Author's Note- Hey everyone. This actually is the story that inspired started the whole process. To be honest, it is still one of my favorites. It involves one of the most stressful events that a wildland firefighter can experience. I hope that you will also find it interesting.

D is for Deployment

If you fight fires long enough eventually you run out of luck…and Dynamite was dealing with the cold realization that the Piston Peak's Smokejumpers bag of luck had just come up empty. The fire had just jumped the line, both their evacuation routes had been cut off, and the flames were barreling down them like a beast from hell. For a moment that seemed like a short eternity, she stared at their misfortunate, her brain simply trying to get traction. Then her eyes met Avalanches, and he gave her a swift nod of understanding. The dozer turned and started yelling orders freeing his Captain to call in reinforcements.

"Blade, we've got a problem!" Dynamite shouted into the radio, as her lieutenant helped the rest of the team prepare for the worst scenario. "The fire has just jumped the line, and we have been cut off from our evacuation route. We could really use some air support."

"We have are currently on final at the Base to tank back up. We can be back over you location in 15 minutes." The Chief sounded concerned, but he laid out the facts.

"I really don't think that we have that long..." Smokejumper captain started, then nearby snag exploded into flames, and Dynamite knew that they were out of time. "Deploy, deploy, deploy! Everyone under!"

Then she let her own training take over and hoped that she had given her team enough time to practice this skill that they would need to survive this emergency that they would be able to complete their duties perfectly. "The fire is on us, I repeat, the fire is on us. We have deployed our fire shelters, I repeat, we have deployed."

"Understood." Blade spoke, and Dynamite could hear the sound of aircraft engines being redlined in the background. "We will get you air support as quickly as possible. ETA for Dipper is 10 minutes. Stay on the line and let us know when you hear our engines."

"Wilco. We will remain on the radio as long as possible." As she spoke Dynamite allowed her eyes to scan across her people, making sure that everyone's fire shelters had been properly deployed. Then she turned her rear tires to the approaching flames, snugged the foil over the top of her frame, and pressed herself side against Avalanche and Drip's flanks.

And not a moment too soon…only seconds after the team leader had gotten into position the first wave of flames reach them huddle, covering them in a torrent of sparks and flying embers. In the darkness, Dynamite could feel her teammates flinch at the sound and hear as their breaths caught in their intakes, but they all stayed put under their shelters. They all remained calm. They remained like that, for a good five minutes until the rain of embers abated.

"Everyone okay!?" Sure that they had entered the eye of the firestorm, Dynamite called out. There was a motley reply of affirmatives. Most of the words all blended together, with the notable exception of Avalanche whose report of 'I'M FINE,' could have probably been heard a valley over.

"Good, well boys we made it through the first front of the fire. All we need to do is sit tight for one more and we will be in the black." There were a few affirmative murmurs, and the waiting game began again.

The second wave of fire screamed through the forest with the thunder of a freight train. The flames wiped the surrounding air into a firestorm, and the 60+ mile an hour winds buffed their flimsy shelters. Still, the foil held. The team smokejumpers could hear the whooshing sound of trees bursting into flames and the roar of flashover, but the foil still held.

That didn't stop the things in the shelter from becoming incredibly uncomfortable. The temperatures inside of the shelters had climbed to over a 160 degrees, which was far more survival than the 1,000+ degrees air surrounding them, but it was still incredibly uncomfortable. In the extreme heat, it was getting harder and harder to breath. At first, Dynamite tried to fight it, tried to take deep breaths of that baking air, but as she felt the vehicles around her still, she allowed herself to follow. Whether she woke up later in the burned out forest or in the hereafter, the ATV found comfort in the fact that she would be doing it with her team.

Term- Deployment- There are few words that can cause a firefighter's blood turn cold like the announcement that a group on the line were forced to deploy. It means that they were trapped by the approaching flames with no way to retreat. To make the whole situation worse, the people who are trapped may be unable to let the outside world know if they survived for over an hour as they wait for the firestorm to pass over them. Even though the emergency fire shelters actually have a remarkable survival rate given the extreme conditions that the lightweight foil tents withstand, using one does not guarantee survival especially if it is not set up properly. As a result of all of the wildland firefighters, I know train with practice fire shelters on a regular basis while hoping they will never, ever have to use the ones in the kit. If you would like to learn more about deployment and how it works, I would suggest checking out the movie 'Only the Brave'.