Smokejumping in the 1970s with Ken Poole
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Show Notes
I spent my summers during college fighting forest fires on a rappel crew. It was some of the toughest, most physically demanding work I've ever experienced, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for my fellow wildland firefighters. And as a rappeller, I also have a healthy rivalry with smokejumpers. My guest today, Ken Poole, was a smokejumper from 1977 to 1983. Over the course of his career, he made at least 117 fire jumps out of some of the best bases in the country. Fighting fire is a fun job, but it can also be incredibly dangerous. In this episode, Ken and I swap some of our craziest stories of jumping out of planes, landing in trees, carrying 150 pound packs, and fighting fire with the best of them.