All language subtitles for Wildfire.2025.S01E03.1080p.WEB.h264-BAE_track3_[eng]

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]

[Tom] In firefighting,
there are no unimportant jobs.

Parachute packing
takes that to the next level,

because the person really,

like rigging gear
for rock climbing or anything,

people's lives depend on it.

There's artistry

in the intricacy
of packing parachutes.

There is a system,

but you can get to the end
of that system your own way,

and I think people do have
little things

they do slightly differently,

but bottom line

is that every little step
of that

has to be done... perfect.

I'll put it in nice
so that it comes out nice.

[Tom] When you really rely
on someone else,

it just makes it
that much more of a bond.

The first time
they pack a parachute

that can go on the shelf
for someone else,

you often hear people
nervous about it,

because they know
now somebody they know,

a friend, a colleague,

is going to put that
on their back

and jump out of the plane,

and that's quite a mind game
for people.

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]

[watch alarm beeping]

Uh, we are setting up
the pump hose

for fitness this morning.

It's 5:20 in the morning,

and the students
will be coming out at 6:00

to do some fitness
before their classrooms.

Every year,

we have an influx of new people
who come into Wildfire.

Part of their mandatory training
is some bootcamps

where we give them
their fundamental training

for the course of the season.

It is a week-long interview

to where you are gonna end up
in B.C. Wildfire.

It's pretty intensive,
and for some individuals,

I think it's quite a bit harder
than they were expecting.

It's definitely
not for everyone,

but that's the point.

Not everyone can be
a wildland firefighter,

and this will show me
who is built for it

and who isn't.

[clock alarm beeping]

You all ready?

Let's roll!

[♪♪♪]

Don't leave any regrets
on my tarmac!

I don't want to see
any regrets left out here

once we cool down and go home.

Yeah!

Whoa!

It hurts!

There's a flicker of doubt,

and we just fuckin'
hammer through.

[laughing] Yeah!
We're ready! Whoo!

[Kelly] That's Sam.

He's the head instructor
here at bootcamp,

and he's a bit of a badass.

[Sam] Feel the burn
while it's light!

Get it while it's light!
Let's go!

Here we go!

[Kelly] All right,
and... turn, turn.

Turn and burn, go hard
while it's light.

Go hard while it's light.

Nice!

Drive! Drive!

Right here, right here,
right here, right here!

And... turn, turn.

Good job! Good job.

[♪♪♪]

[blowing whistle]

[Kelly] We have four stations.

This is the one
that's my personal favourite,

the pump hose,

which is kind of
the historical fitness test

that we used to do.

It kind of feels like

you want to cough up blood
the entire time.

Gives them a little bit
of a history lesson

as they grind out
in the morning here.

We can do this
if we just hammer through.

Right here!

Drive! Drive! Drive!

[Kelly] It gets me fired up
for the season

to just see these fresh faces
come in...

Nice work! Nice work!
Keep going.

...just really make them
a part of my team.

Nice work!

Keep those legs movin'!

[Sam] Get there!
Get there! Yes!

-Nice! Nice! Nice!
-Good job! Good job!

Intention, integrity, and grit!

We're getting to the grit,

so we want to see
everything you have

on this hillside!

Let's go!

[♪♪♪]

[shouting] Come on!

[Kelly]
This is a training exercise

where they have to cut
hand guard,

and it's pretty obvious

that many of them
have never done this before,

but that doesn't really matter.

So what I look for

is more for the character
of the individuals.

I can teach them
to be good firefighters

once they get to my work unit...

but it's the intangibles
of who they are as individuals

and how they integrate
onto my team

that I'm really looking for.

Nice work.

So again, too, like,

you see how we're already
kinda doin' this?

You want that
nice straight line, okay?

We're aiming for
that bit of road

that we can see
right down there, okay?

If we don't have
an effective guard,

it ain't worth jack shit.

This is kind of like
a week-long interview,

so the people who really want it

will show it at bootcamp.

[♪♪♪]

[reporter]
Canada's wildfire season

is now officially
the worst ever recorded...

[reporter] ...was the most
destructive wildfire season

in B.C.'s history...

[reporter] ...about 5,000
wildfire fighters

from around the world
have joined...

[reporter] ...7.5 million
hectares have burned...

[reporter]
...record-breaking destruction

and heartbreaking loss....

[reporter] ...an exhausting
and difficult season

taking its toll
on firefighters...

[♪♪♪]

[Kelly] Good morning,
everybody, officially.

We're getting further
into the season.

I know, historically, August 9th

is kind of when fire season
is starting to really ramp up,

um, and we're already
kind of on our fifth deployment

right now, okay?

So hopefully everybody
had some good days off,

got some rest.

Hopefully you can kind of
keep hitting the ground hard

like we have been
all season, okay?

I supervise a 22-person crew.

We generally take
the larger incidents

within Wildfire,

so what we know
as project fires.

Oh, we got
Dennis Rexin in here.

Hey.

Uh, for everybody, uh,

Dennis Rexin,
if you haven't met him,

uh, Deputy Fire Centre Manager.

Any words for the crew?

I really want the crew to know

that, um, we're here
to support you.

Uh, we are starting to see

a lot of impacts
of the busy season on folks

in all areas,

both mentally and physically,

so with that,

we have had a few incidents,

a few concerns.

Um, fatigue is real.

It's not something
that we just power through,

so please make sure
that we're touching bases

with everyone on the crew.

Okay. Have a safe trip.

-Appreciate that.
-Thanks, Dennis.

Invermere is where
we're heading,

so N2-2243,
the Horsethief fire,

and kind of replacing
the Monashee Unit Crew

that had been doing some work
on this fire

over the last
couple weeks, okay?

Let's, uh, go load up.

Make sure you do
your idiot checks

so that we don't
forget anything,

and then we'll do
a radio roll here

in a couple of minutes, okay?

Thanks, everybody.

[♪♪♪]

All right, let's start
the, uh, radio roll here.

[Kelly]
When I started this job,

I planned on Wildfire

to be maybe four years
as I was going to school,

and then I would get onto

the kinda
next chapter of my life.

The thing is

that once I actually
got into Wildfire,

the relationships
that I've built

is just what has kept me
coming back year after year,

and I love it so much

that here I am
with a four-year plan

15 years later.

[helicopter whirring]

This is a large fire,
about 2,900 hectares.

It's been burning
for a couple weeks now.

Some really good unit crews
have been doing great work.

Unfortunately,
they're timing out,

so we're brought in
to relieve them

and then carry on

with the operations
on this incident.

The plan is to create

what's called
a fuel-free line.

This means removing anything
that's in the fire's path

that it could potentially
feed on,

the timber, undergrowth, roots,

anything that burns.

This creates what's called
a control line,

and then when the weather
conditions are right,

namely the wind is blowing
away from the lines,

we'll do a controlled burn-off
to widen that fuel-free.

That way,
we get a nice clean line

where we've removed the fuel

that we can work off of.

That's always gonna be
a more effective way

to fight fire.

So we'll go down

and just kind of make a line
that makes sense.

To me, it doesn't look
too crazy,

and it's, like, we just
tie it into this...

this rock bluff here.

We should be pretty good.

Just make sure it's safe.

So this fire

has incredibly difficult
terrain to work in.

[helicopter whirring]

We're in the Rocky Mountains,

so a lot of terrain inaccessible
to ground personnel.

We're just gonna have to start

basically planning for Plan B.

It's really cool to work
with my older brother, Connor.

He's really good at his job,

and he does make my life easy,

but I get to boss him around,

which is the best. [laughing]

Load up the trucks,
we'll do a radio roll,

then we're gonna head back
to main staging.

[Connor]
I'm the second in command.

Kelly took my spot on the crew
when I left for a few years,

and I came back,

and he was pretty much
running the show,

which made the first year
or two, uh... difficult.

I see we gotta...

We gotta get going.

Yeah.

[Kelly]
The interpersonal stuff

every once in a while
does get a little muddled

when he is also my big brother,

uh, however, we have
a great working relationship,

and I'm absolutely stoked

that he's back with Wildfire.

Yeah, Rog, we are shut down,

and, uh, just walking downslope
to get out of the way.

We get along most of the time.

Sometimes we butt heads
a little bit,

but I think we've got
a pretty good system going on,

and try to support each other

as best we can while doing this.

The two-brother dynamic
is a lot of fun.

I think they both bring
something different.

Let's get
to the bottom of this.

[laughing]

[Noah] Connor brings
that old-school Val mentality,

which is needed,

and I think Kelly
is a nice balance to that.

He's very grounded.

You three are gonna burn.

[Noah] So he brings that cool,
calm demeanour.

He's done it for over a decade,

and we kind of embody that
as a crew.

[Cayenne] They are both
pretty intense

when it needs to be,

but in the downtime
that brothers can be brothers,

they definitely bring it out.

I have two older brothers,

so it's pretty nice to bring
kind of almost a family feel

into the crew.

[Noah] They have
the kind of jousting,

playful brother side

where they, you know,

get under each other's skin
a little bit,

or give each other a hard time,

so that makes it
a lot of fun to be around.

The next day or two...

Aah! [laughing]

[helicopter whirring]

[♪♪♪]

[Kelly] The forecast

is calling for some strong
and erratic winds

heading our way this afternoon,

so we have to finish
this control line

before the wind takes over.

There's risks.

There's properties
and a ski resort nearby,

and they're all
on evacuation alert,

so it definitely adds pressure
to the work we're doing.

[Connor] Both of these spruce
tied together,

no roots left.

We're doing
our danger tree assessment,

which is very important
for work safety...

We'll focus on this down,

so if you can get a good sweep
down through here.

[Connor] ...and with
this incident in particular,

not much holding up these trees.

If this is all good to go,

and people can be
working up here,

that can be done
a little bit slower.

There are a lot of hazards,

and we're finding

an exceptionally high amount
of danger trees,

trees that have
certain defects

or have been affected by fire,

and are gonna come down
within our work areas.

[Kelly] My utmost priority

is always gonna be
the safety of my people.

I do love the job itself.

It's extremely exciting.

It's rewarding work.

Our dad did it.

Our grandfather did it.

They were both
air tanker pilots.

[Connor] So we kinda
grew up around Wildfire,

and my dad had been
a smoke jumper back in the '80s

up in Yukon.

[Kelly]
Smoke jumpers are the folks

who parachute out of
a perfectly good airplane

onto a fire. [chuckling]

[♪♪♪]

[Tom] Smoke jumping,
or parattack,

is just a way of accessing
forest fires by parachute,

rather than traditional methods
of vehicle or helicopter.

It's not a natural thing

to exit an aircraft
at 1,500 feet

into what is sometimes
not the easiest terrain

with a wildfire burning.

That's a bit
of an adrenaline event.

There'll be timber,
there'll be hazards.

There might be a lake, or rocks,
or the fire itself,

so there's always a nervousness.

You need to make sure
you get where you need to be.

[Nigel] I've been here
for three years now,

and I have a total of 40 jumps,

so I'm a rigger trainee.

Throughout the process,

you have to pack
around 10 parachutes,

and you get tested by riggers
who are more experienced,

who pull them apart.

Today we're doing
some practice jumps.

Myself and a couple others

have packed what's called
our "death chute,"

so that's the first time

we'll be jumping a parachute
that we've packed.

It does sound kind of scary,

um, especially for us
trainee riggers.

It's more of
a black comedy type thing,

and it's a long running joke
in the program,

and once you land safely

and your chute deploys properly
and all that stuff,

you kind of demonstrated
that you can pack parachutes.

There's a list
that we write down

in case I were to, you know,
plummet to my death.

They could take my truck,
my house,

my mullet... [laughing]

All sorts of things that I own
or are part of me.

I'm not a very good drawer,

but some people
really go pretty crazy

with the skull and stuff
they draw on it.

Here we go.

I constantly
look at the parachute,

make sure nothing's
wrong with it, you know?

It's pretty nerve-racking,

first time jumping one of mine.

The trust that is entailed
in this job is quite large.

Everybody here
is like family to me.

The stakes are pretty high
for sure.

[♪♪♪]

There are definitely times

where you're jumping
close to fires.

I have had times where I haven't
been able to see anything

'cause I'm kind of
in a cloud of smoke,

but it eventually clears out,

and you're able to land safely.

Pretty intense, for sure.

Nothing left to test now.

Just gotta jump the parachute.

I just gotta trust myself,
you know?

I'm fairly sure that I didn't,
uh, mess anything up.

[Nigel] I got the nerves,

you know,
butterflies in my stomach,

but I'm excited
to get out of the door

and see how it goes.

Whoo!

[laughing]

I'm alive, boys!

[laughing] I flew over you.

[laughing]

Whoo!

That was a good one.

I passed the test.

Here I am.

Safe on the ground and alive.
[laughing]

I had heard stories as a kid
from my dad

about how much fun he had
doing, uh, smoke jumping,

and not even just
the fires themselves,

just, like, the group of people
that they worked with.

That was awesome.

We grew up moving
from tanker base to tanker base.

It almost seemed like
a little bit of destiny,

probably,

for me to get into it,

and, uh, I like to just keep
that kind of tradition alive.

[helicopter whirring]

[voices crackling over radio]

[♪♪♪]

[Connor] I'm the head faller
on the crew,

which means I usually go ahead
of everyone else

to take out danger trees,

and just make the area

a little bit more safe
for people to be working in.

[starting chainsaw]

It's pretty dangerous.

You gotta stay on your toes.

You gotta be quick,
that's for sure.

[sawing]

[Kelly] Industry-wide,

it's always been

one of the more high-risk
operations that we do.

[wood splintering]

A lot of the incidents we had
in this previous season

were related to danger trees.

Lots of injuries.

[Connor] Our mom
is fairly apprehensive

about what we do.

She knows better than anyone
the dangers of the job.

[♪♪♪]

[news report]
More than a thousand people

packed into the gym
of Rossland's high school

to remember Ian Mackay.

It seems everyone
in this small community

knew the 41-year-old,

who leaves behind a wife
and four small children.

[Kelly] In 2003,

my dad crashed
on a fire near Kimberly.

I was 13 years old, uh,

when my...
when my dad passed away.

[news report] Mackay,

along with his copilot,
Eric Ebert,

were killed when their plane
crashed into a hillside

fighting a small forest fire
near Cranbrook.

The plane exploded on impact,

no chance for either men
onboard to survive.

Anyone who knew Ian would say

his greatest accomplishment
is his family.

[Kelly] My life changed
so much when that happened,

and would I have been
on the same trajectory?

I don't know.

When I started firefighting,

it was probably not the easiest
for my mom,

knowing that it is
an inherently dangerous job.

I think over the course
of my career,

she understands
the levels that I take

to make sure that myself
and my crew are safe.

She's come around to it.

[radio] Copy that.

[Kelly] My dad's plane

that he flew in
on the day-to-day

is still in circulation,

and it seems to be
a funny coincidence

that whenever I call in
an air tanker,

I seem to get that plane
kind of more often than not...

so when it shows up,

it always kinds of
sends me back a little bit.

Um...

yeah.

[♪♪♪]

Here we go, first test.

Weighing in at maybe 230,
40 pounds.

Bit of a beast.

We have finished the first
chunk of our fuel-free,

which means that, uh,

we're now going to allow

the rest of the crew
to start working in this area

and finishing off the fuel-free.

[starting chainsaw]

[Cayenne] Being
one of the youngest on the crew

has been
a pretty funny experience.

It's kind of like
you're the little sibling

to 18 other people.

It is definitely
a male-dominated field,

and I hope that starts
to even out,

but I think it definitely
is beneficial

that I, like, grew up
with two older brothers.

I'm used to being
surrounded by males...

How's it goin'?

...and all the boys
are very good to work with.

A bunch of buddies.

[chainsawing]

The past couple days have been
good firefighting weather,

but the indices are drying out.

Fuels are becoming
more receptive to fire.

There's a forecasted
substantial wind event

that will be coming in.

It's gonna make it
far more difficult

to contain this fire.

There is a risk
that it will get out of control,

so our hand
is being forced right now

with this wind coming in.

It's gonna be very challenging.

I think it's our best option

to go forward with this plan

to see if we can stop it here.

If we do nothing,

the fire is gonna continue
to progress down the valley.

[Connor] Once we've
carved out a control line,

we fortify it by cutting in
a solid hand guard in the dirt,

which is essentially
a small trench we dig

down to mineral soil,

making a complete break
in the fuels

to prevent creeping ground fire,

and from start to finish,

that has to be rock solid.

Any little breaks in that,

and fire creeps across,

and we lose the whole thing.

We've always, uh, on Val,
have taken a lot of pride in...

I don't want to say
we're famous for our hand guard,

but we're maybe a little famous
for our hand guard.

Whoo!

[all cheering]

You can cut
as much as you want,

but at the end of the day,

it's the quality
of a good hand guard

that will really show
the effort you put out there.

Perfect.

Edges nice and clean,

even width all the way up.

This just makes it
so much better.

[crew cheering] Whoo!

[Kelly] When you finish
your chunk of hand guard,

we yell "Bumping!"

[calling] Bumping!

[crew shouting back]
We got a bumper!

[crew cheering]

[Kelly] ...and you get
to move to the front,

past everybody.

It's pretty fun to encourage
everybody along the way.

[crew cheering] Whoo!

[Connor] Camaraderie
amongst the crews

is a big thing.

It's really hard work,

so it helps to just have
a lot of positivity.

[shouting] There we go!

[crew calling] Bumping!

[shouting in reply] Bumping!

Whoo!

[singing]
♪ My mother told me ♪

♪ Someday I will buy ♪

♪ Galley with good oars ♪

♪ Sail to distant shores ♪

[Kelly] We form
pretty close bonds,

and that makes me
protective of my crew.

The biggest thing on my mind,
always,

is keeping them safe,

but this is a dangerous job,

and despite all our efforts,

sometimes the worst can happen.

[news report] Tributes
are pouring in for Devyn Gale,

pictured here on duty.

And if you look at
all these words,

this is what they did today
when we were grieving her.

[news report]
The 19-year-old's death

has shaken the small community
of Revelstoke,

where she grew up.

Friends at a local
gymnastics studio

created a poster

to remember
what they loved most about her.

Uh, this is a very, uh,
very sad day for our province,

and for all British Columbians,

and I want to say
thank you to her,

for her work,

for her sacrifice,

and to her family and friends.

[news report] Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau

called her death heartbreaking

in a Tweet this morning.

[Nolan]
For my sister Devyn and I,

fighting fires,
it's a summer job

to pay for school.

She loved it.

She had a lot more experience
than me.

She was only home
every other night,

and then would be out the door
early the next day.

This season, she was
in a bit more of a mentor role,

uh, because we did have
some more new recruits,

and she just
knew her way around

and knew what she was doing,

so she was a bit of
a hot commodity this summer.

Uh, people wanted her
as their Bravo on their crews,

the number two after the Alpha,

who's the crew leader.

Nine. [laughing]

Eight.

Ten...

[Nolan] That day, to me,
means a lot of pain.

I can still remember it
quite clearly.

Devyn led
a couple other crew members up

around lunchtime,

and she did a flawless call
to Fire Centre

when they were on their way
to the fire.

A little while after lunch,

we picked up our saws
and got to work

cutting a trail
down to the fire,

and in the middle of that
was when the tree fell.

I just heard some yelling,

so I killed the saw, and...

and then check-ins on the radio,

people asking
if everyone's okay.

Devyn wasn't answering...

so I ran down with my saw,

and I found her under the tree,

and the first thing I saw
was her helmet,

and it was just kinda
on the ground by the tree

and crumpled like a Coke can,

and I was kind of, like...

"Oh, shit."

[♪♪♪]

[air horns blasting]

We were able to just
pull her out,

which... [clearing throat]

a tough pull, um...

I let out a good scream
at that point.

I remember thinking, like,

"I'm not sure
if she's gonna make it."

I had my supervisor
radio the zone

to tell my parents.

She was breathing
when we found her,

but her pupils were dilated,

and the doctor said
dilated pupils

usually means that there's
no brain activity anymore.

[♪♪♪]

The fire community
really came together,

and so many people
lining the streets.

Exchanged a lot of silent nods
with people.

We were kind of
blown away by it all,

how much people cared, I guess.

[♪♪♪]

It was really beautiful.

I hope I'm never part of one
ever again,

but it was a sight to behold.

She wasn't just a firefighter.

Um, she was a lot more.

She did lots of, like, coaching,

um, for swimming

and gymnastics and volleyball,

would give up a lot of
her free time to go do that,

would give up
a lot of her free time

for her friends
who needed help with anything.

It just wasn't in her to say no.

There's a reason

why the community
was so hit by it,

because she did affect
so many people here.

She was far-reaching, I guess.

[Nolan] I'm grateful
to have spent one last day

firefighting with you.

I'm grateful to have been
close to you

when the tree fell.

I'm grateful to have been
one of the people

who pulled you out
from under it,

because it meant I got
a few extra minutes with you.

Wherever you are, Dev,

I hope you can feel the love.

I hope you can see all
of the hearts you've touched.

To so many people,

myself included,

you're an inspiration
and a hero.

Her name will be known,

will be spoken...

will be celebrated,

and will serve
as a reminder to us all

the dangers inherent
with the work that we do.

Thank you, entire family,

for loaning Devyn to us.

I'm sorry
we can't repay the favour.

We are forever in your debt.

You just got kinder, and wiser,

and more nurturing.

There's no question
of Devyn deserving more,

deserving better,

and maybe this is the call
to action that we need

to finally ask ourselves

if we're fine with every summer

having record-breaking
numbers of fires,

and record-breaking temps,

and record-breaking
natural disasters.

Maybe this is what we needed,

because if there's
anything I know,

it's that the world
isn't playing fair.

Devyn's favourite tree
was the Western red cedar,

and on that day, it was a cedar
that took her life,

and these summers,

and their fires,
and their temps won't stop

just because we lost a friend,

a colleague, or sister.

[♪♪♪]

It was incredibly
difficult for me.

I remember taking the I.C.
and myself,

and we went, and we just
talked to the crew.

I was trying to kind of
put on a brave face

for everybody there,

and then once we'd kind of
said our piece,

I kinda separated myself

and I went
to the Ops tent there, and...

[clearing throat]

Yeah, it was incredibly tough.

My heart just went out
to Devyn's family,

knowing
what that was like, um...

Yeah, I...

Yeah, it was incredibly...

It was a terrible day.

Thanks for being...
adjustable, we'll say.

[Kelly] After Devyn's death,

I didn't have a question

that this is what I wanted
to continue to do.

It just made me take
a step back

and just really make sure

that I'm here
to take care of my crew,

and the safety of my friends

is what I was gonna
really ensure,

that moving forward,

that is never in question.

[♪♪♪]

[Connor] We've been seeing

kind of a gradual increase
in fire behaviour

over the last couple days.

We're trying to establish lines

before this significant
wind event comes in,

which means that we're looking
at 60 to 80 kilometre winds

passing through here.

There's, again,
a lot of coordination.

We're waiting for things
like wind to be in our favour.

We don't want to light up

when the wind is blowing
directly across our line.

[starting pump]

We'll usually try to do
a bit of green guarding,

which is putting water

on the unburnt side
of our fuel-free,

and just giving it
a bit of a humidity bubble

so that if sparks and embers
come across,

they're not gonna
immediately ignite.

Now we're gonna start burning
off of this avalanche slide path

that we have tied into.

The goal here
is to create a buffer

before the wind event shows up,

We want to slow down the fire

as it gets
to the fuel-free area.

We're burning where the fire
is heading anyway.

If we can get there first,

there'll be nothing left
for the fire to burn

when it arrives.

Giddy on up!

[laughing]

[Connor] Saddle up, partners!

You got another one, Connor?

Gather 'round.

[laughter]

[♪♪♪]

Okay, so, new map for, uh,
for the burn here,

slightly more macro scale.

Lots of aviation.

We got lots of eyes in the sky,
all right?

[♪♪♪]

[Dion] Helco
Hotel, Kilo, Uniform

lifting payload for the fire.

[Kelly] We're relying heavily
on the helicopters

to hold this fire
in these areas

so that we can complete
the other operations

where we can actually work.

The larger
the helicopters get,

the more specialized they are

to just carry water.

In the reconnaissance
of the fire,

one of the sets of data we get
is where's the water?

Just picking up
the first load.

ETA to drop, three minutes.

Often there's this long grind
up the mountainside

to get the water to the fire,

so if you can find a small lake

at the same elevation
as the fire,

then you don't have to be
flying up a mountainside

for each and every bucket,

but sometimes
that's all you got.

[Bill] The unique thing

about the S-64 Skycrane

is the ability to put
different components on it,

and the one relating to today,
obviously, is the fire tank.

We've got the snorkel,

so we find suitable
water sources.

That can be anything
from a river, a lake.

We only need
about two feet of water

to be able to actually get water
onboard the tank.

Ideally, this tank will fill

in about a minute
to a minute and a half,

depending on how much
we're putting in.

We would select
higher coverage levels

in hot spots.

We'll release up to
20,000 pounds of water

in about three seconds.

[Connor] There's urgency
to get as much done as we can,

and hopefully anchor it

before something undoes
all our work.

[Kelly] We're gonna see,
potentially,

that increase
in fire behaviour.

We're already witnessing it.

Moving in a pretty good
direction,

so there's favourable wind.

[Dion] It can be quite
difficult flying sometimes.

[Bill] We're getting
a lot of smoke.

Reduced visibilities,

a lot of mechanical turbulence.

The helco basically directs us
into our water spots.

which flank
we're gonna be working,

proper separation
of the aircraft,

so radio communication
is really paramount.

We're gonna have Connie
run round torches.

[Connor] Sometimes it feels
a little uncomfortable

how fast you have to walk
with the torch.

Uh, if you're not comfortable
with the slope,

let people know.

If you're ever wondering
where someone is,

call for them.

[voices over radio]

[Cayenne] I'm pretty nervous
for my first burn.

I'm the only one
that has never done it,

so it's very intimidating,

and walking with fire
in my hand kind of scares me.

It's super challenging.

You're navigating through brush

and steep ground

with a heavy fireball
in your hand, essentially.

If you get too far ahead,

that can put someone
in a very bad situation

and entrap them in fire.

[Connor]
Burn operations are, I think,

you ask just about
any firefighter,

they're probably the most fun
part of our job,

and to a lot of people,

it probably seems
very counter-intuitive,

that you would
add more fire on the ground

to stop a fire,

but burning-off operations
are very effective.

[Kelly] Okay,
dragging that edge, nice.

Let's go again.

The pile that was lit up
up there

is looking a little precarious,

so watch
for rolling debris, okay?

Okay.

[Connor]
The threat of losing a line

always weighs heavily on me.

I want to do
the best that I can

to hold the fire
in areas that I want.

I am worried
that it can get out.

Helco, I believe
he's lost sight.

You got, uh,
Val 1 on the ground.

[Kelly] We're watching
the wind super closely.

I'm a little nervous
it may be taking a turn.

[birdsong]

[door opening]

[phone ringing]

Hello?

Yeah, we got a load on.
We're ready to go.

We've got a full bus,
two crews on,

uh, another crew's in town
getting food,

but they should be back shortly,

and we got plenty of mains,
so no issues there.

[wind-up siren wailing]

[Greg] All right...

[siren wailing down]

[Greg] We have a target.

You can go ahead and suit up.

[engine powering up]

[Naomi] Usually
when the bell goes off,

your adrenaline spikes a little,

and then rush over
to the suit-up rack.

[crew cheering] Whoo!

[Greg] Anderson, Young,
Christiansen,

Fulthorpe, Loveless,
you're jumping!

[Tom] We're sending
six jumpers to this fire.

Uh, sounds like
there is a road nearby,

but it'd probably be
about six hours

for the closest crew
to drive there,

whereas we should be
a little under 40 minutes.

We'll want to be
on this one quickly

while there's still
a chance to hold it.

[♪♪♪]

[Naomi]
So, this is my first year.

I'm a rookie smoke jumper.

It's definitely hard
coming in as a rookie

in a crazy year.

Sometimes I'm chill.

Sometimes I've got
a lot of adrenaline.

It really depends on the day.

It's definitely
a very overwhelming experience,

I would say.

[♪♪♪]

[Tom]
This is just a small fire

off the west, uh, shore
of Williston Lake,

in some old logging.

We'll have to assess it
once we get there,

but if the lake's close enough,

they'll probably
pump their water from the lake

Once we have selected the spot,

then we go over,

we toss out
wind drift indicators

over the spot...

which will drift back,

give us
how many yards of drift,

and we'll select a spot
upwind of that, equal distant.

[Naomi] Greg's the spotter,

so he's in charge of
making sure we go out the door

at the right time
to get into the spot,

and he's telling you
where he's letting you out,

where you're supposed to land,

the wind, and any hazards.

[Naomi] The consequences

if you don't make it
into the drop zone,

you maybe get hung up in a tree
or something,

so you don't want to get
injured on a fire jump.

That's no fun.
You're in the middle of nowhere.

[Tom] When they hear
the "get ready,"

that's when they tighten,

because they know
the slap is coming,

and then the slap is
the indicator to exit the plane.

[♪♪♪]

[Tom] It's a very focused
time for people,

because if you make a mistake

and you can become twisted
on exit,

that delays you in your ability

to steer towards the drop zone.

[Tom] When you're in the door

of an aircraft
circling the fire,

there's no bills to pay,
there's no future,

there's no things
that happened in the past.

It's a natural, meditative,
in the moment presence.

It's unbeatable.

[Naomi] Right before you jump,

that's like a moment of peace,

which is quite nice.

[Naomi] As you exit,
you're in a tight cannonball.

Sometimes feels like you're
in a bit of a washing machine.

It's kind of my favourite part,

and then it's really gentle
when your canopy opens up.

It's also super cool.

You have, like, maybe a second
to look around,

but I'm not usually
enjoying the view.

I'm usually looking
where my stick partner is,

and at the drop zone,

and trying to figure out
how to get there safely,

and it happens really fast.

It's only, like,
60 seconds or something.

So now that the jumpers

have safely exited the aircraft
and landed,

there's 1,300-ish pounds
of cargo

to get out of the plane...

[Tom] ...as quickly
as safely possible...

[Tom] ...while keeping
your eyes off of the horizon

in an aircraft
that's pulling Gs,

it's not an easy task to do,

and you often don't feel
quite right

when you're doing it.

It's like a cross between
fishing on a fishing vessel

and running an Indy 500.

[♪♪♪]

Once the jumpers land,

they're just like all the other
wildland firefighters.

The job is to put the fire out.

I would calculate
that this will take

about two days
for them to put out,

so they'll be overnighting
tonight, for sure,

and possibly one more night,

depending on how deep
the fire has dug in.

They have a lot of work
ahead of them.

[Kelly] Let's go again.

[Connor] We're going to do
a Hail Mary burn up top,

get some of the fuel burnt off
before the fire gets there,

and see if we can contain it
up the hill.

So we'll see what happens
with aerial here,

but, uh, once they give us
the signal,

we'll start with
a couple strips,

if it torques a little bit,
I'm fine with that,

just to get it pushing that way.

Yeah, you got us, just down
the drainage there, eh?

I got ya there.

[Dion] Once there's crews
on the fire,

you've got to be very accurate,

and you've also gotta be able
to drop the water in such a way

that you don't fan the fire

with the downwash
of the rotor blades,

so there's a bit
of an art to that,

getting the bucket over,

but not loitering for too long

to let your downwash
affect the fire.

When you've got
a lot of fuel onboard,

you've gotta vary
the amount of water slightly,

and then as you burn off fuel,

you can increase
the amount of water,

so we're always trying to fly
maximum amount of payload.

Go for ground.

That's not very good.

Yeah, I could probably
take a torch or two up

and at least armour this side
in the avi path a bit,

if that works?

[Kelly] So, the wind
is an incredible factor

when it comes to fire behaviour.

It pushes the flames
along the topography,

preheats the fuel that
the flames will spread into.

It's a lot harder to control.

When we try to burn,

we try to use convective forces
to our favour,

and a lot of times,
the wind can overpower that,

and then just push the fire
in directions

that sometimes
we do not want it to go.

What we're seeing here

is pushing pretty hard across,

but, uh, if we did pop up now,

we might be able to slow it down
and keep it high.

[Connor] Yeah, copy that.
Moving up.

I'll take two torches.

Let's get this going.

Let's get this hot.

Want to start here, Noah?

I want a strip straight across.

Like this, this angle here.

Lucas, you follow.

Noah's gonna come back
for one more,

and then you'll follow him back.

Try to build
some heat over there!

All right, bring it back.

Let's build it
in this pile here.

I want these drips
a little quicker.

Let's walk it up
a little bit higher.

Noah, go a little further out
in a strip back to Lucas.

Ow!

[Connor]
Box it up there, Lukie.

Okay, two strips back this way.

Luke, box here.

Guys, to the edge!

Box down, two back!

Okay, it's pulling nicely.

Two more strips back!

Yeah, let's get
those extra three torches

bumped up to where you guys
were there, please.

There's the wind.

I know.

Let's move down.

Goddamn it.

[Connor] We had
significant uptick in wind,

and fuels drying out
over recent days.

Standby, 1.

[Connor] Because of
these moving pieces,

I feel like we were
slow to the punch on this one.

Yeah, we're already
a good distance down.

They can get going.

Let's back up.

As this gets closer,
they're gonna wanna drop lower.

[laughing] Oh, yeah,
that's fuckin' white across.

That's not very good.

To be up close
to a really intense fire,

sometimes you feel
very powerful,

and sometimes
you feel very powerless.

[sighing] There we go.

Thank you.

You can do
all the right things,

and just put in several days
of really amazing work,

and then the wind shifts...

[grunting with effort]

Fucking shit!

...and everything
you just did was lost.

[♪♪♪]

[Kelly] Southeast Fire Centre,

Valhalla 1.

[Kelly] Yeah, Fire Centre,

you can check
Valhalla Unit Crew

as departed November 21453.

Uh, we're on good roads now,
headed back to camp,

so no further check-ins
for the evening.

Yeah, you as well.

Val 1 clear.

[Connor] Sometimes
it feels really futile,

what we're doing.

[Connor] It comes
with a lot of sweat,

a lot of dirt and ash.

Sometimes
you're eating a lot of smoke,

but it also feels really good,
you know?

You just know that you kinda
put it all out on the line,

and hopefully, you get lots
of successful days,

and if you don't,

you regroup

and tackle it again
the next day.

[♪♪♪]

[door closing]

[♪♪♪]

Next week on Wildfire...

When it started
looking like a volcano,

it really indicated

that we were going to be dealing
with a major situation.

[helicopter overhead]

-We gotta hurry.
-Daddy...

Let's go, let's go!

Up on the seat.

It jumped Okanagan Lake
yesterday.

We're closer than that
right now.

If the fire's too remote,
we also have the rapellers.

We act as initial attack,
and we access fires.

Uh-oh, there's a new fire.

That's not good.

The fire was moving too fast
for any actions to be taken.

At that point, I just said,
"No, pulling out.

Everybody out of here.

That's way too involved now."