↓ LARGE PHOTO OF
THE MONTH(^8) July/August 2019 _ PopularMechanics.com
This is a relatively calm scene for Katlyn Lewis (left) and Anna Cressler,
members of the Wyoming interagency hotshot crew (IHC) that battled
the Rankin Fire in South Dakota. Using handheld “drip-torches,” the
hotshots light the grass in order to keep the larger, uncontrolled fire
from spreading, “We are putting a black line to stop the wildfire. When
it gets there, it won’t have anything to burn,” says Cressler. Wearing
leather boots and flame-resistant Nomex shirts and pants, hotshots use
the terrain to move their controlled fire toward the wild fire in order to
starve it. They’re careful to get every bit of grass: “We’re doing cleanup,”
Cressler says. “That’s why it doesn’t look like we’re in a very concrete
lineup. Usually, it’s very structured, but here, we’re getting anything
we missed in the first burn.” Photographer Kyle Miller, also a Wyoming
hotshot, took advantage of the calm to pull his camera out of his already
50+ pound pack. “Most photographers don’t have fire qualifications,
so they’re not on the lines,” he says. “You’ll see photos of fires and
airplanes. I try to capture the actual work, the people, and what they’re
doing: lighting, sawing, digging, all the stuff that isn’t seen.”
PHOTOGRAPH BY KYLE MILLER