My apologies, in advance, for the long post and the clichés. I wanted to share this story from Saturday afternoon, after the trail repair, ‘cause the credit goes to SWANKy:

After the work on the pass was done, Andy and Flip headed back to town, but I decided to hang out near one of the campgrounds and have a bit of lunch.

So, about a half hour later, I finish my sandwich and soda, and then head back to the 87, turning south towards Fountain Hills. I got the A/C cranked, the stereo blasting and am doing 60ish down the freeway, when I hadn’t gone maybe 2 or 3 miles (just north of Mesquite Wash), when I see the beginnings of a fire raging on the east side of the northbound lanes. There are two cars pulled off to the side of the road and I see a few people furiously trying to scoop dirt onto the flames.

So I pulled off, jumped out of the truck, grabbed the shovel and ran back across the southbound lanes (I don’t think I checked for traffic!), the median (I was running, so didn’t really check for snakes), and across the northbound lanes (remembered to check for traffic this time).

The fire was burning along the shoulder, in a strip about 5 or 6 feet wide and had already burned a good 60 feet or so. The wind was blowing very strongly in a northerly direction so the fire was moving very quickly thru the dried grass. Flames were 2 or 3 feet high, but gusts were causing the flames to jump 5 or 6 feet high and the fire would suddenly advance 5 feet. There were no “flames licking” or any smoldering, just a gust of wind and WHOOSH! 5 more feet ignited instantly.

There were two older couples, with plastic cups and the lid from a cooler, getting in front of the fire, trying to scoop dirt onto it to smother it. Problem was, they wouldn’t toss but one scoop and the fire would be either on top of them or 5 feet ahead, because they were too close. Right idea, wrong execution. Thankfully, with the wind blowing due north and a lack of fuel to the east, the fire wasn’t (yet) spreading up the hillside. There were a coupla smoldering grass clumps, but the people had successfully stopped those from spreading.

They’d already called 911, but were told it would be 20 minutes before a fire truck could get there. 20 minutes?? In another 75 or 100 feet, the fire would reach a spot that was nothing but a nice big, dry, grassy area with lots of scrub. If the fire hit that, then BOOM! it would be a biggun and it would head east up into the hills very quickly. We’re talking just a couple minutes.

They were amazed to see someone with a shovel, and I ran ahead of the fire about 20 feet and started breaking up the ground with the shovel, while the fellow with the cooler lid scooped dirt furiously. We were attempting to make a break before the fire could reach that spot, hoping to stop it.

Unfortunately, I completely underestimated how FAST fire moves when there’s a good wind behind it and plenty of fuel, so I only had maybe 2 feet of break done before the fire was on top of me. One good gust, and the fire jumped across the break, like it didn’t even notice it. I quickly backed up, singing off arm hair and thinking "Wow, that's really hot!". Duh...

At that point, the people were giving up, as the fire was building upon itself and the wind seemed to be getting worse. While all this was going on, I was furiously trying to think of something that I could use to smother the advance of the fire. I used to carry a fire extinguisher in the truck, but haven’t been lately. I also used to carry an old towel that was huge, to lay across the seat to throw dirty stuff on. But, I had nothing that I could think of that would be useful, and the two couples had nothing as well.

So, they were giving up (it wasn’t looking good, I must admit), but I want to go fishing next weekend up that direction, so I’ll be danged if I was going to let some lame-a$$ fire light up the mountains and close everything down. I had a shovel for God’s sake and I wasn’t going to quit ‘til ALL my arm hair was singed off!

So, I asked the fellow with the cooler lid to join me at the last narrow section of grass, right before the brush and fuel got plentiful. That gave us 60 feet and maybe 2 minutes to dig like hell. So, we dug like crazy and got a break about 4 feet done (the ground was soft, thankfully), but I still didn’t think it would be enough.

I happened to look up the road a bit, and there, in the grass, were a couple of road construction signs laying face down. I put down the shovel, ran down there and grabbed both signs (THERE’S A VISUAL: Some big, fat, sweaty, red-faced guy running up the side of the road with two bright orange road construction signs tucked under his arms, like he just stole ‘em).

Just as the fire reached the break, it stopped for a moment, just long enough for me to get back to it, and we slammed the signs down on top of the flames and jumped up and down to stamp out the fire.

And holy crap, it worked.

I walked back up the road and shoveled dirt onto some smoldering spots and about that time, a DPS truck pulled up (they were driving southbound, like I had been, had seen what was going on and had turned around to check out the situation).

The fire had burned at least a 100 feet; don’t really know for sure. The adrenaline was going pretty good, and I didn’t really stop to soak it all in. The DPS guys thanked everyone for stopping, made special commentary surrounding how lucky it was to have someone driving by with a shovel and said the fire truck was on the way. They happened to have gear in the truck to deal with the “finish” work, but the fire had been defeated!

With all the traffic going by, nobody else stopped to help. Had I not stopped, that fire would’ve made the news, I know it for sure. The people who did stop made a valiant effort, but didn’t have the proper tools to stop it.

So, I took the shovel, ran across the northbound lanes (checking for traffic), across the median (this time checking for snakes) and across the southbound lanes back to my truck. There’d been a 24-ounce Budweiser can near the fire that I stomped on to mash (with the intention of picking it up to haul out for trash), but, of course, it was still half full. Beer had shot up all over my jeans, my shirt, and in my face. Ugh, anything but Bud.

So, now on the drive home, I’m this big, fat, dirty, sweaty, red-faced guy who smells like smoke and beer. Wow! Just like camping, except I didn’t have to sleep on the ground!

But, the A/C is cranked, the windows are rolled down and the wind is blowing ('cause I now smell REALLY bad) and the stereo is screaming!

What a kick-a$$ day!

But wait a minute! What’s the moral of the story, you ask? Well, if SWANKy hadn’t done trail repair that Saturday, I wouldn’t have just happened to be up that direction, with a shovel, driving by at a time when such a thing was needed.

So, you see, the good intentions you had at Reno Pass, lead to other good things!

Ooohhhhh….. Pretty deep, huh?? Scary stuff!

Best Regards,

-matt

Wow, what a story! That's awesome! Way to go Matt! Two good deeds in one day - awesome!



"You can shout it with adjectives."

Yeehaw! Good shot man

Mr. Will

WAY TO GO! What a really amazing story. One big THANK YOU comes from this direction.




1998 Frontier 4x4 with ALL the goodies!
2002 Xterra 4x4 still stock
Stop urban sprawl and advocate multi-use of public lands! It's YOUR passtime; get active and help save it!

WOW!!! Great job, we need to get you a cape.

Awesome!!!! Get any pics of that?


BEEFYJames Fabrication - Custom Fabricated for Use and Abuse
Nissan Terrano .. "Take a grip of Steering!"

That is just awesome man! Good to here a story like that and well written, got a good picture and enjoyed the reading.

Hi,

Thanx for all that. It's just cool how things work out sometimes.

Sorry, John, I didn't take a single pic. For some reason, it didn't even occur to me until I was almost home! I guess I was just tired and focusing more on getting home.

Regards,

-matt

"snakes in the median????!?!?!"

why would there be snakes in the median.....??

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2003 XCAB V6 4X4
I GO WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD"

there are snakes all around the highways here.. we've run across a few rattlers while cleaning up trash.

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BEEFYJames Fabrication - Custom Fabricated for Use and Abuse
M.E.S.A. - Modified Easterly Swanky Associates

Arizona is starting to scare me

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2003 XCAB V6 4X4
I GO WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD"

"Arizona is starting to scare me "............................................................................
You need to change your motto , Robin, to something like,
" I on myself when Angels go to places I fear to tread."
or something different than,
"I GO WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD"


.....................
'98 FAD FrontyKC
151,000 miles
Packin ARB'd 9"(5.00)& Tornado w/ Dual Remotes;-)

C'mon, we only have 9 of 13 species of Rattlesnake in the world, several different species of tarantuala, black widows, brown recluses, various scorpions, the world's only venomous lizard, and spiny vegetation that can ruin your day......


1998 Frontier 4x4, 2002 Xterra 4x4, 1983 280ZXT, and a ratty old Sentra
Remember, Grow the Nissan Community and stand up for ORV user rights!
Card Carrying M.E.S.A Member (Modified Easterly SWANKy Associates)

hmmmmmmmm bille has a point.........

Check it out
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2003 XCAB V6 4X4
I GO WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD (As Long as there are no rattlesnakes or ill on myself and run like a little girl"

that is too funny.