Reznet

Sean Long Fox: "Every close call is the best learning experience you can have." Courtesy photo

Taking the Heat

By Sandra White Shield

RAPID CITY, S.D.—Sean Long Fox is home for three or four days of rest before being reassigned to fight a wildfire somewhere in the United States.

In the middle of the night on Sept. 1, Long Fox returned to his apartment here but could not sleep because of his irregular hours the previous three weeks.

An enrolled member of the Lower Brule tribe, Long Fox has been a Type Six Brush Truck crew member fighting fires in vegetation areas for the past two fire seasons and also works on a Type Two team battling higher priority blazes that often involve structures. His employer is Armstrong Fire, a private contractor in Rapid City.

Long Fox, 24, underwent a one-month training program that consisted of two classes and an arduous pack test. He passed the latter by carrying 60 pounds for three miles in 45 minutes the first time he took it.

"This ensures cardiovascular health," he said.

During his first firefighting experience in July 2006, listening to his superiors and dealing with a wildfire firsthand were a huge learning curve.

"Most surprising thing on the first fire was the amount of adrenaline involved," he said, "and the No. 1 priority is to ensure firemen's safety. There are times you do feel close calls coming. You have to trust the people with experience to avoid tragedy. Every close call is the best learning experience you can have."

The most intense and extreme fire he has fought, Long Fox said, was the Box Elder blaze that threatened homes about nine miles northwest of Rapid City this past summer. He said that the fire spread rapidly and that the height of the flames meant the blaze was creating its own weather and becoming increasingly dangerous.

Adding to Long Fox's concern was that the fire moved within 15 minutes of his family home where he thought his brother, who uses a walker, was without transportation out of the area. Police allowed Long Fox's mother and aunt back to their residence to evacuate his brother.

"The public should know that possessions can always be replaced, but lives cannot," he said. "Trust fire management officials. Fire crews do have the public's best interest at heart."

Long Fox said he believes officials are on the right track with fire management. Priority is put on structures and infrastructure, and firefighters' lives are not jeopardized for "just a gully."

Maintaining self-discipline and handling extreme situations makes the job a challenge, he said, recalling that he spent two days mopping up a fire near Rapid City in 106-degree heat. Drinking two gallons of water on one day like that is not unusual, he said.

"Firefighters go down if they don't take care of themselves," Long Fox said. "Working so close to your own human limitation takes a great deal of awareness. Anyone interested in fire fighting must understand that human safety comes first, and there is no room for complacency regarding this. You must be aware of your whole sphere of environment."

As a firefighter, Long Fox has traveled to Standing Rock, the Black Hills, the Tetons, Nevada, Idaho and Montana. He has worked with Spanish-speaking and Native American crews from all over the United States and people from all walks of life.

"You get to see things that are magnificent that no one else gets to see," he said, "from wildlife to fire behavior, to some of the most caring appreciative people that I have seen in my life."

Long Fox said he would fight fires "as long as my body holds out and my life allows me to. It's an occupation that takes a huge toll on family life and on physical bodies."

Sandra White Shield, Rosebud Lakota, is a student at Oglala Lakota College on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. She is a graduate of the Freedom Forum's 2006 American Indian Journalism Institute.