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Operation Firefly & the 555th

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The 555th was formed in November 1943 as an all-black Army paratroop unit at Fort Benning, Georgia under the command of 1st Lt. James H. Porter. It was expanded to full battalion size November 1944 at Camp Mackall, North Carolina.In April 1945 the 555th was assigned as a 300-man smokejumper Component of a larger 2,700 person military effort group assigned to Operation Fire Fly in US Forest…
#Fire, #FireAndAviationManagement, #Firefighters, #Smokejumpers, #Wildfire, #History, #Military

Missoula Smokejumper History

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Early Aerial ReconNot long after the end of World War 1 in 1918, the Chief Forester for the U.S. Forest Service, Henry S. Graves, contacted the Chief of the Army Air Service--later known as the Army Air Corps--inquiring about the possibility of cooperating with the Forest Service for the purpose of providing aerial fire detection over some of the forests of the Western States.Col. Hap Arnold, who…
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Grangeville Smokejumper Base - Environment

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Grangeville sits at 3,000 feet on the Camas Prairie in North-Central Idaho, a small community amidst an expanse of public lands, mountain ranges, wild rivers, and designated wilderness. The Camas Prairie is a prairie plateau surrounded by rugged canyons and timbered mountains. The Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests to contain substantial portions of four wilderness areas: the Selway-Bitterroot…
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Grangeville Smokejumpers - Recruitment and Employment

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What is Required of a Smokejumper?Because the work is often extremely physically demanding, all jumpers must be in excellent condition. It is not uncommon to construct fireline 14 to 16 hours per day on a regular basis. Both strength and endurance are of utmost importance to the job. A medical examination is required of all smokejumpers to ensure their ability to work and irregular and extended…
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Water Tenders, Fire Command, Operations Support, Prevention and Patrol Vehicles

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Model 22 4x2 Chassis Only Specifications Apparatus Body Only SpecificationStandard Pickup Truck Chassis with Utility BodyFull Size SUVStandard Pickup Truck Chassis with Utility Boday  
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Historic Documentation

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Aerial Application of Fire Retardant Environmental Assessment Information Environmental Assessment (Includes Errata)Decision Notice/Finding of No Significant Impact Biological OpinionsNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)NMFS Reasonable and Prudent Alternative (RPA) Tracking SheetU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)USFWS Reasonable…
#Fire, #History, #WildfireCrisis, #Wildfire