Fire guys, firewise

When the summer heat skyrockets, creating conditions ripe for fire season, local fire crews spend almost every day either helping to monitor and contain active fires or on standby, ready to pounce at that next call that comes in.

For many of the men and woman who work for the Tribal Division of Fire, it's a typical summer, either spent battling fires on the reservation or lending a hand in other communities around the West, a job they love doing that often represents a lifelong commitment to training and continuing education.

For locals like Jim Durglo and Mike Houle, it also represents a chance to serve their communities, too.

Durglo, who heads the Tribe's forestry department, and Houle, an engine boss for one of the Tribe's fire crews, have dozens of years of wild land firefighting experience between them that has taken them all over the West.

Both men are typical of many of the people working on local fire crews in that they can work in a variety of different situations and in different roles, depending on what other personnel are available and tactics needed to fight a fire.

Durglo was working as a task force leader a few weeks ago, and found himself on standby for bulldozer duties earlier this month, while Houle has worked his way up from crew member to engine boss to Level 5 incident commander, depending on the situation.

Durglo started fighting fires 25 years ago, straight out of high school, joining the local Mission Valley fire crew before becoming a member of the Missoula smokejumpers in the mid-80's. He said being a smokejumper was exciting, but in the end, it's still about fighting fires.

"The initial attack is exciting but once you hit the ground, it's all the same," he noted.

In 1986, he started working as a dozer boss and crew representative, a role in which he ensured the concerns of the Tribal and Hispanic crews he was assigned to were met.

"If they have human resources issues - complaints, problems getting paid, treatment toward the crew - those types of issues, I would make sure to try to address them," Durglo said.

Both men have had some exciting, and potentially catastrophic, moments throughout their careers.

Houle was in his late teens, just starting out, when he and his crew members found themselves on a ridge, with a fire that was crowning below them. As the flames got closer, Houle's crew boss steered the team into a burned area where they made it to safety as the fire went to the top of the ridge.

Firefighters didn't have fire shelters in the early 70's, Houle noted.

"The fire went right up to the top of the ridge. By then, we were a good distance from it, but you could hear the sounds. It sounded like a freight train," Houle said. "But we got out of there OK."

Houle said faith in a good crew boss is usually what gets crewmembers through a tough situation like that.

"I never really felt my life was in danger. We had a really good crew boss. You just have to trust their experience," he said.

Durglo echoed that, saying in all of the fire scenarios he's been in, he never really doubted the leadership he was under, even though he's seen how much doubt can affect other, less experienced crews.

"You trust the leadership. I trusted their judgment. You are working with people who have 30 or more years of experience," Durglo said.

While Durglo's first run as a smokejumper, when he and 60 others jumped into a fire in the Bob Marshall Wilderness area, was one of his most memorable, both men have had interesting experiences in fires all over Montana and the West.

Durglo has traveled to Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California and Idaho, and witnessed firsthand some of the most extreme fire behavior he's ever seen in fires in southern California in the late 80's, while Houle's experience has taken him from Oklahoma to New Mexico this spring, and to Wyoming, Colorado, and North Carolina in other years.

He said the Tri-Creek fire near Thompson Falls in the mid-70's was one of his most memorable experiences, when his crew was the first one to respond, and worked 32 hours straight in the initial attack.

"We had to move base camp several times over the next few days because of the fire activity. We spent eight days there without a shower," Houle said.

He said fire crews eventually were allowed to go into town and take showers at a local school, but his crew boss wouldn't let them.

"I think he thought he might lose some of us," Houle said with a laugh, of the amenities found in town.

Both men have gained good experience over the years, allowing them to move up the ranks. Durglo has been with the Tribe's forestry department for five years after working with the natural resources department for six, while Houle worked his way up to engine boss through on-the-job training and formal education at a DNRC engine academy in Marion.

At the academy, they study wild land fire scenarios and learn how predict and identify types of fire behavior. Out of the classroom, Houle had to fill a task book, a process that begins at the academy.

The task book is just what it sounds like - a list of activities that any engine boss will encounter in the field, such as calling in bucket drops on a fire or setting out a hose lay. You can't be an engine boss until those tasks are practiced and completed, among many requirements.

"Some of the tasks you can only do in an actual fire situation," Houle said.

Both men have had the chance to work with dozens of different fire crews from around the country, and they've noticed some differences and similarities between the local Mission Valley fire crew and others around the West.

"All of the crews, especially Native American crews, have similar characteristics. Along with the Hispanic crews, they are very family oriented," Durglo said. "I enjoy working with the crew-level system. That's what I grew up with, and that's what I enjoy."

Houle said the local Mission Valley fire crew could compete with any hot shot crew, due to the amount and type of experience they have with different terrain - something crews in other parts of the country don't get.

"In different areas they have different tactics. Our crew has experience with forest fires - topography, canyons, everything," Houle said. "Our crew here would probably stand up to any hot shot crew, as far as laying line."

Because of fire activity on the reservation and in local wilderness areas, both men have had experience working directly for their communities - something they take a lot of pride in, they said.

"We've always had support from any community I've been in," Durglo said of his work across the country.

"You see it in the crew camaraderie, and how people pull together to protect forests and communities," Houle said.