Melissa Tracy at the Triple Fire. Photo by Melissa Tracy/USFWS

Melissa Tracy, Wildlife Refuge Specialist at Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge in North Dakota, is more than a scientist.

When I tell people I am going to go fight wildfires, they think I am crazy because “it is dangerous and you could die out there.” If you think I am crazy, you should meet the true firefighters that do this full time.

Firefighting is not my full-time job; I’m a biologist in North Dakota. I maybe assist on four prescribed burns a year on refuges in the Missouri Coteau Prairie, with rolling hills and wetland basins. Here, we use fire to enhance grassland nesting habitat for migratory birds. I enjoy helping out with fire because it’s exciting, thrilling, and a great way for me to contribute on-the-ground conservation, so every year I volunteer for a fire detail.  

 Firefighters search carefully for hot spots on the Triple Fire. Photo by Melissa Tracy/USFWS

On August 1, I headed to Elko, Nevada for a month as part of a Type 4 Initial Attack crew for something different -- helping put fires out to protect greater sage-grouse habitat.

I didn’t know what to expect for my first wildfire and my first trip to Nevada.  I imagined fires blazing across thousands of acres of flat, dry desert, where I would get to fight fire every day. I had one thing correct: It was dry. Nevada is the driest state in the United States.

But I had never imagined mountains there, especially covered with mostly sagebrush and short grass.

Sixteen hours and a thousand miles later, we arrived at the BLM office in Elko. I jumped out of the truck to stretch my legs, then was hit by a wave of intense, dry heat wanting to suck the life out of me.

I was not in North Dakota anymore.

The daily routine for 28 days straight began with pre-inspection of the fire trucks, fire weather and news briefings, then physical training. Lunch would roll around, then by 1 p.m. we were ready, sitting, waiting for our handheld radios to tone. 

Melissa Tracy during a morning PT hike up in the Ruby Mountains. Photo by Justin Simpson/USFWS

There were days with no tones, then days we would get half-way to a fire and learn it was a false alarm. To pass time we helped out around the shop and equipment yard, and maybe played a couple of card games.

Two tones that month were real – the North Pass Fire and Triple Fire. They weren’t big and mighty, but they were my first wildfires.

As cool as it was to finally experience firefighting, I also learned about the sacrifices involved. I looked over the Ruby Mountains from Elko at smoke rising one day from the Strawberry Fire, wishing I could be fighting it. My daydream was pierced by reality when I heard about a fallen firefighter named Justin.

I didn’t know him, but I felt deeply for his family, fellow firefighters, and those around me with looks of fear and tears in their eyes … that day I felt the harsh reality of fighting wildfires.