Wildfire Fighting Women

Last Friday, an all-female crew out of Magdalena was just returning to the Magdalena Ranger District’s fire station on Highway 107 from almost two weeks fighting a forest fire on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Although fighting what was designated the Ikes Fire was grueling, entailing long days and nights camping under the stars, all 18 crew members came home upbeat.

It was the first firefighting assignment for Angelina Guerro of the Alamo-Navajo reservation. Her experience reinforced her decision to become a wildland firefighter.

“We were on the fire for 12 days,” she said. “It’s a lot of hard work, but I’m learning things out there on the fire crew.”

Her story, and the story of each woman on the crew, began with a ground-breaking program initiated by Cibola National Forest. Going on three years now, Cibola has been leading the way to integrate women into the ranks of its firefighting crews with its Women in Wildland Fire Boot Camp. The Boot Camp was formed to train career-focused women to become temporary, seasonal employees, and on-call wildland firefighters. These positions support wildland fire operations over the summer months and can help pave the way for future, permanent employment and career advancement with the Forest Service.

Crew Boss Kevin Hashemi, who is a nine year veteran of wildland fire fighting, said this is the first Women in Fire crew in the Forest Service’s Region 3, which encompasses all of New Mexico, Arizona, West Texas and Western Oklahoma.

“We have already heard of other Forests in the Region that are planning to do this,” Hashemi said. “So, this is the first all-female fire crew in Region 3”.

Who is the typical applicant for the Women in Fire Boot Camp? Simply, those interested in the outdoors and want to learn practical skills, Hashemi says.

“This crew does not identify anybody as qualified, or unqualified. This crew is designed to help people get their foot in the door and see if this is something they’re interested in doing,” Hashemi said. “If it works out, or if they decide fire is not for them, then they learn something about themselves, learn some leadership, and learn some life skills, great. That’s an accomplishment. That’s exactly what we’re looking to do on this crew.”

The women unpacking in Magdalena last Friday seemed came from all over; from Minnesota, Ohio, California, Oregon and New Mexico. Kelli Wilke hails from Mountainair and has already served on two previous wildland fire crews.

“I wanted a job in the field, either as an EMT or firefighter, and this seems to fit me really well,” she said. “I like to be outside. I like hard work.”

The same goes for her fellow crew members. “They are the hardest workers I’ve ever known. They call it your fire family,” Wilke said. “I’ve never seen a group of people who don’t know each other just come together and work this well together. The morale is very high.”

She said the program was a great way to help women get their foot in the door, “because it’s not that easy for women to get into fire.”

“It’s a good way a woman can get involved, because it can be challenging to break into the traditionally male field,” she said. “You learn how to use a tool, how to sharpen a tool, how to prep line. A lot of girls are learning how to run chainsaws.”

Her crew had three or four sawyers (chainsaw operators), plus swampers (who carry the cut material from one location to another), and diggers (who use hand tools to actually create a fire break). Wilke said it doesn’t matter how strong one is. “Your attitude is 70 percent of the job, at least,” she said. “I wouldn’t do anything else.”

Another crew member, Jessica Hilfers, who normally works out of Mimbres in the Wilderness Ranger District in the Gila National Forest, said crew members always take care of each other.

“If you needed aspirin, you know, four hands were out offering,” she said. “You see folks that have been around longer teaching younger folks.”