My guest today is Jason Ramos, a firefighter currently in his 30th season. He spent over half that time as an air-delivered firefighter. Known as Smokejumpers, these professionals are highly trained and specialized firefighters who can parachute or rappel into a forest fire. They work independently in some of the most difficult terrain imaginable. Jason has over 270 jumps into fires and has also written the leading book on the profession titled "Smokejumper."
In our conversation we talk about what it's like to be in one of these infernos, the traits required of a smokejumper, and dive into some of the tactics and equipment used to put out forest fires. Below are the show notes with the associated time stamps:
- Being in a forest fire (minute 03:00)
- History of smoke jumping (09:00)
- Selection process (12:30)
- First fire he jumped into (23:30)
- How to kill a fire (28:00)
- Mission planning (34:30)
- Gear (44:30)
- Biggest lessons to pass on (49:00)
- Projects working on now (54:00)
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This episode was edited by Trevor Cabler
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