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thedrifter
01-31-05, 11:24 AM
Former firefighter becomes Marine
Submitted by: MCRD Parris Island
Story Identification #: 2005129115648
Story by Lance Cpl. Darhonda V. Hall



MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND S.C.
(Jan. 28, 2005) -- Many people join the Marine Corps to add excitement to their lives. For Pfc. Katrina Marie Helleson, she already had excitement in her life fighting forest fires.

The adrenaline rush of being smothered in heat and smoke and putting out acres of fire can be enough to satisfy anyone's need for excitement.

For Helleson, a Tonasket, Wash., native, her experiences outside of the Marine Corps involved a seasonal job of fighting small acre forest fires while working on an initial attack crew.

In 2001, Helleson was on a 20-person self-supporting crew that went to large incident fires with high complexity. The crew, known as a National Hotshot Crew, fought fires that threatened homes and other resources out of Great Falls, Mont.

"On the Hotshot crew, I worked eight months and went to ten different states on fire emergencies," she said. "Our crew would stay out on the fire line up to sixteen days at a time and up to sixteen hours a day."

Helleson served her country by preventing the spreading of small fires and preserving the natural conservation of land.

Helleson's job, unfortunately, was seasonal so for four months out of the year, she was laid off.

Helleson received her seasonal job with the Forest Service by attending an academy in Sacramento, Calif., where the academy prepared her for a supervisory role as an engine foreman.

Helleson is now an assistant foreman on an Initial Attack fire engine, which only has 250-400 gallons of water and is ready to support a small fire with either manpower and hand tools, or suppress the fire with water.

"To this day, my preferred tool to use is still the chainsaw," she laughed.
Helleson decided to go through recruit training while in her 'off-season' of firefighting.

"I did not quit the Forest Service, I joined the Marine Corps Reserves," Helleson explained. "I wanted a chance to gain better leadership during my time off, so I joined the Marine Corps."

Helleson will have a Military Occupational Specialty of landing support specialist, which involves the movement, evacuation, and hospitalization of personnel.


"I was inspired to join the best military branch that the world has to offer and gain awesome experiences that I can apply in my everyday life and job," said Helleson, who graduated from Platoon 4003, Oscar Co., 4RTBn. today.

"All the co-workers that I work with at home support me a hundred percent and are my motivation so I can be a better peer and supervisor."

Helleson plans on returning to her job and advancing to become a smokejumper by the end of next year. Helleson said a smokejumper is the most elite firefighting job when it comes to forest fires.

"The most exhilarating moments in my firefighting career have been the times where five or six of us firefighters get flown into an initial attack fire in the wilderness and camp on the line after working hard all day long to put it out," Helleson described.

In 2002, a fire was reported in Heber, Ariz. Helleson was on a fire truck that got dispatched down from Montana.

"There was an incident where two fires emerged and connected making the damage at six-hundred thousand acres," she explained. "When [our crew] arrived at our safety zone around noon, the noise from the two fires sounded like we were in a city of fright trains and jets. It was daytime, but it was dark as night. Two hundred homes went up in smoke that day and there was nothing we could do about that."

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200512912049/$file/fire2(L).jpg

Private First Class Katrina Marie Helleson, a Tonasket, Wash., native, fought forest fires as a civilian occupation. Her seasonal job left her with four months out of the year without a job so she joined the Marine Corps. The new Marine aspires to be on the Marine Corps Structural Fire Team and continue her profession in firefighting.

Photo by: Lance Cpl. Darhonda V. Hall

Ellie

Namvet67
01-31-05, 11:40 AM
Firefighters and Marines go hand in hand...either way...Marine 1st or firefighter 1st. Semper Fi

yellowwing
01-31-05, 12:45 PM
"To this day, my preferred tool to use is still the chainsaw," she laughed." - Oohrah! She could clear a room real quick with an 18" chainsaw whipping around!