Inmate Band Of Brothers

This past week we ended a 14 day stretch on two fires that were located within two hours of the prison facility. The Stewart Gulch Fire was near Meeker, CO and the Red Canyon Fire was close to Rangely, CO.

The Stewart Gulch Fire was a Type 3 fire (type I being the most severe). It was only 63 acres but had a lot of extremely steep terrain on it, so technically it was a pretty tough fire for us. There is a huge shortage of fire-fighting resources throughout the West right now so we were the only crew on the fire (we were supported by 2 engine crews). It was a huge challenge for us to handle the fire without additional support but it provided us opportunity to showcase our capabilities. We ended up spending five days on the fire before we had it fully contained. This fire produced a lot of "hazard trees" as they are known to firefighters. Hazard Trees are trees that have been burned but haven't fallen or snagged on other trees or trees that are still on fire. The other sawyers and I spent a lot time seeking these trees out and cutting them down. There was a huge canyon with enormous trees that had hundreds of hazard trees in it. It was so bad that every few minutes, huge trees were falling over just feet from where we were working with our saws. I've now decided that the only sound that scares me more than a prison cell door slamming shut, is the sound of a 600 foot tree falling down, unexpectedly, just feet from you. 

This fire was so hot that the entire root systems of trees were on fire underground. So even though we could see no visible signs of fire above ground-the fire was destroying root systems and falling trees all over this canyon. We were very successful in cutting down a lot of the trees but it was an eye-opener to work in the environment.

As part of our best practises, there are a couple of us who are trained to be a lookout and weather watch. A lookout's job is to be located somewhere on the mountain where they have eyes on all members of the crew, the fire and the weather. Fires often create their own micro-weather patterns so the overall weather forecast is often not adequate for predicting fire behavior. We use instruments that you spin like a side lasso that determine temperature and relative humidity-two of the most important factors in fire danger. Incoming weather fronts can have associated winds that can severely affect the fire as well. We utilize these lookouts on all fires but because we were the only crew on this fire, it was extremely important that our lookouts handled their jobs seriously. Fortunately, they did and we functioned as a well oiled machine. 

We were able to "spike camp" which means we camped right near the fire-we created our own base camp. We slept on top of the highest mountain and were blessed with a "super moon" and an awesome view of Mars every night. I love sleeping out under the stars.

After finishing up the Stewart Gulch Fire, we were reassigned to the Red Canyon Fire which was a brand new fire near Rangely, CO. It was being moved from a Type 3 fire to a Type 2 fire due to the size and because structures were being threatened. As firefighters we love to hear that a fire is a Type 1 or 2 because it means that a full-scale base camp will be set up that includes catering-awesome catering, this fire was about 5,000 acres. The base camp was setup at the Rangely Community College. It's a beautiful little campus and I loved sleeping on the grass versus the sagebrush. We were told as we arrived on site that there were not a lot of crews available so we would be getting some hefty work assignments. There were absolutely no Hot Shot Crews available so a lot of their normal duties fell on us. From a physical standpoint, this fire was one of the hardest things I've ever done. The terrain was so steep-60-70 degrees in most of the areas we worked. And we typically hike 3-5 miles each morning just to get to the fire. The elevation gain for our daily hike was anywhere from 400-800 feet. Carrying all of our gear, including the chainsaws, wasn't so bad but working on those slopes all day cutting down and dragging trees was extremely demanding-15 hours a day! I would typically sweat all the way through my chainsaw chaps each day-usually before noon. I drank 7-8 70 oz. Camel Back bladders of water each day-and I still felt dehydrated. I was eating about 5,000 calories a day-and still losing weight.

We spent 9 days fighting the Red Canyon Fire. Or the 2nd to last day we got caught in a huge hail storm while we were on the mountain. Most of the vegetation from the mountain slopes had been burned so there was nothing to hold the water and mud on the mountain. As we were about halfway down the mountain, all of the sudden we heard what sounded like a raging river. We looked down into the canyons below and could see a wall of water, mud and debris destroying everything in it's path. A flash flood. Fortunately, we were working our way down the ridge and were hundreds of feet away from the danger. But it was amazing and terrifying to see the power of mother nature completely surrounding us-one hundred foot flames above us and raging mudslides below us-all happening at the same time.

My short time as a Wild land Firefighter has given me some perspective on why there is such a brotherhood amongst the fire community. Our crew has spent every waking moment with each other for the past couple of weeks. We've all worked so hard alongside each other, we've sweat, bled, laughed and nearly cried-every day. 

We have all worked so hard to make the team and there is such an amazing bond that is built when a group of humans join forces to battle a common enemy. For our inmate Band of Brothers, it's the ultimate irony; we are risking our lives to get our lives back.

We all come from very different backgrounds and up until this summer, the only thing we had in common was the fact that we were all felons-but now I am proud to say that we all also share another title---Firefighters---and I could not be prouder. 

Brandon Stephens, Weld County Jail, Wood Group, Sentenced, 5 Years, Prison, NFL, DRDC, Rifle Correctional Center, Colorado Department of Corrections, Jail, Judge Quammen, Steve Wrenn, Weld County, Executive, Oil, Gas, White Collar, Wood, BYU, Masters Degree, Colorado State University, SWIFT, Firefighter, Wildland, Sawyer, Fire, Inmate, Brandon Stokey, Miracles, Centennial Community Correctional Center, Delta Correctional Center, DRDC, Denver Diagnostic and Reception Center, Felony, Sallie Stephens, Greeley Tribune, Judge Thomas Quammen, DA Steve Wrenn, Weld County Court, Oil & Gas,. Halfway House, Centennial Community Correction Center, CCTC, Felon, 416 Fire, Silver Creek Fire, Spring Fire, Cabin Lake Fire