----A well deserved day off

----Black Mountain hotshots

When the U.S. Forest Service Black Mountain Hotshot crew decided to spend a well deserved day off at the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge Campground in June, both the refuge and the citizens of nearby Alamo, Nevada, benefited.

The fire crew offered to help the refuge, and Refuge Manager Merry Maxwell had something in mind.  The campground was in need of fuel reduction and dead trees and 'widow makers' leaned threateningly over the road leading to the campground.  The hotshot crew spent their entire day falling trees, cutting wood and stacking the wood into neat piles.

In September, when temperatures began to drop, refuge staff offered the wood to local senior citizens to warm their homes throughout the coming winter months.