Tallac Hotshots firefighters, from left: Alex Ibarra, Sawyer Britt and Coriston Smith joke while being driven to the Six Rivers Complex Fire in Willow Creek, Calif., on Aug. 23, 2022. There are more than 100 “hotshot” teams across the United States, most of them part of the U.S. Forest Service. — ©2023 The New York Times Company
EARLY this summer, while many Americans were gathering for Fourth of July barbecues, the Tallac Hotshots were in triple-digit heat in Arizona, fighting a wildfire for 14 straight days and sleeping on the ground next to their trucks.
The federal firefighting crew had only three days off before darting to a fire raging in a thickly wooded evergreen forest in Oregon.
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Tallac Hotshots firefighters, from left: Alex Ibarra, Sawyer Britt and Coriston Smith joke while being driven to the Six Rivers Complex Fire in Willow Creek, Calif., on Aug. 23, 2022. There are more than 100 “hotshot” teams across the United States, most of them part of the U.S. Forest Service. — ©2023 The New York Times Company
Tallac Hotshots firefighters, from left: Alex Ibarra, Sawyer Britt and Coriston Smith joke while being driven to the Six Rivers Complex Fire in Willow Creek, Calif., on Aug. 23, 2022. (Max Whittaker/The New York Times)
The Tallac Hotshots hiking up a steep hill while fighting the Mosquito Fire near Foresthill. — ©2023 The New York Times Company
Members of the Tallac Hotshots hike up a steep hill while fighting the Mosquito Fire near Foresthill, California on Sept. 17, 2022. (Max Whittaker/The New York Times)
Team members rolling a log off a containment line on the Six Rivers Complex Fire in Willow Creek, California, on Aug 23, 2022. — ©2023 The New York Times Company
Members of the Tallac Hotshots firefighting team roll logs off a containment line on the Six Rivers Complex Fire in Willow Creek, Calif., on Aug. 23, 2022. (Max Whittaker/The New York Times)
Team members conducting a sand table wildfire exercise at their station in Meyers, California, on Oct 3 this year. — ©2023 The New York Times Company
Members of the Tallac Hotshots firefighting team perform a sand table wildfire exercise at their station in Meyers, Calif., on Oct. 3, 2023. (Max Whittaker/The New York Times)
Betty organising his crew over the radio while battling the Mosquito Fire. — ©2023 The New York Times Company
Kyle Betty, the superintendent of the Tallac Hotshots firefighting team, organizes his crew over the radio while battiling the Mosquito Fire near Foresthill, California on Sept. 10, 2022. (Max Whittaker/The New York Times)
Members of the Tallac Hotshots firefighting team heading back at the end of their 16-hour shift battling the Mosquito Fire near Foresthill in California in September last year. There are more than 100 ‘hotshot’ teams across the United States, most of them part of the US Forest Service. — ©2023 The New York Times Company
Members of the Tallac Hotshots firefighting team head back at the end of their 16hour shift battling the Mosquito Fire near Foresthill, Calif., on Sept. 17, 2022. (Max Whittaker/The New York Times)
Kanani Hocking, a firefighter with the Tallac Hotshots, performs a controlled burn while battling the Yeti Fire near Happy Camp, Calif., on Aug. 3, 2022. There are more than 100 “hotshot” teams across the United States, most of them part of the U.S. Forest Service. — ©2023 The New York Times Company
Kanani Hocking, a firefighter with the Tallac Hotshots, performs a controlled burn while battling the Yeti Fire near Happy Camp, Calif., on Aug. 3, 2022. (Max Whittaker/The New York Times)
