How smokejumpers fight Oregon wildfires: A day in the life
When the siren goes off inside Redmond Air Center, initial attack firefighters — also known as smokejumpers — pack on a parachute, load into a Shor...
When the siren goes off inside Redmond Air Center, initial attack firefighters — also known as smokejumpers — pack on a parachute, load into a Short C-23 Sherpa plane and get ready to descend into the throes of an active wildfire, often in hard-to-reach, rugged terrain. What's happening: By the time wildfire season settles down across the West Coast in mid-October, many of the 50 smokejumpers headquartered on the Redmond Smokejumper Base in central Oregon — the only team in the state — have clocked nearly 1,500 hours in overtime.