Firefighters speak on their ongoing bout with the Smith River Fire Complex

Lightning sparked the Smith River complex fire in early august. The fire expanded beyond Del Norte and crossed the Oregon border.

Nearly 11,000 firefighters from around the state and nation showed up to fight the fire.

“We actually had multiple base camps in operation during the fire,” public information officer Larry Kurtz said.

“We do that because of logistics and the time it takes to get to these fires. Since the fire has turned a corner at 85 percent contained, we reduced it to a single camp in Gasquet.”

And on the travel side of things, firefighters must be prepared to spend a long time away from their usual posts.

“You have a bag that you’re going to pack a bag for a couple of weeks. You have a vehicle that you’re gonna need to drive up here. You bring a tent with you. You bring mattresses,” Kurtz said.

“Many of the firefighters out here are almost professional campers so to speak on these fires.”

The base camp is a makeshift city with tents and trailers. Yet, out on the field away from the base, combating the blaze requires grit.

“You have to basically have guts. You have to have resiliency. You have to take initiative. You have to be tenacious,” public information officer Quincy Sloan said.

“So in that, all those qualities make up what a firefighter is.”

And that is fueling the remainder of the fight as the fire is not quite done.

“We still have small pockets and we also have uncontained lines around in different areas of the fire,” Sloan said. “So until we get a full containment, there’s always potential for the fire to grow.”