Just five hours after a spark ignited a patch of dry forest in Butte County, California, a phone rang outside of Reno, Nevada. The Camp Fire, which would eventually destroy 150,000 acres and kill 86, was already dire, says Matt Alder, a 38-year old firefighter based in Sparks, Nevada.
Sparks and his 20-man team were called in as reinforcements and they needed to be California-bound by noon. These Nevada boys were ready, having trained to be as tough as the handles of their fire axes. I do CrossFit, says Alder. Filthy Fifty, where you do 50 reps each of 10 different exercises-box jumps, pullups, kettlebell swings, walking lunges, knees-to-elbows, push press, back extensions, wall balls, burpees, double-unders-is particularly appropriate for firefighting. Its long and you have to grind it out. Other members of the squad, says Alder, join him in CrossFit, do a combo of lifting and running, or log hours in the Sierra Nevadas mountain biking, climbing, or backcountry hunting or skiing.
Alder geared up, packing the 75 pounds of gear that hed wear and use to combat the quickly advancing blaze: fire proximity suit, axe, pack, and shovel. Five hours later, he and his team arrived in Chico, California, where they were tasked stopping the blaze from jumping Highway 99 and cremating the 100,000 person town. But nothing was going right.
The wind was howling, like we were in a wind tunnel, he says. This made his tasks-dousing the fire, putting down wet lines, clearing brush, and extinguishing embers that jumped the highway-like an extended, life-or-death CrossFit WOD: Sprint the 100-foot, 135-pound fire hose to an ember, douse the flame. Thats one rep.
Alder did those reps nonstop for six hours, after which he and his team were able to force back the fire. The location of their next fight: the rural neighborhoods outside of Paradise. We were searching for people and protecting property, he says.
In full gear, going door-to-door, Alder luckily found no people-theyd all evacuated-but plenty of dogs, which hed call in to be rescued. He and his team then saved what homes they could by putting out creeping fires, creating firebreaks by chopping down trees with axes and chainsaws, and dispersing towering stacks of firewood, which act like tinder for the blaze. Another long grind.
That first shift lasted 48 savage, scorching hours, an adrenaline fueled feat that no workout can fully prepare you for. But itll get you close enough, says Alder. My workouts have taught me that its OK to be uncomfortable, and that translates very well to working long, hard hours, says Alder. My crew on the Camp Fire had a saying that became the theme while we were on the fire line: embrace the suck.
Embracing the suck carried the team through 12 more days of constantly fighting the worst fire the US has seen in 100 years. It was just 100 percent devastation, he says. We spent time looking for bodies in towns where cars had completely melted, even the rims, into puddles of steel, and helping people whod lost everything. Some didnt have a wallet, a phone, anything.
The experience came with a lesson. Physical preparation is critical, he says, but its also not enough. One big takeaway for me, not only as a firefighter, but as a human being, is that you need to be prepared in general, says Alder. Have a contingency plan, keep cash on hand, and have an emergency bag with food, clothes, and toiletries.