The recent news about the mother of one of the Granite
Mountain 19 filing a lawsuit over the death of her son is not surprising.
Certainly something went wrong that day. However, is anyone to blame for this?
Although I feel deeply for those who lost someone in the
tragedy, the reality is they all knew the job was dangerous. If this lawsuit is
won, the door will be wide open for more to follow. As one person commented on
the Wildfire Today post about this news, it’s a dangerous job and these men
knew they did not have the same life insurance coverage as permanent employees.
I fully understand the dedication to their work – I loved my job too, and never
for a moment worried about dying on the fireline. It was my choice, and I
wanted the job no matter what the consequences. However, as a single woman back
then with no dependents, certainly I did not concern myself with particulars
like death benefits. If I had been married with kids - that's a different story.
Fighting wildfires means dealing with unpredictability. I
learned a long time ago there is no fury like Mother Nature unleashed. Were
these men sent into an area that was unsafe? As far as I can tell, being just
about anywhere on a fireline has the potential to be unsafe. Where I fear this
is going, is firefighters will stand and watch fires burn instead of putting
them out.
Backfiring on the Hog-Fong Fire 1977. Yeah, it was scary. But I accepted this as part of my job.
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