Ring of Fire

Rumors were running rampant that the truck had been identified as belonging to the country singer, Johnny Cash! Yes, it was the one and only "Man in Black" who had started the fire. More correctly, his truck which he was driving, had started this fire. It was really hard to believe. The man,  whose  music that most of us listened  to, had actually been the cause of this fire. But what the hell was the famous Johnny Cash doing in a pickup truck in a remote area of the Los Padres National Forest?  Camping? Maybe.  But again the rumors were already spreading about why he was here.

The next morning we gathered at the command center with the other crews to get our marching orders. The fire had spread up a canyon and was burning furiously on three mountain peaks. All were the habitat and breeding area of the California Condor. Each supervisor and crew foreman was told what the plan would be for attacking the fire. The weather conditions: air temperature, humidity, and wind speed were given for the day. But in mountain conditions you knew all that could change without warning. And it did. 

We were to walk in, up through the burned area of the canyon, and make our way up to one of the three fires. As we proceeded out of the fire camp, we passed by the now infamous "Johnny Cash" truck. We all gave it a whack with our tools. It had now become a symbol of the fire we had to beat. (More then about the man who had caused it.)