Playing with Fire: Get an Inside Look at the Lives of Smokejumpers in Northern California

When it comes to firefighters, there are none more brave and respected than smokejumpers. The forest service recently released a short film (above) giving a behind the scenes look of these brave firefighters and how they go from their locker room in Redding to the airplane and eventually dropping into a wildfire.

If you are not familiar with smokejumpers, they are wildland firefighters who parachute into remote areas to combat wildfires. Smokejumpers are capable of reaching a wildfire shortly after ignition, when it is still relatively small, and extinguishing the blaze before it becomes a problem to land managers and the public. When there is no significant fire activity, smokejumpers will take on other assignments such as forestry, disaster relief and emergency management.

There’s no doubt that smokejumpers are some of the most respected firemen in NorCal. Their jobs are difficult and dangerous, and they halt the truly remote wildfires before they spread to populated areas.

If you want to learn more, here is a mini-documentary made by ABCnews a couple of years ago about the smokejumpers in Redding: