21-year-old `hotshot' is off to fight blazes again

REDMOND

Thousands of lightning strikes hit the Northwest last week as dry thunderstorms moved into the area.

Randy Reyes read the updated fire reports on his computer screen at his LizardTech office in downtown Seattle.

Soon after, the 21-year-old was called out of "retirement," and he will leave his Hawaiian shirts and sandals at home in Redmond and suit up in his Nomex shirt and three-pound boots to fight fire. He says he's a little apprehensive and a little excited.

It will be his first firefighting assignment in nearly a year. The last time he worked as a "hotshot," the elite seasonal firefighters who beat back range and forest fires, he hurt his knee in Elko, Nev.

"I was asked to start work once the fire season started kicking," Reyes said. "I love fire, and the paycheck is very good."

Last week, the state raised the fire-preparation level for the Northwest to the highest alert possible. The status makes firefighting preparations in the Northwest a priority and releases federal funding for training additional crews.

Fire-crew bosses, in particular, are in short supply. Some are even coming from Australia. That's why Reyes was summoned.

Generally, firefighters are recruited in the winter and train in the spring, before fire season starts. However, because of the extreme dryness this summer, Reyes was called to lead a new team.

He'll be the captain of a crew of 20, made up of military and contract firefighters - people who have fought wildfires before - and maybe some volunteers, Reyes says.

They'll do grueling and dangerous work using chain saws or "scrapers" and shovels to make fire lines.

It will be a diverse team made up of career and temporary firefighters with different levels of experience, including some with none.

They'll work 12- or 14-hour shifts for two weeks, then have two days off. But it's not all hard work.

"Firefighting is like a family," Reyes said. "I'll see fighters I've known for years."

Reyes began in Oregon when he was 17, following the footsteps of his firefighter uncle and father. He fought fires in 18 states, worked 18-hour days and tested protective gear while in the field.

This time he'll take a digital camera and hopes to send photographs of forest fires to his office to be posted on a Web site.

Reyes hopes to be home next month. But with all the fires, that could turn into October.

Fire photos will be displayed at www.lizardtech.com.