1.   What's the year/model of the Engine?

Answer:  The Engine is a 1973 Ward LaFrance, Model No. P80-1000D-5; she was a "stock" production engine produced by Ward LaFrance that was configured with the cargo bays and hosebed to resemble the lot of 40(+) 1972 Ward LaFrance engines purchased by Los Angeles County.  As I understand it, the LACFD engines have different diesel engines and pumps, specifically specified by LACFD.  It's common when larger fire depts. purchase a large # of engines, or when budgets allow, to specify a specific power plant, pump, tank, hosebed and bay configuration, etc. to make fleet maintenance easier.

2.   How many firefighters will the Engine carry?

Answer:  We have 5 seatbelts, therefore five firefighters. Riding the "tailboard" (standing on the rear "bumper") has been illegal for many years, as many firefighters were injured or killed by falling off, rear-end collisions, etc.

3.   Whose idea was it to have YCS-E51 as the license plate?

Answer:  Mine.  A confession - it was my second, and in retrospect better, choice.  A friend at our fleet-maintenance garage asked what number I wanted, as he could assign the plate numbers as we wished.  I first asked for #7, as we are Engine 7 now, but someone else had claimed it already.  It is not a "legal" plate for use outside Yosemite National Park, and I hope to have it changed out for a CA state plate allowing us to travel out of the park for training, etc.  With this plate, we can only cross the boundary if dispatched and responding to an emergency.

4.   How many years have you been the Captain of the Engine?

Answer:  Since July of 1997, so almost four years.

5.   How much maintenance does the Engine require on a yearly basis?

Answer:  Tough question, as I have just recently been able to get the Engine back onto a regular preventative maintenance cycle, 2-3 hours every 45 days. Last year, we had her down for approx. 40 days for a major "rebuild" and to make up for some years of "only as needed" maintenance.  My best guess, on the average, is approx. 40-60 hours/year, not counting unexpected major problems like replacing a rotten water tank that took 6 weeks several years ago, for example.

6.   Tell us about the fires in the Park. Are they really bad, usually containable, etc?

Answer:  Well, we get them all contained and put out eventually, at least so far... Bad is a relative term, especially to someone who fights fire because they like too... We average 2-3 real "significant" structure fires/year (all bad, according to the building owner and occupants) in Yosemite National Park, usually one in Yosemite Valley.  A number of car/vehicle fires, the occasional RV, campground/tent fires (some fun experiences with surprise propane tanks and other "mystery fuels" here), dumpsters/trash cans (people throwaway still burning BBQ coals), etc.  Our wildland fires (aka "forest fires" or "brush fires") vary a great deal from year to year. Most of them are relatively small, 2-20 acres (about 210x210 ft per acre).  Some are allowed to burn, as periodic burning clears the underbrush and makes for healthier and less diseased forest, others are suppressed immediately due to their location and potential to get "out of control" or threaten human habitation.  Turns out the Giant Sequoia Trees cannot germinate unless their seeds are exposed to the heat of fire.  Every few years, we get fires that get into the thousands-of-acres range; those are the ones you see on the national news.

7.   How many fires do you get in a year?

Answer:  See above; I think, counting all the cars, dumpsters, etc. we probably get 100 or so annually "by official count." Wildland fires can vary from 15-20+ small ones to just a few really big ones.  Big ones are usually many small ones that grow together fast; in 1990(?) we had the "Steamboat/Arch Rock Complex Fires" that began as 28 lightning strikes over 5 minutes that grew into 100,000+ acres in three "complexes."

8.   Besides fires, do any of you do any rescue type of things?

Answer:  Yes.  Search and Rescue (SAR) in Yosemite is a separate "office."  I and several of our firefighters also are YOSAR team members.  I actually do more real emergency response with YOSAR than with Fire (we have between 150 and 300+ incidents per year, have been a team member for about the same length of time, and have become an instructor and team-leader/management type.  I have somehow made a specialty of swiftwater rescue, rope rescue, and (because of some nagging injuries, and because I hate having to work in the field without the proper resources and equipment) logistics.  Some of the most memorable experiences of my life have involved hanging over the side of El Capitan with 3000 ft of space below, watching the sun vs. clouds (above and below) in a winter storm, big sheets of rime-ice blowing around reflecting the sun, etc.  It's an almost indescribable beauty, and if you are dressed for the occasion, really comfortable and even relaxing when you're not working your tail off or having to wade miles through waist-deep snow (while it's raining!) to get there or get home.  Helicopters are amazing things, when they work and we can have one to use; weather is a big factor there.

9.   How long do your firefighters stay working with you on average?

Answer:  About 4-5 years or so.  I'm gratified to see that this average seems to be increasing, probably in spite of their Captain's personality disorders...

10.         What is the hardest part of your job?

Answer:  Body recoveries, especially kids and friends/acquaintances.  Far more commonly, and thankfully, the paperwork is a real nightmare!

11.         What do you do in between the fires, etc?

Answer:  My "real" job(s).  I am a salaried management type working for the private concession company in Yosemite.  I am responsible for a network of fire and security alarms, sprinkler systems, etc., an alarm dispatch center, 1000 or so fire extinguishers and hose stations.  I spend approx. 15-18 hours/week (rough average) in each of the following areas: the alarm/sprinkler work, fire/safety code research and compliance (fire prevention work), and fire dept. management/training.  I also act as a security manager/supervisor along the way as needed.  I am also a devout whitewater kayaker, getting 75-100 days (counting afternoon/evening runs) bobbing around in a big piece of tupperware.  Also am into recreational auto mechanics (very slowly building my "dream machine) but am not very good at it, and a few other more relaxed hobbies like reading and keeping some specific odd houseplants.  I recently took on half the organizational duties in organizing a newly proposed annual clean-up of the local Merced Wild and Scenic River, a long overdue project with my best friend, being done in memory of his recently deceased daughter who was killed last fall in a light-plane crash at the age of 17.  Mostly, I spend a lot of time trying to hide the fact that I don't really have a life....

12.         Have you had any casualties with any of the fires?

Answer:  Occasional injuries, but only one fatality in my memory, counting only fires specifically.

13.         How big of an area do you have to cover?

Answer:  YCS/Yosemite Engine 7 is a dedicated, limited response structural fire engine/crew that responds primarily in the 7 square miles of Yosemite Valley.  We occasionally respond further out as a second/third response engine company, and routinely staff and "fill out" the other (National Park Service) engine crew in Yosemite.

14.         Where did you work before now?

Answer:  I spent my first 7 (of 12+) years in Yosemite and the Manager of Employee Recreation (what passes for "community recreation" for us living in Yosemite); at the same time, I was a firefighter and SAR crew member; except for myself on our crew, and a few NPS Fire/SAR people, we are all part-time paid responders.

15.         What kind of reaction do you get from people once they find out how famous the Engine was?

Answer:  A few don't recognize it, believe it or not.  Most are pleasantly surprised and a little excited.  More and more I am meeting folks, especially firefighters, who say that they knew she was in Yosemite and were looking forward to seeing her.  Now that satellite TV has brought back the TV series, there are kids that recognize the Engine; they are really fun to watch.

16.         How do your men feel about riding on the Engine from the show that might have inspired them seek this profession?

Answer:  Some are too young to remember, but appreciative and respectful, even excited, nonetheless.  Those of us who remember seeing the show as kids have, I think, a kind of surreal feeling that is kind of hard to put into words. How many of us (you all included) are lucky enough to fulfill a childhood fantasy at all, much less do so with the same exact same "thing" or place you fantasized about?  We just finished a 2-week structural firefighter certification course, where several of us experienced working from newer, larger, and more elaborately equipped engines for the first time.  The consensus seems to be that we much prefer our own engine - it's compact, fast, very carefully packed and uniquely/specifically organized with just enough of the right tools to make any job we have to do very quick and easy.

17.         What time of year is your busiest due to fires?

Answer:  For our engine crew, actually the winter is busier, as the NPS seasonal firefighters are all away, their full-time folks are making up for training and vacation opportunities unavailable elsewhere in the year, and there are more "routine natural disasters" during the winter.  During the big floods of New Years 1997, for example, we left our engine parked safely out in a parking lot (our firehouse was threatened) and split our crew between the two newer and more elaborately equipped NPS engines; we were the entire fire dept. for several days until other folks could get in to relieve us.  Rock falls happen more in the winter, as do chimney fires, heater fires, Christmas trees, etc.  For the Park overall, the summer wildland fire season is far and away the most demanding in terms of time, staffing, cost, etc.

18.         What are some of the sources that cause the most fires in Yosemite (I'm assuming campfires and cigarettes are included)?

Answer:  Hmmm..... For wildland fires: lightning (easily the majority), campfires, (mostly illegal wilderness ones) and, believe it or not, automobile accidents that occur during the dry season that catch the brush adjacent the road on fire; cigarettes and arson are also occasional problems.  For the "structure" fires such as we are normally tasked with (structural firefighting is sort of a "catch-all" for anything not wildland... Old building wiring, careless or unlucky folks at home (or in the RV) in the kitchen, still warm BBQ coals thrown away, propane-fueled camping stoves/lanterns that leak or somehow outsmart their hapless users.  Every winter we have one or more "flaming underwear" starts caused by folks getting their wet undergarments and towels way too dry after playing in the snow; they lay them directly onto gas heaters in the guest or resident cabins, and usually can catch the curtains above the heaters.... We can almost always catch them before any serious damage gets done.

19.         Has any of your men ever been injured or yourself?

Answer: Not seriously thus far, thankfully.  Like anyone in our business, we have our share of near misses and what we consider "minor dings" - strains, sprains, cuts and bruises, stepping on nails, small burns, etc.  I spent quite a bit of time out last year due to some chronic knee problems made worse by a sprain in a training evolution - I stepped back onto a full firehose on unstable sloping ground.  I have tried to play it off as "death by too much protective equipment" - according to the information I have to provide for our annual physical exams, we are wearing almost 70 lbs. of protective equipment - turnouts, boots, helmet, all the junk in our pockets, and a 45 lb. backpack full of clean air and a mask to breath it with.

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