*Me with Former Horseshoe Meadows Hotshots Superintendent Bob Bennett who was recognized for 17 years of excellence and leadership.*

The Horseshoe Meadows Hotshots celebrated 50 years as a hotshot crew at a reunion in Visalia, California. I had the privilege of attending the event and sharing about my firefighting memoir that will be published later this year. I joined this crew the summer after I met them at the Yellowstone fires in 1988. I was on the Prineville Helitack crew and the hotshots were flying into the helibase from a spike camp. While the crew Supt Ben Charley waited for the rest of his crew to arrive, he told me stories of their adventures. He was a great storyteller. I found myself promising to apply to join the crew for the following fire season.

In five decades of operation, the Horseshoe crew has only had seven superintendents, which shows a remarkable commitment to a physically and mentally challenging position. Superintendent Bob Bennett was commended for how he had led the crew after Ben retired for an outstanding 17 years until his retirement at age 57! He deserved the kudos and then some. He stepped up to the position as superintendent the summer I worked with them. I could not imagine a better boss. I also could not imagine being a hotshot in my fifties. The physical toll wildland firefighting takes on the body can be severe. As I talked with Bob all these years later, he said he would have continued working as crew superintendent if it weren’t for the Forest Service’s mandatory retirement age. He loved his job and he was good at choosing and managing 20 hotshots in sometimes extreme conditions. With his calm and caring manner, Bob not only survived all those fire seasons, he thrived.

I felt an instant connection with two women I met at the reunion who also thrived as Horseshoe Hotshots. I was amazed by what they have done with their lives since then. Amy Ziegler is the same height and build as me, but she was a SAWYER! She worked a chainsaw on fires instead of a pulaski. To be a sawyer requires a higher level of strength, stamina, and skill. I’ve always been in awe of women who worked as sawyers. She went on to have a 32 year career in fire and retired as the Pacific West Region Fire Planner for the National Park Service. She still does contract work with the NPS to assist with Fire Management Plans, fire and risk modeling, and other fire planning tasks. She said that working as a hotshot gave her the “tools to tackle anything…” She’s clearly not afraid of taking on huge challenges.

When I met Piri Ackerman-Barger, she told me she was a nurse, which I thought was cool. My mom was a nurse. But later, as we sat having lunch at the picnic table, her friend, Amy, said she was “a little more than a nurse.” Turns out she has earned two doctorates and is the current Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis. She’s writing a nursing textbook titled Advancing Health Equity through the Framework of Cultural Humility: A Guide for Nursing Practice. She’s an award winning scholar whose work has been nationally recognized. She credits her time as a hotshot for helping her to graduate from nursing school debt free and for the work ethic required to work long shifts as an ER and ICU nurse.

When Piri spoke at a Portland State University commencement, she was introduced in this way: “Her interest in health equity and social justice dates back to her time in nursing school, when she learned about the correspondence between certain diseases and certain races and ethnicities. She looked beyond the standard ‘genetic predispositions’ explanation to consider possible sociopolitical causes, too.” She was curious and courageous enough to delve into possible correlations. Her research has resulted in an important improvement in the education of health care workers. Way to go Piri!

These women know a thing or two about determination and resiliency. They know how to find joy in life despite a mountain of challenges. All three of these hotshots, Bob, Amy, and Piri know how to thrive.

https://www.up.edu/commencement/honorary-degrees/ackerman-barger.html

https://www.playbackaacn.com/presenter/details/index/id/186904/

Those who Thrive

May is for Memorials

The Boys in the Boat