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1 A n airplane circles above Dutch Oven Gulch,
Idaho, at one hundred miles per hour. A man
stands at the open side door of the plane, his
hands firmly gripping the sides. His heart races.
The plane bounces like a yo-yo in the wind; a
fire rages 2,000 feet below. The man waits for

his signal.

2 “Get ready . . . Go!” He jumps straight out, gets his
body into the right position, then counts: “One
thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three,

one thousand four . . . ” His parachute opens on “four,”
pulled by the static line still attached to the plane.

3 Nineteen more jumpers follow, and the plane flies
off. Smokejumper Patrick Withen is falling at thirteen

feet per second, but he feels as though he is floating.
Birds faintly chirp around him; wildfire roars below.
4 Withen lands in a tree outside the burning area. He
drops a line, releases his chute, and lowers himself to
the ground.

5 All twenty jumpers have landed safely. Now the
plane circles back and drops ten boxes, one for each
pair of jumpers. The boxes contain everything they
need for living and for fighting fire for three days:
chain saws, shovels, Pulaskis (part ax and part hoe),

first-aid kits, food, and water. If they have to stay
longer, more supplies will be dropped in. The jumpers
unpack and get to work.

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