California's Burning

Yes, it's true... California, the greatest state in the union, is on fire. Like, really. No foolin'. It's on fire, and help is needed. It has long since past the point that firefighters can hold the lines on their own, and the good governor has called for help in battling these wildfires. I think Mr. T said it best in a classic A-Team episode: "We need this here chopter, and we need it now, sucka!"

With "chopters" a-plenty, the California National Guard stepped up to the challenge.

The local media were invited to join in on the escapades, with an offer to fly with the National Guard on these missions. I was fortunate enough to be enlisted for duty.

However, somewhere along the way... someone got confused. I was sent to the air base to fly with one of the helicopters that was to be dumping water on the wildfires. Instead, I was put on a helicopter that was transporting people to and from the fires. In other words, I wasn't seeing the drops in action... or even a fire. Not quite what the desk was expecting, but I wasn't about to argue... I was gonna get to ride in a helicopter!

In teams of four, these guys would spend seven day shifts flying into action, dipping buckets into nearby water sources, and doing their best to help control the spread of the fire. We were transporting a relief crew up to Mendocino county, by way of a Vietnam-era Huey.

I spent the day humming that song that was in Apocalypse Now. It was hard not to, sitting next to this guy:

I certainly felt under-dressed next to him, and hoped that the blast shield on his helmet was strictly there for cosmetic purposes.

We didn't see any wildfires (or Charlie) along the way, but there was definitely a thick haze of smoke blanketing the state. Al Gore would be pissing his pants if he saw this.

So we got there, dropped off some guys, picked up some others, and headed on back. It was hardly the "wildfire ride-along nat-pack" that was envisioned by the those in charge, but the story was what it was. Take it... leave it... retool it... it didn't matter to me. At the end of the day, the only thing that really mattered was that I got paid to ride in a helicopter.