Retired Hotshot Superintendent and Smokejumper | Interviewed April, 2014 | California
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Charlie Caldwell, retired Hotshot Superintendent and Smokejumper, talks about how he got his start in his career, along with some information about the beginnings of the Redding Interagency Hotshot Crew program.
An Introduction: Charlie Caldwell
Charlie "No Slack" Caldwell
The Building of Redding IHC
Close Calls - Back in the day…
Helicopter Accident, Losing Crewmembers
The Role of Fire in the Environment
Changes in Firefighting
Spiking Out, Walking Crews Down, and Night Drops
Nothing but Whites and hardhats...
Evolution of saws
Couth Officer
Crew rotation, T-shirts, and logos
Favorite things and helping people out
Hotshots then, Hotshots now
Refusing Assignments
China walls, Minnesota fires, silo bombs, and more…
First Fire as a Smokejumper
Influential People
Being Proud And The Makings Of An AAR
Out-of-Region Assignments
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How does Charlie view the role of fire in the environment?
“Fire is really important for the wildlife. There’s a lot of decadent fuel; I know they were telling us we were crazy for burning…we got some really good burns, got rid of that. All new brush for the deer and so on. I think sometimes people think you can just go out there and punch lines in, out to the woods and stop the fire and it just doesn’t work that way.”
