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Samsara Duffey, 45, and her dog Mae scan the smoke-covered mountain range surrounding the Patrol Mountain fire lookout in Augusta, Montana
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Duffey uses binoculars to get a better view
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Duffey knits while taking a break from her duties at the fire lookout. Even after spotting about 50 fires throughout her career, she gets a jolt when she spots a fresh one. ‘My heart starts racing, and I get a little short of breath,’ she says
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Duffey pets Jumper, a pack mule, after he and Blueberry, a horse, arrive with electrical supplies accompanied by Norman Kamrud (not pictured) at the lookout. By the 1950s, about 5,000 fire lookout towers had been built across the US. Many have since closed, as infrared cameras and drones replaced the human eye. The Forest Fire Lookout Association estimates that only about 400 towers are still operational
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Norman Kamrud, 78, leads his horse Blueberry and pack mule Jumper down the rocky path from the Patrol Mountain fire lookout after completing radio maintenance work
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Duffey uses binoculars to inspect the drift smoke-covered mountain ranges. ‘It used to be, “How are you ever going to get a boyfriend being up here?”‘ she says. ‘Now it’s, “What does your husband think?”‘
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Duffey points out locations of previous fires on a ridgeline map she made for referencing. The smoke from the fires can be a challenge, she says. ‘During a really smoky summer, I do feel it in my eyes and lungs. I become a lot more sedentary during really smoky times. I use eyedrops to help there, but there isn’t much I can do about my lungs’
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Mark Duffey stands in front of rolls of fabric for different smokejumper gear at the West Yellowstone smokejumper base in West Yellowstone, Montana. Raised in Montana by a smokejumper father, Duffey never doubted he would end up working with nature. He has completed more than 100 fire jumps. ‘Every jump is a little different,’ he says, citing the wind and the varying landing spots. ‘I really like the little meadows in the wilderness’
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Duffey folds and packs a parachute at the smokejumper base
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Parachutes hang from ropes in the ceiling to dry after use at the base in West Yellowstone
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Duffey helps Nate Rose put on safety gear before getting into the Dornier 228 plane
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Photographs of the different teams of smokejumpers over the years hang on the wall at the base. Smokejumpers are known for their emotional calm and mental alertness, says the base manager, Knute Olson, (not pictured). ‘If you’re easily excitable, you’re probably more prone to make mistakes during your initial parachute training,’ he adds
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The logo of West Yellowstone smokejumpers on the wall above a set of doors at the base
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Cubes of boxed water attached to individual parachutes are lined up on shelves before being loaded on to aeroplanes
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Nate Rose walks up to the Dornier 228 plane, which is headed for McCall in Idaho
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A forest service fire danger sign next to Highway 191 in West Yellowstone, Montana, warns the fire risk is ‘very high’. ‘At least over the next few decades, we are going to see these recurring really large, catastrophic wildfires,’ Dr Ben Cook, a Nasa climate scientist, says of the western US. ‘You’ll have good years, and you’ll have bad years, but climate change is leading towards a trend of more area burned every year’
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