A Fireman's Mate

Found this in one of my posts from 9 years ago.  It's worth sharing (I did not write this).  Happy Saturday!!

Dear Lord,  

I want to thank you for my husband. This wildland fireman that I love. 

Give me strength to give him support with your guidance from above. 

Make me a good wife, attentive listener, my husband's best friend. 

When I chose him I chose a fireman, and this job on which we depend. 

Lord, keep him safe when our plan's have gone awry. 

He's being sent to a vegetation fire where the brush is so dry. 

Keep the raging flames from being his final fate. 

Help me to cope with the trauma of being a Fireman's Mate.

                                                                                           AMEN.

The sister-hood of Wildland Firefighter Wives

So I have to say that when I created this blog, I did it with all of you in mind.  We as Wildland Firefighter Wives don't have enough ways to relate to others who "get it", share stories with or ask for advice.  So I created this blog almost 9 years ago and have seen in so many ways how it has been used.

Shortly after creating the blog, I made a friend who had a husband working in the exact same agency, also working on a similar group.  We started emailing each other, sent Christmas cards and kept in touch.  We met in person about 2 years into our friendship (via the blog).  So neat to meet, have our husbands meet and share experiences.  That friendship is still going, although now we both have kids and are much busier.

I recently met a bunch of wonderful women in Prescott, although it's not the way I've wanted to meet new friends.  The Hotshot Prayer was discovered after the fatalities of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, via the blog.  And now through Facebook and the blog, I keep in touch with those wives.  A couple of them, we've talked about visiting each other on a vacation.  Even though those women lost their loved ones, they will always be part of the sister-hood of us Wildland Firefighter Wives!!

Just the other day, on a Facebook page where fire information was being posted, I posted a comment. Next thing you know, two wives (husbands also work for the same agency in our area) contacted me through private message.  Funny thing is, I know one of the wife's husband.  He worked on my husband's crew and I also knew him when I worked for that agency.  So now I have shared the blog with her, another friendship!! The other lady has two young children so that was something other than our husband's working "together" we had in common, too.  Found out that both of their husbands were also on the same fire my husband was on!!!

Such a small world and it's wonderful to connect with women who have things in common.

I created this blog and yes I am the moderator, but it's here for you.  You can always post a story, or question, or comment in the comment section.  Other wives like to read the posts and some can relate to them.  It's fun to see how this blog is viewed world-wide.  I just created it on my computer with the hopes of it being discovered!!

PS- I don't like to use names, crew names or agency specifics when posting.  We need to protect ourselves!!

It was the steak dinner (a blog from a fellow WFF Wife)

Our family joke is that if I go shopping and plan for a nice meal......usually he'll get an order for a fire assignment.  Well he's off Thur/Fri/Sat and was home on Thursday.  So I figured Friday evening we'd have BBQ steaks, salad and garlic bread.  He kind of chuckled and said well let's wait closer to dinner before you defrost the steaks.  He must've had a hunch!!  We went to breakfast after dropping our son off to camp, and I ran into the grocery store.  I got back into the car and he said "you're not going to believe this...."  I looked at him and said "please tell me your joking!!"
His crew was ordered to a fire, so the steak dinner will have to wait.  I told him to tell his crew they can thank me because I had planned to cook a steak dinner!!!

A frustrated USFS wife

I am a wife of a US Forest Service (not Forestry Service) and I feel so sad for my husband and his coworkers when all the media attention or public appreciation goes to only certain agencies.  In my mind it's like talking about a war and only saying the Navy is there, when the Marines and Air Force are there, too.  They are all important and all working hard.  The color of the engine doesn't make one department superior over the other.  Unfortunately the USFS firefighters are extremely underpaid compared to other departments.  They work long hours, usually sleep on the ground, can be gone for 14+ days before getting 2 days off, and usually work in areas of the fire that the public doesn't see. My husband works hard and loves his job!!  It's not for the paycheck, the glory or the uniform.  But as a wife who stands by and supports my husband.  It saddens me when all these fires are burning and the news only mentions certain departments, not giving recognition to those other departments.  I've tried contacting some of our local news stations in hopes of educating them on the different agencies, but they just don't get it.  Then on Facebook, I get irritated when I constantly see people post words of appreciation for only certain departments.  I hope you understand my viewpoint and don't take this personal.  To me, they are all important whether paid or volunteer, large departments or small, and the color of engine doesn't matter!!

I am not saying that other departments don't work some of those conditions either.  Just felt like this needed to be shared.

Praying for safety for all our guys as the conditions are hot, dry and fires are burning all over!!

Never thought.

After seeing how something so small and simple that I did year ago, has affected people made me think of something I wanted to share with you.

A simple act or kind words from your heart, can become something big.  You may or may not ever meet the people you affect.  But no pun intended "it might spread like wildfire" someday.  

I'm such a simple, casual, yet compassionate woman.  I am a stay-at-home mother of two beautiful children, not a well known movie star.  I live in a simple house, not a mansion.  I drive a minivan not a Jaguar.  I wear yoga pants, not a suit.  Twelve years ago, I wrote a simple heart-felt prayer, never imagining it'd have such a huge impact on a horrible tragedy.

I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd see the Prayer I wrote etched in marble on a bench with the names of the Fallen 19.  I realized it wasn't about me, it wasn't about that moment.  It was about something that for years to come, would touch people's hearts.  When future Hotshots, public or other Firefighters pay tribute to the Fallen 19 they too, will read those words of the prayer.  

Gone but not Forgotten - last alarm 6-30-2013 at 4:42pm

Don't ever under-estimate what you do or who you are!!

Question for a follower (please comment to reply to her)

I just started dating a wildland firefighter, he's been gone almost 3 weeks now and hasn't contacted me, I don't mean to be needy not selfish but as I am new to all of this ...is this something thys happens or did he just completely ghost/disappear/leave me hanging. I mean how hard would it be to just send a txt saying he's ok :/ I'm so confused

"How do you prepare?" Question from a follower (please reply to them in the comment section)

Hi there. I'm not a wife, but I am very passionate about pursuing wildland fire as a career. My wife has not been as enthusiastic about the idea, but she can see it's about the work and not about being away from my family or trying to duck out on my life at home. I'm looking to work on an engine next season. I had no interest in fire at all until I got a front desk job at our local Forest Service ranger station and I got bit by the bug I guess. She's fine with late nights and even the overnight IA incidents. Her big concern is the away from home assignments. We have little kids and don't have much family close by.

I'm just curious what you guys do to prepare for when your husband is gone in order to make life at home even the tiniest bit easier.

Gone but not Forgotten

On a hill visible in Prescott, was a P 19.......in honor of the fallen

This week I was invited to the memorial of the Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew, to read The Hotshot Prayer.  Below is the message I read which gave a little history and meaning behind the prayer.

In 2002, my husband & I bought our first home.  While he was decorating his nook, I noticed that a lot of his firefighter nick knacks pertain to structure firefighting and this bugged me.  One day as he came home with a cast iron Maltese cross with the Fireman’s prayer on it.  He was proud of it as he hung it on the wall.  I looked at it and said “It’s nice but it has nothing to do with what you do.”  He said to me “Well that’s all that’s out there.”  I was determined to find something so I searched and searched, and found nothing.  I was frustrated and annoyed that the Wildland Firefighters, more specifically the Hotshots had no recognition outside of the wildland world.  I shared my frustrations with him.  He looked at me and said “Well do something about it.”  So I sat down with pen and paper and the original Fireman’s Prayer as a model.  After a week and a little help with Hotshot lingo from hubby, The Hotshot Prayer was written.  My husband was a Captain at the time and was also the one who put together the end of the season presentation.  Every year the presentation would be photos, and videos of the assignments that year, silly Hotshot antics and dares, bets lost.  At the end he would always put a section dedicated to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice while battling wildland fires regardless of what agency or department they worked for.  This was the first time the Hotshot Prayer was presented.  His crew liked it but after that it sat.  In 2007, I started a blog called “Wildland Firefighter Wives”.  I wanted something that Wildland wives both new & old could go to share stories and ask questions about life with a Wildland Firefighter.  We talk about things like: What’s it like to have them gone?  Is it normal to sleep with his shirt? Why does everything break or go wrong when they are gone?  Dealing with the kids while they are away and the list goes on.  I found the Prayer that I had written and posted it.

On June 30, 2013, he had just got home from a local fire and received a phone call about the fatalities.  While we did not know any of the Granite Mountain Hotshots personally, it hit very close to home since he was the now the Superintendent of a USFS Interagency Hotshot Crew.  As we hugged each other tightly that night with tears in our eyes, I remember thinking about those families who no longer had their loved ones to hold.  The next few days as more information surfaced, I just couldn’t get my mind off those families. My husband attended the memorial and called to tell me that Brendan (the survivor) was going to read The Hotshot Prayer, I had written so many years before and had forgotten about.  How could a prayer that I wrote, become words of comfort during such a horrible tragedy.  I’m just a simple woman, who wrote a words from my heart.  I believe God placed those words on my heart to write the prayer, knowing that someone would need them.  

19 brothers worked together and now laid to rest next to eachother

                                             

GMHS Superintendent's Wife and I

The current Fire Chief, myself and my husband