O U T DOO R J O U R NAL
Summer 2016 summer 2016
RETRO, RUGGED, RECLUSIVE Camp peeps use their rides to get away
NATIONAL PARKS Celebrate 100 wild years
GIRL GONE WILDLAND
FireямБghter leads copter crew
Girl gone wildland
firefighte Story By L e a Boyd • ph ot os b y Jos h ua Curry
It’s tough to choose an angle for a Lyndsay Alarcon story. It could be about a woman kicking ass in a traditionally male profession. It could be about a single mom balancing home and career. It could be about a wildland firefighter rocketing up through the ranks to helitack superintendent by age 30. But any of those directions would be a disservice to Alarcon, a multi-faceted human being who simply cannot be stripped down to one angle or 1,000 words. White Ledge rolled up the mountain to Frazier Park this spring to meet Alarcon in her element. The 13-year veteran Forest Service firefighter is based at the Chuchupate Station, which sits on the edge of Los Padres National Forest near the intersection of Ventura, Los Angeles and Kern counties. Pines populate the craggy peaks, and clusters of A-frame homes speak of snowy winters. Alarcon greets us warmly in a uniform
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that needs its belt to stay on her petite frame. The freshly pressed green pants and tan shirt coupled with her piercing hazel eyes and Hollywood cheekbones make her look more like an actress playing the role than an actual wildland firefighter. But as soon as we start talking, it’s quite apparent this woman is the real deal. Alarcon is the only female helitack supervisor in a U.S. Forest Service region made up of 18 national forests and 17 helitack crews. She supervises 15 employees, using what her crew members call her “mama bear” instincts to keep everyone safe while providing support of all types to the fire they’ve been called out to fight. “We’re really versatile. That’s what helitack is known for,” she says. The Chuchupate crew might be constructing fire lines, dropping water, shuttling hot shot troops to the fire line, delivering food and water to crews on the ground or conducting controlled burn-outs through aerial ignition. Their helicopter, a Bell 205, is a civilian model of a Huey contracted by the Forest Service. The bird arrives at Chuchupate in June and departs for her other contracts, such as heli-skiing or geological surveys, in November. During that summer season, Alarcon and her crew are at the mercy of the fires. “If the call comes through, we’re gone, and we work whatever the fire needs, and that can be up to 16 hour days,” she says. The Basin Fire of 2008 torched Big
Sur ’s Ventana Wilderness, burning 162,818 acres in June and July. Alarcon spent 52 days battling the blaze in cycles of 14 days on, two off. It stands out in her memory now, dozens of fires later, not only for its size and intensity but for what was at stake every day: lives, homes and spectacular natural resources. “And we closed down that fire,” she says. The firefighting bug bit Alarcon in high school. She grew up in Oxnard, completing the Fire Explorer program, becoming an EMT after graduation, and then going through the Oxnard Fire Academy. Wildland firefighting didn’t enter her view until some buddies from the academy suggested she give it a shot. She did. “I took this job, and I’d been a varsity athlete and I had just gotten out of the fire academy, but my first hike just put me into the ground. I had no idea realistically what job I had just taken. I thought I did. I had all this education in fire, and I really didn’t understand the workload, the commitment, even what uphill means,” she says. “Just pick the tallest, steepest peak and imagine getting to the top, and that’s what we do, and we do it with anywhere from 35 to 55 pounds on our backs.” Back then, female Forest Service firefighters were few and far between. Alarcon recalls just two others in her 50plus person district. But that has changed significantly, she says, pointing to her crew from last summer, which included three other women. Adjusting gear to function best for women and tailoring training to different
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Lyndsay Alarcon, Chuchupate Station Helitack Superintendent Summer 2016
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Chuchupate Helitack crew in Kernville, Calif.
Backpack at the ready
High protein fuel for fighting fire
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physiques are all part of adapting to a job traditionally held by men, but Alarcon says the career presents plenty of challenges that don’t discriminate by gender. “I had a water polo coach in high school that used to say, ‘I don’t coach girls water polo, I coach water polo players.’ I relate this to wildland fire. There is no difference in the job that needs to be done when supporting wildland fire suppression,” she says. Resilience, Alarcon has discovered, is key. Falling down is just part of the process. “It is not until you make it through that situation that you can take a breath, wipe the mud off your face and reflect on what you are truly capable of,” she says. “The women that I have seen who have been successful get to that moment and acknowledge that they did it. They start the new day, new shift, new challenge more confident and stronger than the previous day. They build and grow.” Balance plays an important role in Alarcon’s success personally and professionally. The divorced mother of a
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Texas fire siege of 2011 Summer 2016
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Alarcon and the Glassy Mountain Helitack fight a Kentucky fire.
Mill Fire, west of Mount Shasta, 2012
2013 Silver Fire near Banning, Calif.
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6-year-old boy juggles family and career, recognizing that each must compromise for the other at times. When it comes to parenting priorities, however, she has adjusted her career path accordingly. Her son was born in 2009, and she chose to leave the Chuchupate Station to develop other skillsets like GIS
while working in the office at the Ojai Casitas Station. She brought her son to work and breastfed him for eight months before returning to fire. Now, as helitack superintendent, Alarcon’s schedule shifts dramatically on and off fire season. During the winter and spring, she chaperones her son’s field trips, volunteers in his class and takes him to baseball practice. When fire season ignites, she relies on a support network to ensure he is cared for while she’s whisked away on a fire for days or weeks on end. “When people ask me how I do it, I say, I don’t know. Ask me tomorrow how I did it today,” she says. And there’s an important point where her two jobs overlap. “I believe that women by nature are caring, nurturing, resilient and have the unique capability of creating life,” says Alarcon. “That is the kind of strength you cannot see tucked in my fire pack or view in my personal appearance. I use these instincts to take care of my people physically, mentally and while off duty in supporting their families.” |
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