By Daniel S. Johnson, Saguache County Firewise Program.
It’s been a highly productive fall and winter for the Saguache County Firewise Program, in its 15th year, mainly due to the skills and dedication of the workforce. Kevin Matz, the Baca Assistant Fire Chief, was instrumental in helping do assessments and complete hands-on mitigation projects since the program was funded again back in September.
His chainsaw talents and ability to jump into the site boss role when the crew had to be split up made us versatile, and his calm and detailed choice of tactics kept everyone safe.
The second Baca supervisor was Benjamin Antoniewicz, who brought back and shared his knowledge of wildfire management from two years on the San Juan Hotshot Crew.
He split his time between the greenbelt project and lot mitigation equally and stepped into the site boss role whenever needed.
My go-to “swamper” (a multi-talented assistant) this past winter was Cody Wolfe, who braved the biting winter winds and swirling snow on almost every project.
He became proficient in ignitions to help folks with their pile burns, literally moved tons of cut materials to piles or trailers to haul to the mitigation pit, and has now begun his apprenticeship in wildfire chainsaw use.
Grace Puchtel joined the crew last summer and became a regular on Firewise projects. It was good to have a hardworking woman in the mix to keep the guys in line, and her sense of mischief and humor kept everyone on their toes.
Joshua Fruland made sure the greenbelt crew had enough folks to operate before joining the lot crew. Wherever he worked, a lot of slash was moved with his signature strap and drag technique. He was also becoming a skilled sawyer.
Our meticulous equipment officer, Jake Marcus, arrived every morning a half-hour early to do rig checks and equipment rehab. Whenever needed for a large project, he swung off the greenbelt crew to do whatever job was needed. His chainsaw techniques vastly improved last year and he will most likely complete his FAL2 (Intermediate Faller) qualifications in the next year or so.
Stevo Hirsch is usually driving the ambulance, day or night, rushing to help folks through some of their darkest moments. When otherwise available, he added his saw skills to projects until a call for help came and he high-tailed it to get the ambo.
Another EMS responder who helped mitigate was Quinn Kenny. He fit in with the crew and learned quickly how the dynamic work environment is safely run and he added his emergency coverage to our projects.
Angie Geis was a great organizer who could work administration in the office one day and help swamp in the field the next.
Most crew members crave working outdoors and are grateful for those who can sit in front of a computer, which is a vital part of the job. She has a standing invitation to work with the crew anytime she needs to get outdoors and get ‘er done.
The crew has been augmented by a few others on occasion this past year. Alexandra Woods is mainly an EMS person and admin worker who plans to pursue fire communications but managed to join us a couple of times. Popular musician Marcus Daniels was hired on a week-long private job since he is waiting for an opening in the fire department. Former fire chief Ben Brack helped us whenever the crew had a huge job, if he was available. Even Kevin “Popeye” McConnauhhay managed to leave his usual greenbelt site boss position for a day on one of the retreat center jobs.
It should be remembered that the Saguache County Commissioners have supported and funded the Firewise program since its inception.
A big “Thanks!” to all who have been involved in making Saguache County a safer place to live.