CHRISTINA EICHELKRAUT / PVT From left, David "Tennessee" Shelton, Sean Wheeler, Lucas Rhea, and David Thompson stand by the Pahrump BLM fire department engine. Due to the rigorous terrain the fire engine has to travel on to fight wildland fires, it is specially outfitted and has four-wheel drive. Advertisement

The desert offers those who live in the Pahrump Valley a rugged beauty, but it can also be deadly dangerous given the dry, arid brush where a spark can start a raging fire in a matter of seconds.

Greg Marfil, fire mitigation and education specialist for the BLM fire department, will be the first to tell you that it doesn't take much to start a fire in the southern Nevada desert.

From a bolt of lightning, which he said he believes to be one of the leading causes of wildland fires, to a spark set off by steel-core ammunition striking a rock, it only takes a moment to start a fire that can last for days and devour acres of public land.

"I think everybody thinks in terms of campfires," Marfil said. "It's hard to conceptualize how fast they can spread, how dangerous they can be, and how hot they can be."

For example, Marfil explained, the common idea that in order for fire to burn you it has to be touching you isn't even true.

"You can be 10 feet away and get burned," Marfil said.

So it may be a comfort to know that the Bureau of Land Management fire department, and the firefighters who staff it, are ready to fight all the fires that don't happen in the middle of town or at a residence.

The Pahrump BLM station, located at Carpenter Canyon Road off Highway 160, was opened in 2004. The station offers 3,500 square feet of living space, including 11 bedrooms, a laundry room, and a kitchen and living room area.

Although the station just recently got electricity (it used to be powered with a generator), it still needs to have water delivered.

Because wildland fires are far different from the fires found in urban environments, such as house or vehicle fires, BLM firefighters go through training and use equipment designed specifically for their unique situation.

For example, BLM firefighters use a specialized, four-wheel drive fire engine that allows them to "pump and roll," meaning they can fight a fire through mobile attack, or spray the perimeter of a fire while driving alongside it.

Because there's no telling how long a brush or wildfire will last, the truck holds enough food and water to allow the firefighters to be self-sufficient for 24 hours.

In addition, the engine has an auxiliary pump, carries five people, and is equipped with a satellite phone and global positioning system.

The firefighters themselves have to go through continuous and arduous training.

After what Marfil calls 40 hours of "rookie school" where the future firefighters learn about fire behavior and fire weather, how to use pumps, chainsaws, and various other equipment used to fight wildfires, they then undergo strenuous physical training as well.

The physical test they have to pass includes a three-mile hike with a 45-pound pack that has to be completed within 45 minutes.

The five firemen that make up the BLM crew are responsible for protecting a massive area.

The primary range they protect includes Amargosa, Nellis Air Force Base, the Nevada Test Site, and the Spring Mountains.

Their secondary range extends all the way to Sloan and into Red Rock Canyon.

A regular day for the firefighters consists of an engine check followed by daily physical training (easy enough to accomplish at the Pahrump station where the gym equipment is housed in the loft of the engine barn).

Then they have a daily briefing where they review weather conditions.

The BLM firefighters are also as self-sufficient as possible, so they spend a lot of time working on projects and maintenance. Anything they can fix at the station or on the engine themselves they do.

That is, of course, when they're not out fighting fires, to which they can be sent to for up to 14 days.

Although they work eight-hour shifts, they're always on call, and depending on the situation it's easy for them to rack up overtime.

The schedule is based on a two-to-one ratio, meaning that for two hours of work the fire fighter is required to have one hour of rest.

On long-term fires, the time they have to recuperate is largely determined by the situation; once a supervisor has deemed a firefighter rested, he or she literally goes right back into the fray.

Interestingly enough, it's not so much putting out the fire, which Marfil says they try to keep "small" (in BLM terms, less than 10 acres), it's the clean-up once the flames have been extinguished that takes time.

Once a fire is put out, firefighters will grid the area and search for hot embers or dig up roots that may still be hot and result in another fire.

Marfil estimates this can take five to 10 times longer than actually extinguishing the fire.

And during the fire season, which lasts from about May through October, there are plenty of fires to be put out.

Last year, the Pahrump BLM fire department responded to 27 fires, only a slight decrease from the 34 fires they responded to in 2005.

And that's just the times they rolled out and something was actually burning. Some of the responses, though not many, are false alarms.

Desert fires, often exacerbated by winds and lack of precipitation, are preventable.

As Marfil pointed out, keeping the area around your house safe by clearing surrounding brush and yard accumulation is key.

For Marfil, his favorite part of the job is when it's over and people and land are safe again.

"I like putting a fire to bed and being done," Marfil said.