Umatilla tribal leader passes the drip torch to future generations learning about prescribed fire...

When Raymond Huesties first became a firefighter for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Eastern Oregon, he didn’t really have much of a choice.

“My boss gave me a hard hat and a fire shirt and said, ‘You’re a firefighter now,’” Huesties recalled in mid May, as he stared out into the grassy wetland of the Wanaket Wildlife Area outside Hermiston. That’s where he had joined about two dozen other people on a prescribed burn.

When it comes to fire, Huesties plays two roles: firefighter and fire starter. He fights fires that overtake buildings in town, then he sets fires to wild areas as a way to tamp down overgrowth.

He had joined the Nature Conservancy and several fire agencies on this three-day training to teach people how to safely use fire as a tool. Many of the students were from the reservation.