Handcrew

Handcrews are diverse teams of career and temporary wildland firefighters. The crews typically consist of 18 - 20 men and women but can also contain 4 to 6 and 8 to 10. These crews have the responsibilities of constructing firelines – strips of land cleared of flammable materials and dug down to mineral soil. These lines are generally constructed around wildfires to control them. Another type of line handcrews create is saw line. This is line where all trees limbs are removed up to shoulder height and all small trees and brush is cut down. All the limbs and trees are then carried outside the line and scattered. These are also called ladder fuels that allow the fire to climb up into the canopies which makes controlling a fire much more difficult. Sawyers do the cutting and swampers do the moving of the debris. Depending on the size of the crew there can be between 1 and 5 swampers per sawyer. Other jobs include, burn outs, gridding for spot fires, and mop up after the fire is controlled.