Fighting Wildfire

Texas A&M Forest Service often contains wildfires by using bulldozers that carve a line through vegetation, starving the fire of fuel to burn. However, fires sometimes occur in canyon or mountainous regions where bulldozers can’t reach. When this happens, TAMFS organizes a “hand crew” to hike into the fire and carve out a fire line with hand tools. This is one of the most dangerous roles in wildfire suppression, and the one with the highest mortality rate – but the Texas A&M Forest Service Lone Star Hand Crew has been one of the most successful, and effective, hand crews in the country.