Smokejumpers are specially trained wildland firefighters who provide an initial attack response on remote wildfires. They are inserted at the site of the fire by parachute. This allows firefighters to access remote fires in their early stages without needing to hike long distances carrying equipment and supplies. Traditional terrestrial crews can use only what they can carry and often require hours and days to reach fire on foot. The benefits of smokejumping include the speed at which firefighters can reach a burn site, the broad range of fires a single crew can reach by aircraft, and the larger equipment payloads that can be delivered to a fire compared to pedestrian crews.
Backdraft is a 1991 American action thriller film directed by Ron Howard and written by Gregory Widen. Starring Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rebecca De Mornay, Donald Sutherland, Robert De Niro, Jason Gedrick, and J. T. Walsh, it follows Chicago firefighters on the trail of a serial arsonist.
The Mann Gulch fire was a wildfire reported on August 5, 1949, in a gulch located along the upper Missouri River in the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness, Helena National Forest, in the U.S. state of Montana. A team of 15 smokejumpers parachuted into the area on the afternoon of August 5, 1949, to fight the fire, rendezvousing with a former smokejumper who was employed as a fire guard at the nearby campground. As the team approached the fire to begin fighting it, unexpected high winds caused the fire to suddenly expand, cutting off the men's route and forcing them to flee uphill. During the next few minutes, a "blow-up" of the fire covered 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) in ten minutes, claiming the lives of 13 firefighters, including 12 of the smokejumpers. Only three of the smokejumpers survived. The fire would continue for five more days before being controlled.
John Leonard Orr is an American convicted serial arsonist, mass murderer and former firefighter. A fire captain and arson investigator in Glendale, California, Orr was convicted of serial arson and four counts of murder; he is believed to have set nearly 2,000 fires in a thirty-year arson spree, most of them between 1984 and 1991, making him the most prolific serial arsonist in American history.
In the United States, a Shot Crew, officially known as an Interagency Hotshot Crew (IHC), is a team of 20-22 elite wildland firefighters that mainly respond to large, high-priority fires across the country and abroad. They are assigned to work the most challenging parts of the fire and are considered strategic and tactical wildland fire experts. Hotshot crews are considered the most highly trained, skilled and experienced wildland firefighters, along with smokejumpers. They are qualified to provide leadership for initial-attack and extended-attack on wildland fires. Hotshots are trained and equipped to work in remote areas for extended periods of time with minimal logistical support. They are organized by agencies such as the United States Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, and state/county agencies; the National Interagency Fire Center coordinates hotshot crews on the federal level.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to firefighting:
Red Skies of Montana is a 1952 American adventure drama film directed by Joseph M. Newman and starring Richard Widmark, Constance Smith and Jeffrey Hunter. Widmark stars as a smokejumper who attempts to save his crew while being overrun by a forest fire, not only to preserve their lives, but to redeem himself after being the only survivor of a previous disaster.
Firehouse Dog is a 2007 American family film produced by Regency Enterprises and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Directed by Todd Holland, it stars Josh Hutcherson, Bruce Greenwood, Dash Mihok, Steven Culp and Bill Nunn. It was released April 4, 2007, in the United States.
Eugene Henry DeBruin was a former U.S. Air Force staff sergeant who disappeared after an escape attempt from a prison camp in Laos during the Vietnam War. In 1963, while working for Air America, DeBruin's C-46 was shot down and he was taken to a Pathet Lao prison camp. In 1966, he and six other prisoners, including Dieter Dengler and Phisit Intharathat, attempted to escape. DeBruin's date of death is disputed and he remains classified as missing in action.
Firefighting is the act of extinguishing destructive fires. A firefighter fights these fires with the intent to prevent destruction of life, property and the environment. Firefighting is a highly technical profession, which requires years of training and education in order to become proficient. A fire can rapidly spread and endanger many lives; however, with modern firefighting techniques, catastrophe can usually be avoided. To help prevent fires from starting, a firefighter's duties include public education and conducting fire inspections. Because firefighters are often the first responders to victims in critical conditions, firefighters often also provide basic life support as emergency medical technicians or advanced life support as licensed paramedics. Firefighters make up one of the major emergency services, along with the emergency medical service, the police, and many others.
Chicago Fire is an American procedural drama television series created by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, with Dick Wolf as an executive producer. It is the first installment of Wolf Entertainment's Chicago franchise, which deals with different public services in Chicago, Illinois. The show follows the professional and personal lives of firefighters, rescue personnel, and paramedics of the Chicago Fire Department at the fictional Firehouse 51. The series premiered on NBC on October 10, 2012. As of May 22, 2024, the series has aired 252 episodes. In April 2023, the series was renewed for a twelfth season, which premiered on January 17, 2024. In March 2024, the series was renewed for a thirteenth season.
Planes: Fire & Rescue is a 2014 American animated comedy-adventure film produced by Disneytoon Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Bobs Gannaway, written by Gannaway and Jeffrey M. Howard, and produced by Ferrell Barron, it is a sequel to Planes (2013), itself a spin-off of Pixar's Cars franchise. Dane Cook, Stacy Keach, Brad Garrett, Teri Hatcher, Danny Mann, and Cedric the Entertainer reprised their roles with new additions to the cast including Hal Holbrook, Julie Bowen, Ed Harris, Regina King, Wes Studi, Patrick Warburton, and Dale Dye. In the film, Dusty Crophopper (Cook) is assigned to become a wildland firefighting plane in Piston Peak National Park after he learns that his engine's gearbox is damaged.
On August 18, 1937, a lightning strike started the Blackwater Fire in Shoshone National Forest, approximately 35 miles (56 km) west of Cody, Wyoming, United States. Fifteen firefighters were killed by the forest fire when a dry weather front caused the winds to suddenly increase and change direction. The fire quickly spread into dense forest, creating spot fires that trapped some of the firefighters in a firestorm. Nine firefighters died during the fire and six more died shortly thereafter from severe burns and respiratory complications. Another 38 firefighters were injured. The fire killed more professional wildland firefighters in the U.S. than any other in the 103 years between the Great Fire of 1910 and the Yarnell Hill Fire in 2013.
Ablaze is a 2001 American direct-to-video action disaster film, starring John Bradley, Tom Arnold and Michael Dudikoff. It was directed by Jim Wynorski. The film uses stock footage from two other films. The car chase scene at the beginning of the film is edited from the 1993 film Striking Distance. Ablaze also extensively uses footage from the film City on Fire throughout the film. The film also contains stock footage from the 1970s TV Show Emergency!
Playing with Fire is a 2019 American family comedy film directed by Andy Fickman from a screenplay by Dan Ewen and Matt Lieberman based on a story by Ewen. The film stars John Cena, Keegan-Michael Key, John Leguizamo, Brianna Hildebrand, Dennis Haysbert, and Judy Greer. It tells the story of a group of smokejumpers who must watch over three children who they rescued from a burning cabin until child services arrives.
The 2021 Greece wildfires were multiple wildfires in Greece in August 2021, which killed 3 people, injured at least 20 others and burned dozens of homes, after a historic heatwave for the country, with the highest temperatures reaching 47.1 °C (116.8 °F). Authorities evacuated several villages and towns. According to BBC News, Greece experienced the worst heatwave since 1987. These fires were the worst fires in Greece since the 2007 Greek forest fires which burnt more than double the area of the 2021 fires.
The Mann Gulch fire was a wildfire reported on August 5, 1949, in a gulch located along the upper Missouri River in the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness, Helena National Forest, in the state of Montana in the United States. A team of 15 US Forest Service smokejumpers parachuted into the area on the afternoon of August 5, 1949, to fight a 50–60 acre lightning-caused blaze, assisted by a local recreation guard. As the team approached the fire, an unexpected change in wind direction caused the fire to ignite heavy fuels, creating a "blowup" and cutting off the men's escape route to the Missouri River. The crew was forced to retreat uphill into a lightly timbered area with a dense groundcover of extremely flammable grass and brush. The fire moved rapidly up the slope, burning 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) in ten minutes and claiming the lives of 13 firefighters, including 12 of the smokejumpers. Only three of the smokejumpers survived. The fire would continue for five more days before being controlled.
