A Day In The Life of a Hotshot
Thinking about being a hotshot? Ever Wonder What The Heck They Do All Day?
A Day On The Fireline
What's so tough about being a hotshot? Well, there's a couple things. First, there's the heat. Cutting down trees, mowing through brush, and hacking up stumps with a pulaski is tough work period. It's downright miserable when it's 105°F in the shade, there's 35+ pounds of gear on your back, and you're digging line next to a thousand acre bonfire. Then there's the terrain. Ever hear about monstrous forest fires in Nebraska? Negative. Fire loves steep, nasty terrain. And hotshots go where the action is. So they need the strength to power through an early morning death march, flank and hook a fire, hike back out, eat an MRE, sleep in the dirt, wake up and still have gas in the tank to do it all over again for the next 14 days. Superior physical conditioning (and an adventurous spirit) is the only way a firefighter makes it through the fire season.
Think you can describe a shift better? We want to hear about it! Give us the scoop on what it's like to be on a hotshot crew. Email your stories to info at hotshotfitness.com and we'll post'em.