Author shares searing story of wildland firefighters

COEUR d’ALENE — Wildland firefighting books tend to either paint a hero’s story or focus on a tragedy. Charles Vaught believes the real story is both more complicated and more entertaining.

So what is the reality of wildland firefighting in the West?

Vaught humorously details just that in his recently published book, “State of Fire.”

Vaught will host a meet and greet, selling and signing copies of his book from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Second Story Bookstore in the Coeur d’Alene Public Library foyer.

“There is a void that doesn’t dive into the realities of the job,” Vaught said. “I want to give an insider’s look into what it takes to do the job. What it takes physically, emotionally. What it does to your love life, the toll it takes. I want to show the camaraderie and the behind-the-scenes-shenanigans.”

Wildland firefighters, specifically initial attack or hot shot crews like Vaught’s, work a 14-day roll. They camp near the fire-line and often work into the night. The crew then has 24 hours off.

“We’d go back to our camp in Loomis for our day off,” Vaught said. “There we could do laundry, go to the lake, go into town. It’s not that great. You try to cram all your regular life into one day.”

Vaught worked that schedule for three-month stretches on summer break from college. Some wildland firefighters work that schedule for four to six months.

“In June of 2013, on summer break from my first year of college, I started a job as a wildland firefighter with the Highlands 20, an initial attack handcrew, based out of the Sinlahekin Valley in North Central Washington,” Vaught wrote on his website charlesvaught.com.

That work would begin a fascination with fire and a deep commitment to the crew he fought alongside on the front lines of wildfires throughout Washington state.

Vaught came to the University of Eastern Washington to study creative writing at age 34. Like any good writer, he arrived with plenty of stories from years of wandering and working around the world.

Vaught had worked on fishing boats out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska. He worked as an associate producer for Zed Ink, a live-event production company in Los Angeles.

“I worked with amazing people,” Vaught said. “Then I saw that all that glitters wasn’t gold.”

A young Vaught pulled on his pack and trekked through Asia for two years. Somewhere on the vast continent he got dengue fever and nearly died. He came home to the Pacific Northwest to heal and regain his strength. It was during this time of reflection that Vaught decided it was finally time to go to college.

“Spring break of my first year in college, I realized I was really broke,” Vaught said. “I felt I had two options. I could either find someone who would hire me as a roughneck in the oil field. But those contacts dried up, forgive the pun.”

The other option? Vaught called a friend and stepped into the world of wildland firefighting.

“A lot of books written about firefighters are not written by people who have strapped on boots, put on Nomex, and battled the fire,” Vaught said.

He decided to change that.

“When I was 3 years old, my mother asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up,” Vaught said. “She thought I'd say a cowboy. But I said I wanted to be an author. I dreamed of having a book with my name on it, with my words and dreams inside of it.”

After promising his crew for years that he would write a book about their experience, Vaught woke up on Jan. 1, 2018, and wrote in his journal, “This is the year that I write and finish my book.”

“State of Fire” uses humor to get to the serious stuff.

“It’s not like any other firefighting book out there,” Vaught said.

It approximates the experience of the work. To run a chain saw on a fire-line hour after hour, day after day, requires the type of personality that embraces humor, positivity, and trust.

“The camaraderie is like nothing else I’ve ever experienced,” Vaught said. “Working long hours can be physically demanding. You get to know the people you are working with. You become closer than you are with family. The friends I’ve made in firefighting, we’re friends to the end. It’s the closest I’ll ever get to being in the military.”

Ten percent of all book sales will be donated to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. The Boise-based nonprofit organization provides financial and crisis assistance to families of fallen and injured wildland firefighters. More information can be found at: https://wffoundation.org/

“The hardest part of wildland firefighting would be the toll it takes on your love life,” Vaught said. “Through my own personal experience and my research I found out that firefighters, more specifically wildland firefighters, have the highest divorce rate of any first responders. It is three times the national average. Out of everyone, probably dozens I’ve worked with, I’ve only known one who was married and stayed happily married.”

Vaught will also give a passionate re-enactment from his book Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 6 p.m. at Laughing Dog Brewing Company in Sandpoint.

He prefers the term to reading, because people, in his experience, tend to tune out during book readings.

“I feel like I have two roles: to educate and to entertain,” Vaught said. “This ain’t your grandma’s book reading. I’m going to bring the heat.”