The Century-Old Tool Being Used to Battle Flames

The Thomas fire became California’s largest by size since modern recordkeeping began in 1932 with over 281,900 acres burned as of this writing. It sped from the urban edge of Ventura to deep into the Los Padres National Forest. It covered huge distances without stopping, climbing in an out of the Santa Ynez, Topatopa and Sierra Madre ranges at will. On East Camino Cielo, 3,600 feet above Santa Barbara, fire crews shored up lines on the ridge. Below that ridge, mandatory evacuations worked their way into the city limits.

One the tools used by firefighters is the Pulaski, a special hand tool used in wildland firefighting. The tool combines an axe and an adze in one head with a rigid handle and it can be used to both dig soil and chop wood.

This week, a look at the Pulaski, the tool that has fought many fires and saved many homes and lives.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Dreams are postcards from our subconscious, inner self to outer self, right brain trying to cross that moat to the left. Too often they come back unread: 'return to sender, addressee unknown.' That's a shame because it's a whole other world out there – or in here depending on your point of view." - Dennis Koenig and Jordan Budde, Northern Exposure, Roots, 1991

The Century-Old Tool Being Used to Battle Flames by fredwine on Scribd