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| 25 Seconds That Could Save a Firefighter’s Life (or Not) | 25 Seconds That Could Save a Firefighter’s Life (or Not) |
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| Carrying a fire shelter has been mandatory for anyone fighting a wildfire in the United States since 1977. But in Canada, where a raging fire is threatening to destroy the entire city of Fort McMurray, Alberta, firefighters stopped carrying shelters in 2005. Do Canadians know something Americans don’t? | Carrying a fire shelter has been mandatory for anyone fighting a wildfire in the United States since 1977. But in Canada, where a raging fire is threatening to destroy the entire city of Fort McMurray, Alberta, firefighters stopped carrying shelters in 2005. Do Canadians know something Americans don’t? |
| Wildfires are an ever-present threat to both America and Canada, and they burn similarly on both sides of the border: hot, big and tough-to-tame beasts. It’s where they burn that’s different: In the United States, there are more often homes and people close to the flames. | Wildfires are an ever-present threat to both America and Canada, and they burn similarly on both sides of the border: hot, big and tough-to-tame beasts. It’s where they burn that’s different: In the United States, there are more often homes and people close to the flames. |
| That means Canadian firefighters may have time to think and strategize, while American firefighters have to take more risk as they rush — risk the shelters can help mitigate. In Canada, where fires often burn in densely forested areas, it can also be much harder to find a clearing or local road where it is safe to deploy shelters, which are not built to withstand direct contact with flames. | That means Canadian firefighters may have time to think and strategize, while American firefighters have to take more risk as they rush — risk the shelters can help mitigate. In Canada, where fires often burn in densely forested areas, it can also be much harder to find a clearing or local road where it is safe to deploy shelters, which are not built to withstand direct contact with flames. |
| In 2013, 19 Arizona firefighters were trapped by a wave of fire and died despite deploying their shelters. | In 2013, 19 Arizona firefighters were trapped by a wave of fire and died despite deploying their shelters. |
| As part of my research for a book about that fire, I took a basic wildland firefighting course, where we used green or orange shelters, not silver ones. On go, we had 25 seconds to whip them out, grasp the handles marked “right hand” and “left hand,” shake the shelters open, step inside and drop to the ground. | As part of my research for a book about that fire, I took a basic wildland firefighting course, where we used green or orange shelters, not silver ones. On go, we had 25 seconds to whip them out, grasp the handles marked “right hand” and “left hand,” shake the shelters open, step inside and drop to the ground. |
| I did as I’d been taught, albeit more slowly than the actual firefighters in my group: rolled onto my belly, kept my face down and spread my legs. I pointed my feet in the direction the imaginary flames were coming from, a trick meant to protect airways and torso. | I did as I’d been taught, albeit more slowly than the actual firefighters in my group: rolled onto my belly, kept my face down and spread my legs. I pointed my feet in the direction the imaginary flames were coming from, a trick meant to protect airways and torso. |
| It was a windless day in Prescott, Ariz., but it quickly got hot inside the shelter — and that was with no fire burning. It got eerily quiet, too, and claustrophobic: I felt trapped. I remember closing my eyes, taking deep breaths and reminding myself that this was only a drill. | It was a windless day in Prescott, Ariz., but it quickly got hot inside the shelter — and that was with no fire burning. It got eerily quiet, too, and claustrophobic: I felt trapped. I remember closing my eyes, taking deep breaths and reminding myself that this was only a drill. |