire. Pavis took a Firefighter 1 class in Calvert County and the teacher hooked him up to take a DNR wildfire training and go to California, he said.

‘‘Out there we are fighting fire with fire, not water,” Pavis said. He spoke of igniting back fires to stop the main fire, digging trenches and having to hike to many of the burn areas.

Pavis and Jarboe were part of the crew that fought the Cedar fire, near the Buckhorn fire, he said. The Cedar fire was about all contained before they left, he added.

Pavis said he plans to take a class in airport crash and fire⁄rescue in the fall and his two-week stint as a wildfire fighter will look good on his resume.