Fire Camp Life: Sleeping, Eating, and Living in the Field
Dinner time at spike camp on a fire in Idaho
What it’s like being away for fires and some typical situations you may find yourself in
Fire Camp/ Sleeping Conditions
When out on a fire you will be sleeping on the ground in most cases. Your home station will issue you a tent, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, and usually a space blanket to protect your sleeping pad from punctures.
I’m super lazy and never set up a tent unless lots of rain will fall during the night and I have nothing to roll under to keep dry. I also use my personal bivy sack (linked to a similar versions of the one I own. It’s basically a sleeping bag that is a one man tent built to withstand rain. Here’s more options) because it saves space in my red bag and it’s way easier and faster to set up and put away.
I don’t like setting up tents because I love falling asleep while looking at the stars. I’ve seen incredible shooting stars and the Milky Way is usually bright because I’m out in the middle of nowhere and it’s dark sky territory with no light pollution. Also, when you wake up to be packed and starting work at 6 am, every minute of sleep counts.
That being said, I’ve worked with people who set up a tent every night no matter the weather because they like the privacy and not having bugs on them.
I have a small Therm-a-rest camp pillow and because I get really cold I have a packable synthetic down blanket (mine is a clearance item Pendleton, but here’s some cheaper options) for spring and fall rolls. They make a huge difference to me in comfort.
I used to roll up my down jacket as a pillow, but it doesn’t save much space and zipper lines on my face became an unnecessary problem (here’s some other pillow options).
Fire camps at large fires are like mini towns. There’s bathrooms, food tents, logistical tents, a medical unit, communications tent, showers, water, and areas for each crew to sleep.
They can be very loud and hard to sleep in with generators and bright lights on all the time because people are working night shifts. They can be in open areas like fields or in a large building like a high school.
Sometimes you will be “spiked out” at a fire camp, which means that your crew is needed on an area of the fire that is too far for your crew to drive into the main fire camp to eat and get supplies before and after you work.
In that situation, a mini fire camp is set up for those crews that are far away and you all sleep there. Meals and supplies are driven from the main camp to spike camp or flown in by helicopter if you are way out in the woods.
I enjoy spike camps because it feels more communal with everyone helping set up and put away the food and sometimes you get to eat around a fire sitting on logs and it feels like a proper camp out. It’s way quieter and I can easily get away from crew members who snore.
A large fire camp in the valley at sunset
Crew Togetherness
Your crew will do everything together when out on a roll. You work together, eat together, sleep together. It’s difficult to get alone time. I’m an introvert so I like alone time to recharge. It’s draining for me to be around people so much, let alone the same 5-20 people for weeks on end. I get that in the evenings by going to bed a little earlier and reading or texting loved ones.
There may be crew members who drive you crazy, but you just have to find ways to keep your sanity and get away every once in awhile. It’s also a good way to deal with working with lots of different types of people.
I’ve worked with people who have very different views than me, but because they are my coworkers we end up having really good conversations about topics that are generally polarizing. I’ve mentioned it before, but the camaraderie on fire crews is really special and something I love the most about the job.
Cell Phone Service
Cell phone service can vary wildly on fires. I’ve been up high seemingly in the middle of nowhere and had full service while other times you’ll be right outside a town and not have any. I try to keep my husband, family and friends aware of where I am, but they know that if they don’t hear from me that no news is good news.
Supervisors will try their hardest to get their crew members into phone service every few days so they can check in, but that’s not always possible. One roll I literally had no service for 12 days because we were spiked out. It can be nice to not rely on your phone for entertainment and truly unplug during these times. We always have better conversations when there’s no phone service.
I’ve also found that Verizon Wireless has the best coverage in the places we go. Nine out of 10 times I’ll be able to send a text while coworkers with other carriers have no service.
It has become more common for crews and fire camps to have a Starlink or set up a cell phone tower so being on a fire with no service is becoming rarer and rarer.
Crew members taking a quick break to eat a tasty salad before the desert heat wilted it on a fire in Utah
Food/ Nutrition
I like to eat healthy as much as possible, so the food provided to me on fires can make it difficult for me to feel good and have lots of energy to work. Treat yourself! Get the good stuff that you love to eat and drink to have in your pack before you leave on an assignment so you are well fueled and have things to look forward to during the day.
On fires, as mentioned above, you will be provided with meals, but that can mean anything from a catered boxed up meal from a great local restaurant to a sack lunch with a less than ideal ham sandwich and other snacks to Meals Ready to Eat (MRE), a military ration that you heat up in a little bag and eat out of a pouch with a plastic spoon. Many of the MREs are really gross to me, but when it’s the only thing provided I eat it just like everyone else.
Vegetables and fresh foods can be scarce so know what you need and make sure to get it every chance you get.
People with dietary restrictions, food intolerances, etc will need to be especially diligent in keeping food they can eat in their packs and being prepared.
Many fire camps will try and cater to vegetarians and vegans, but this can vary wildly. Vegetarian friends have recieved an entirely different and tasty meal or they just get whatever was being served minus the meat. Such as a cheese sandwich instead of a ham and cheese.
Sometimes an incident will be unable to provide food and we will be on government per diem, which can range from $68 a day on up. We will go out to eat or buy food at a grocery store and then you’ll get the government daily rate reimbursed to you after the roll.
My usual “dirt and ash leggings” after 14 days of fighting fire
Hygiene
In fire camps it’s easy to get sick with so many people around so wash your hands before and after you eat because you will be touching things in the food area like condiments and salad bar utensils that everyone touches.
A lot of things fall by the wayside when you’re tired and running on little sleep, but everyone has different standards for what good hygiene means to them. Do what you need to keep yourself happy. Everyone generally smells horrible by day 2 or 3 of a roll so you’ll get over being around people’s BO and dirty clothes real quick.
I’ll happily go without a shower on a roll, but if I can’t brush my teeth twice a day I don’t feel human. It’s rare to get access to a shower unless you are in a large fire camp, but even then I usually prioritize sleep over getting clean when I know I’ll be back sweating in the ash and dirt the next day.
I like to keep face wipes in my personal bag (see Gear List resource pages for more info on what I bring in my various bags) so I can “wash” my face and parts of my body at the end of the day even when I don’t have access to water. This helps me feel a little clean, wipes potential carcinogens off my body, and keeps my face from breaking out in huge zits.
Taking care of your feet is really important. I change my socks most days and put Gold Bond powder (a classic wildland firefighter favorite) on my feet and in my boots every night.
A thick lotion or salve like Burt’s Bees Res Q can help heal little cuts and scrapes on hands and body and keep them from getting infected.
This is a rough overview of life in the field. Read on for more of what you can expect from a season fighting fires.
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