When we re in Nevada, it s all sagebrush and just little sparse grasses on the ground, Jorgensen said. So we ll just dig a scratch line - maybe 17 inches or so. It s just enough to make sure the fire isn t going to have any fuel to touch. Then we ll take the sagebrush away in about a three-foot radius. If you have grasses and roots from trees, you have to get down and chop the roots out.
Fire is really weird - it can creep through anything.
On a cold fire, with flames only a few feet long, the Hotshots may be digging line close enough to the flames to be throwing dirt on them with their hand tools. On a hot fire, with flames surging as high as 60 feet into the trees, the crew may be 200 or 300 yards away, or pulled from the scene completely. Jorgensen said crew bosses have a well-honed knowledge of where they can safely place their firefighters. If Hotshots are told to go down there and dig a line, precautions are taken. Our bosses have been there and know what it s like, and they re not going to put us someplace in danger.