They have my total admiration and I'm amazed at what they do. I went for a picnic yesterday and in 36C heat I just hid in the shade and waited for a change. How people put on body-covering clothes and then go near a fire in that heat - for hours at a time - is quite beyond me. I know I spend too much time in the air-con to be aclimatised to heat but still what they do just ain't natural.
A couple of years ago I got into a conversation with a dozer driver who mostly worked in forestry but also at times worked fighting fires. Some of the stories were just amazing. When building containment lines they have to tow a vehicle behind the dozer in case they need to escape. No wonder the Tojo looked a bit second-hand. Sometimes the hills are so steep they can't get the 4WD up them so they tie a few to the back of a dozer and pull them up.
At one point they were going to get caught by the fire so they made a large clearing and left the dozers in the middle. The controllers told them to drive out along a certain road, which they did, only to find themselves on the wrong side of a locked gate.
After breaking a few chains trying to get through they eventually had to go out along another road. The fire was so close they had a chopper escorting them to let them know whether to go forward or back. They got out with 5 minutes to spare.
Like I said - total admiration.
