Original Message

True story.

While working HEMS in SO AZ about 25 years ago, we watched a lighting strike hit the west peak of a nearby mountain.  Soon there was smoke rising in the area.  What luck!  We have air tankers stationed right here at the airport!  I mean like literally a 2 or 3 minute walk from our quarters.

We ran over and told the standby crew about it.  They come outside and said, "yep, that's a wildfire."  The only problem was they were on a BLM (Bureau of Land Management, NOT, you know) contact and that there is US Forest Service land.  "We can't go!"  WHAT?!?!?!!!

Sure enough, they didn't.

Three days later, the USFS assets started to arrive.  By then the whole west side of that mountain was burning!  It was pretty spectacular looking at night.  They fought that fire for like a month.  Which is a shame, because the BLM crew could probably have put it out in a hour or two, but.....

On the plus side, we ate pretty dang good on the USFS for a while!