Sugarpine Chronicles

It was early June 1974, and we were on our initial fire with the Tahoe Brigade, California's first wildland fire crew with women on it. We were transported by military half-tracks to an area near the fire and walked out to it along with an all-Hispanic crew. It was an open area steaming with heat, and the acrid smell of burned wood filled our lungs. We were near a thirty-foot hill, and both crews lined up and covered the area slowly, taking one glove off and feeling for heat with the back of a bare hand. Glancing at Sarah and Linda, I thought, This fire is a piece of cake with frosting. The fire gods had a different message for us.