The Missoula Smokejumper Base is located at the Aerial Fire Depot by Missoula International Airport, Missoula Montana. The Visitor Center at the base includes a small museum of interpretive displays, which includes a fire lookout station.
The shovel and the Pulaski shown on the wall are the firefighter’s primary handtools. The garments of made of Nomex which will not burn or melt. The lightweight chaps have a durable, nylon outer shell and inner layers of Kevlar to provide additional protection.
Shown above is one of the important lifesaving devices carried by smokejumpers. Trained firefighters can set up a fire shelter and be inside in 20 seconds or less. The aluminum foil bonded on fiberglass reflects heat as intense as 1,600 degrees, while inside the temperatures are 150 to 200 degrees (less than the heat inside a Native American sweat lodge). The shelter is designed so that a flame front rides a cushion of air over the tent. The fire shelter has saved more than 220 lives.
Shown above is a model of the DC-3 aircraft which is often used to transport the smokejumpers. The DC-3 is a World War II aircraft which replaced the Ford Trimotor as a jumpship after the war. In 1991, the DC-3 was retrofitted with turbine engines.
Fire Lookout:
In order to fight a forest fire, it must be spotted and located. Fire lookouts are located on mountain tops throughout the region where people can scan the landscape looking for smoke and notifying the firefights. Shown below are photographs from the displays in the full-size lookout at the Smokejumpers Center.
The map shown above is an important instrument in locating the fire.
Highlander was a local Missoula, Montana beer. More than 50 years ago, the beer was evicted from its home to make way for Interstate 90. Brewing stopped in 1964. There is an attempt at the present time to revive the brand name.