Smoke Jumpers: The toughest guys in the woods

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

I’ve been doing some research on Smoke Jumpers lately. My uncle and namesake, John Anthony Rolf, was such a person. He was killed in the line of duty on a beautiful summer day in August of 1959 on a remote, dirt landing strip at the Moose Creek Ranger Station in Nezperce National Forest, Idaho. The plane was landing with a crew of four jumpers and the pilot. Though no one knows for sure, it was assumed that a strong gust of wind caught the plane as it was trying to touch down and caused it to overshoot the runway, crashing into the trees beyond. My uncle was sitting in the rear of the plane and when the gas tanks exploded into flames was blocked from reaching the door. He punched out a window, but was fatally burned while trying to escape. He died hours later in a hospital in Grangeville, Idaho.

I have been in touch with a couple of the men who survived that crash and they are helping me gain a clearer understanding of what smoke jumpers did, how they trained, the kind of skills they possessed and what a great person my uncle was. He had just received his bachelor’s degree from Hardwick College in New York and was working his third summer as a smoke jumper to earn money for graduate school at Syracuse University, which he would have been attending in a month if not for the tragic accident. He had attended Paul Smith’s in the Adirondacks prior to Hardwick where he’d trained to be a Forest Ranger. He loved the mountains and climbed often. I was only four when he died, but he has left an indelible impression on my mind and life and was one of my heroes.

I often puzzled over how these men returned from the fires into which they had parachuted in an attempt to control, but had no one to ask. Clearly, no plane could reach them and they would have been in remote wilderness locations with no trails or roads nearby. Their gear was extremely heavy…I’ve got picture of my uncle leaning against the weight of his pack which I’m guessing was over 80 pounds. The terrain was made up of rugged mountains without trails and underbrush that would have made bushwhacking strenuous and time consuming. To add to the inconveniences, there was a fire burning nearby.

The man sitting next to my uncle on that fateful day was closer to the door and able to get out. He has been communicating with me and trying to put me in touch with other jumpers who knew my uncle. He is beginning to shed some light on what they did. Apparently, they had to hike out of the area into which they’d jumped to a predetermined pick-up location. I’m guessing that meant they were good with maps and compasses and were in phenomenal shape. They make me think of the training I do now or have done for triathlons and my backpacking trips and know that it would pale in comparison. These were the Navy Seals of the woods, no doubt. I know from pictures I have of my uncle that he carried no excess fat on his powerful frame. It’s fascinating work and I’m proud to have had him for a role model, though I wish it could have been longer.

I did an easy, but fast run today. I’m still amazed at how bad I felt on Monday and how strongly I’ve run since. I know how that can go and always worry for the runners I coach that they don’t have that kind of day when it matters most…for a big race. It’s getting cooler again and I’m thinking there’s little cycling in my near future, so I can only hope I can stand up to the pounding of running six days a week. I’ll man up. My uncle would have.

Run duration: 31 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 500.