SALT LAKE CITY — It’s the perfect time of year to "give thanks," so why not give thanks to a crew that puts their lives on the line to knock down the largest of wildfires?
The Bureau of Land Management’s Bonneville Hotshots is looking ahead to 2023 by opening up their hiring for additional, experienced crew members toward the end of November. The crew is a national firefighting resource that can provide wildlife suppression across the country.
“We go to fires to get as much work done as safely as we can,” said Land Huegel, an acting assistant superintendent for the Bonneville Hotshots. Huegel just completed his 10th season as a hotshot and has been with the BLM Bonneville crew since 2016. “It’s a super intense job... There are risks involved that you have to pay attention to.”
In 2022, the Bonneville Hotshots were available for work for 134 days from May 7 to Sep. 18. Out of those, they were assigned to fires for 97 days.
“When you’re out, you’re on the fire. You sleep on the line, basically. You work all day sunrise to sunset,” said Huegel. “Sometimes you work nights, sometimes you work days and then nights and then another day, without sleeping. You do what you have to do.”
The crew worked in five states over the course of roughly six months, including Alaska, Idaho, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
“Typically in a six-month period, a wildland firefighter might expect to work 1,000 hours of regular time work weeks and another 1,000 to perhaps as much as 1,200 hours of overtime,” said Evan Hill, a wildland fire manager for the Bonneville Hotshots. “So between 2,000 and 2,200 hours in a five or six-month period.”
Hill, who has been with the Bonneville crew for six years, says the job isn’t entry-level and requires a specific skill set. While the job is demanding and intense, it has its unique benefits as well.
“You see parts of the woods that you never knew existed. Sometimes it feels like people have never even been there before,” said Huegel.
The Bonneville Interagency Hotshot crew was formed in 2001 and is based out of the Salt Lake BLM and West Desert Field Office.
