Oftentimes you’ll see firefighters driving around in a big fire engine, responding to medical emergencies, fires or whatever a community needs. They’re the Swiss Army knife of emergency responders.

But when it comes to wildland firefighters, the men and women protecting communities from wildfire, the public knows less. You may have heard of hotshot crews and smokejumpers, but wildland firefighters come in many other forms: some rappel from helicopters, some arrive in engines that pump water. But regardless of how they arrive, they all depend on one thing: support back home.

Take a federal hotshot crew driving across the West. They travel with two big buggies for their 20-plus people and another truck to haul gear. They’re often gone for weeks or months protecting towns and watersheds fro

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