The McCall Smokejumper Base, in west-central Idaho, has 70 wildland firefighters on staff. McCall’s Smokejumper program was established in 1943, and since then has continually provided fire management personnel to wildland fires throughout the nation. As noted on the McCall Smokejumper website:
“Today, the McCall Smokejumper Unit is an interagency resource providing highly trained, experienced firefighters and leadership for quick, wide-ranging, self-sufficient initial attack, extended attack, Incident Command System (ICS) fire teams, and prescribed fire operations throughout the country. Three Twin Otters comprise the fixed-wing aircraft fleet which enables this unit to provide firefighters, paracargo, and supplies to literally anywhere in the country.”
I visited the McCall Smokejumper Base a few days ago and was lucky enough to not only have a detailed base tour, but to watch some of the refresher jump training for the experienced smokejumpers. The jumps that I saw were made both from a Shorts Sherpa C-23 (which flew down from the Missoula, Montana smokejumper base for the refresher training) and from a Twin Otter, which is an aircraft in the McCall base fleet. The ground crew for the jumps gave me a detailed explanation of the drop procedures as they monitored the jumps via radio and video. The refresher jumps are critiqued for each person. The exit door on each plane has a video device to capture aircraft exiting procedures and the ground crew video parachute maneuvering, parachute landing rolls and talk with each stick of two jumpers to make sure jump communications were good. I even was able to watch a couple cargo drops and a drill of emergency medical procedures.
The base tour included being able to see the parachute loft tower (where parachutes are hoisted up in order to dry them and inspect them), the sewing repair room, the parachute folding room, and the ready room. Because this is the start of the season and the refresher jump training time, it was a very busy place.
To get a better idea of what it’s like to be a smokejumper at the McCall Base, watch the following Youtube video that was done by a group of McCall smokejumpers: