April 10th

Good morning/day: Not so good here, raining again and 6C.
Had our "local" kids here for dinner yesterday. Also I found something that I started typing sometime ago and somehow saved then forgot. The title sort of sets the tone - "Forestry -What Happened". I will eventually paste it on here.

Here is the last installment of "Fire in my Belly"

Chapter 5 – My Job Changes (a bit)

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he following January, James called me in to his office and told me that when the summer crew was hired that in addition to my other duties he wanted me to be their supervisor and also to be responsible for the fitness training of all the Jackson Guard staff.  As well I was to be responsible for the fitness testing of the city and base fire departments.

 I didn’t mind, I could see the psychology behind the fitness stuff, I was the oldest person on staff and perhaps that could be used to spur on those that were balking at becoming physically certified.  Most of my information gathering for the Interface project was complete and I would have more time.  However the agency (SAIC) that actually hired me wasn’t too happy as the contract that they had negotiated didn’t include these other duties.  However together we rationalized that when the contract came up for renewal we would both benefit.  So the change was allowed to ride.

 Maintaining my fitness level was a daily chore; I knew if I slacked off I would quickly get out of shape.  So I jogged three miles a day, five days a week and a couple of times a week I would do the route with a 20-pound pack.  That spring Jackson Guard purchased a full set of gym equipment so weight and cardio-vascular training also became part of the routine.  By this time my wife and I were thinking we might stay on for another couple years therefore there was no question that I had to maintain my fitness level, so I combined a gym workout with the road training.

 The staff supervision proved interesting as the summer crew consisted of two young women and three young fellows.  The guys were no problem but one of the girls obviously had a problem with being supervised by some “old foreigner” and then to top it off the two girls got inebriated one weekend and had a fistfight!  But they were knowledgeable about their job and after a closed-door lecture (by me) we came to an understanding.

 I eventually completed my primary project and with considerable guidance from the office computer guru; did develop a program.  This was later incorporated into policy and procedure at other US Airforce installations where there was a forest interface. 

 Fitness testing of outside personnel became quite routine and rarely a week went by that someone from a fire department or an other military base wasn’t scheduled for testing.

The prescribed burning continued as did the wild fire and in that second year we were able to catch up all backlog areas.  No fires went beyond the boundaries of Eglin although one at the far west end gave us a real run for our money. 

 Besides heat, humidity, ordinance and bugs there was one other factor that always caused us to be extra alert.  Snakes!  There were water moccasins in the swampy areas; there were rattlers, both the big desert type and the pygmy rattler in the dry areas. The list goes on, but those above plus copperheads, cottonmouth, pine and coachwhip were part of our daily lives.  I hate snakes!

 The Floridians took them all in stride and so us outsiders just had to suck it up and look where we were going to step, not where we had.

Chapter 5 – An Early Conclusion

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y wife and I had definitely decided we would stay another two years, she was heavily involved in volunteering for the Salvation Army as well as doing volunteer driving and food transport for Jackson Guard when we were on fires and prescribed burns.

 Then one morning during a planning meeting I was sitting with the others and suddenly got extremely dizzy, I had to hold both sides of my chair in order not to fall over.  One of the fellows, Jerry Coon, said, “Hey John you OK?”

  I answered, “No, if I let go of this chair I’m going to fall over. Can you drive me home?”

  Jerry and Billy Price helped me out to one of the vehicles and drove me over to our townhouse.  Maryann immediately transferred me to our car and took me to the Base hospital.  It seems I was having a TIA (something like a mini stroke). The next morning by 7 am I was on an operating table having an angiogram and in minutes an advanced blockage in one of my carotid arteries was found.  I could have had an operation the same morning, but the prospect of cost and time off work was not inviting. The results were relayed to our GP at home who in turn consulted a specialist who recommended that an operation should wait and probably wouldn’t be necessary for a couple more years.

 So back to work I went, but we reluctantly decided that if there were a complication down the road we would want to be back home in BC.  I explained this to James Furman and subsequently confirmed that I would not be in a position to renew my contract and in fact would be terminating the present contract in September. 

 I continued with all the daily actions and about a week before I was finished one of the other staff  - Marlene Rodriguez and I were assigned to a very interesting project.  We were sent out to one of the firing ranges and under the direction of airforce personnel set small fires, at the same time the airforce would leave an old piece of equipment about a ¼ mile away with it’s motor running. We would vacate the area and then from 50,000 feet or more aircraft would sometimes drop and sometimes shoot heat-seeking ordinance.  They were trying to develop something that could differentiate between the two heat sources.  Of course we were never privy to any of the results, but it was interesting.  A great way to end my return to the past with a hand in the future!

 So ended my return to all that rush and excitement that came with fighting fire.  Did I have any regrets?  Only that I was leaving too soon.

 On my last day of work, I went to James and asked if he would come and hold the stopwatch while I did the fitness test one more time. He did and I exceeded my time of a year earlier and came home with my “red card” renewed for one more year.

  I have experienced that which others can only wish for and now years later I am content with the time I had.  Who knows perhaps I may have tired of the hard work, the heat and the smoke.  But you know, just a few days ago, the TV had coverage on some large fires in central Florida.  While I watched and listened my stomach gave a bit of a lurch, I could feel the heat rise and I wondered - I just wondered!