2/11/2024 0 Comments Hot shots firefighters esSmokejumpers also learn about emergency medical care and become expert tailors, since they are responsible for maintaining their own parachutes, gear bags, and jumpsuits. To practice parachuting skills, smokejumpers spend time in a landing simulator nicknamed the “Mutilator” that drops them (on a cable) from high in the air, so they can learn how to drop, roll, and get up unhurt. There is also jump training, which includes practicing safe landings and learning about parachute maneuvering. One important requirement: smokejumpers must be able carry a 50-kilogram (110-pound) pack for 4.8 kilometers (three miles) in 90 minutes or less. During spring training, smokejumpers undertake physical conditioning and must pass a fitness test. Rookies need to already know how to use wildfire-fighting tools, be in peak physical condition, and be able to stay calm under severe stress. It Takes Training To get hired as a smokejumper, one must already have experience fighting wildfires on the ground. A few other nations with expansive forests, like Russia, also have smokejumping programs. In all, about 400 smokejumpers work for the U.S. If the risk of fire is high in a certain location, smokejumpers may relocate to a temporary “spike base,” which is closer to the high-risk area-that way, they can get there fast if fire breaks out. Bureau of Land Management has two additional crews in Idaho and Alaska. Forest Service has seven smokejumping crews stationed in the western states where wildfires most often occur. After tests showed smokejumpers could make a difference, the first official jump on an active fire took place in 1940. Pearson, a United States Forest Service employee, was the first to suggest that firefighters could parachute in to attack remote wildfires back in 1934. When lightning (or a careless camper) sparks a wildfire in a remote, roadless place, smokejumpers parachute in as the first line of defense to fight the fire.
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