Sunrise or Sunset?

I took these pictures on Sept 10th.  The question is... Sunrise or sunset?

Because of all the smoke that we had from the fires it was hard to tell if it was morning or evening except for where the sun was located.

The smoke was pretty bad for over a month, but it made for colorful sunrises and sunsets.

More SEAT Base Pics

The Hamilton SEAT base was closed down for the season Friday Sept 30th. 

A record season for retardant out of Hamilton.

Below is Robbie, SEAT manager from Denver.

 Andrew O'Neil- the Fuel/retardant loader for T-487, was nicknamed "Ranger Boy" by (Dale- the water tender operator).

Jackie Johnson- SEAT Pilot (T-487)

Russ (T-847) and Jeff Tidwell (T-432) They were ordered from Ronan, MT.

Joey Wimmple- He is "Awesome"

A different view of the SEAT loading operation.

Hamilton SEAT Base

Sept. 3rd and 4th I was working at the Single Engine Air Tanker base in Hamilton, MT.

The pumpkin Blivit is full of water.  It holds about 5000 gal.

The yellow tanks hold the LC (liquid concentrate retardant) and mixed retardant (ready for dropping)

Tanker 487 was waiting for a dispatch. 

These smaller airtankers hold about 800 gal of retardant for dropping.

The amount that they actually can carry depends on how hot it is, the elevation and how much fuel it is carrying.

The hotter the day and the higher the elevation the less that can be carried.

The 41 complex can be seen in the background.  It was kicking up quite a bit on Sunday.

 Andrew was the fuel truck driver/retardant loader for Tanker 487.

He was born in Ireland and moved to the US when he was 10.

He had a slight accent left.

He is washing the airtanker.

Dale is the watertender operator.

We use Dale for trucking retardant and water when needed.

(He brought his guitar and played a few songs for us)

Dennis Davis is another SEAT manager that was working.

His regular job is at MTDC (Missoula Technology and Development Center)



Buffalo Soldiers- 1910 Fires

On Sunday, August 22, 2010, Dave and I went to the Buffalo Soldier Presentation that was held at Fort Missoula

The 1910 Commemerative Events were held Aug 20-22, 2010

The Buffalo Soldiers helped with the 1910 fires.

A Regiment of them came from Texas to help with evacuations, firefighting and clean up.

The Buffalo Soldier National Museum is located in Houston, TX

These men are re-enactors and came to Missoula from Houston, Texas

Leslie Weldon is the Regional Forester for Region 1

She presented the Fort Missoula Museum Curator with a 1910 Commemorative Print by Monte Dolack

(Monte was commissioned by the FS for make this print)

Apparently the Buffalo Soldier Museum in Texas does not have any reference to the Regiment that came to Montana and Idaho for the 1910 fires.  I got the impression that they weren't aware that a Regiment of soldiers came up from Texas during that time.

This guy was an actor and he gave a talk/story about being a buffalo soldier

This guy was just hangin out on one of the log cabins at the Fort.

Dave and I were on our way to the car when I took this pic.

Ahhh, for cute

Region 1 "Fires of 1910" dress-up day

Dave loves to dress up.  When they announced at his office that they were going to have a contest for dressing up as a person in the 1910 period during the big fires, Dave was all over it. 

He knew just what he wanted to do.

He dressed up as a 1910 fire ranger (who had been working on the fires)

I am quite amazed at how he thinks these things up.  He had all the parts of his costume decided when he came up with the idea.
"1910 Safety Dave"

This was the group that dressed up at the office. 

The woman 3rd from the left won the contest.

She came into work with period attire and black smudged all over her face.  Apparently when she got on the bus that morning to go to work, the bus driver asked if she was alright and if she needed some help.

They had ice cream after the contest and did a 1910 trivia game.

Here are a couple web links for information about the 1910 fires

The 1910 Fires-USFS history

USFS 1910 Commemeration Info site

Edward Pulaski 

(developed the firefighting tool still used today)

Leavin Moab Fire Assignment

My Moab assignment was finished on Aug 13th.

Before I traveled home I took another group shot of the new Moab bunch

(Soon to be minus me)

Cheryl, Chris, Phil, Jill, Maura, Snoop (John) and Karen

Chris flew in from the South, Jill came from Shoshone ID,

and Snoop is a gimped Helitacker.

The others are the staff from Moab.
**********

Last pic of Leanard's Pup

He finally got a name "Cache"

For My Birthday, Karen took me to dinner.

We went to the Sunset Grill which is located in

the home built by Charlie Steen (He made his fortune in Uranium)

And what a sunset it was. The food was excellent
I had a great time!