5
With an exhausted groan, Josh squatted onto a mossy log and cracked open an MRE. The crew ate the flavorless meals in silence. They’d spent the morning cutting a chain—hacking vegetation to “mineral” so the fire would have trouble reaching the fuel. It was back-straining work and Josh could feel it in every inch of his body.
He’d heard it said that hotshots were the most physically fit of all types of firefighters. Generally speaking, it was probably true. But more importantly, backcountry firefighting required a certain kind of mental toughness because of the sheer length of time it took to battle a wildfire. You could be doing the same back-grinding work for sixteen hours at a time, then the same thing again the next day. And the next.
It took stamina. Or lunacy. Luckily, Josh had p
