RIO PUERCO, N.M. (AP) – Flying 3,000 feet (914 meters) above desert scrubland in New Mexico, Nick Stanzak taps the first smokejumper on the shoulder to signal it’s his turn to leap from the twin-engine plane.
In pairs of two, the team of eight elite firefighters from Idaho and Montana parachute to the dry Rio Puerco below, each carrying about 100 pounds (44 kilograms) of gear as part of regular training so they’ll be ready to be dropped close to wildfires that might break out in remote areas of the Western U.S.
Nearly 30 wildfires are currently burning – including an Arizona blaze that forced the evacuation of thousands of people plus others in California, New Mexico and Utah. Federal officials this week raised the preparedness level for U.S. firefighting forces because of the heightened fire activity.
The smokejumpers are anxiously awaiting their next assignment, with tons of gear packed and boxes of supplies, tools and food taped up and packaged to withstand being dropped from the planes while moored to parachutes.
“We’ll be ready when the call comes,” Stanzak said. “Who knows what the weather is going to do in a month, or even two weeks from now.”