June 16, 2006
Nenana Fire Jumpers
A little background, Chris Tomsen is a retired Army Major and still uses a lot of military lingo. There was a forest fire between Fairbanks and Denali National Park that shut down the highway. We were able to work with one of our vendors, Alaska Timberline Aviation, and it's Owner/Pilot, Roger Fischer, to air-vac our 8 guests around the fire and into Denali. This is a GREAT testament to what we, at Cruise West can do to make the guest experience a great one in less than ideal circumstances. Chris & Ed did a FANTASTIC job! C hris had one guest who was very nervous about flying in such a small plane so he gave her his Audubon Society Ptarmigan with accurate bird call when squeezed, hence TEAM PTARMIGAN!
My eight guests (Team Ptarmigan) told me that Cruise West should use them for positive testimonials for their great adventure experience with the "Nenana Fire Jump" with Roger at Timberline Aviation (maybe we should make some Nenana Fire Jumper shirts?). They were totally impressed with the speed Cruise West organized a plan to bypass the Nenana fire blockade (less than an hour).
When you conveyed the message that we could "go airborne" we rolled the bus back up to the roadblock and quickly passed through. Since the fire line was about six miles down the road (a state trooper had blocked us previously at mile 298) and we only needed to go a mile to the municipal airfield, I was able to persuade the NCO manning the roadblock to let us slip through (Ed thought my 'Ranger Assn-Life' card might help). We left three fully loaded Princess tour busses sitting behind the barricade watching us drive on! At the airfield, it only took 6 minutes for the team of 8 guests to reconfigure, select critical items. Roger was right on time with his High Wing JetProp - like Sky King to the rescue, coming down skirting the column of smoke from the 12 mile long fire. In less than 10 minutes the guests (Team Ptarmigan) were airborne, jumping the fire and flying into the Alaska Range to Denali (Healy airstrip). It was only an 18 minute flight for us, but an impenetrable wall for 99% of tourists in campers, busses waiting on the fire.
Ed, our coach driver, and I enjoyed the operation - it's great to be serving on the line when the headquarters can think fast and innovatively support the guys on the line. Thanks for that quick, bold thinking from the Alaska Land staff. The call ahead from Fairbanks to the hotel (Rough Woods Inn) was appreciated, as was the call to the Monderosa Bar & Grill and release of funds to cover the meal, lemonade there prior to the pickup. Andy, thanks for the confidence in our decision making (when the highway opened a 22:30, Ed, was already asleep, so chose to let him continue to rest - we left at 0500 the next morning, and the smoke was still thick, charred woods still smoldering).
One guest, Jim, had served with MACV-SOG as a logistician in Vietnam and was impressed with Cruise West's ability to "hit the Easy button" .. he loved the whole event, even getting to see a C-46 being worked on at the Nenana airstrip when we arrived there.
Roger (pilot) totally acted the "this is no big deal" and projected calm, confidence . I was impressed with my guests (Team Ptarmigan) ability to configure "assault packs" from two suitcases each. When guests asked "What should we take? " I told 'em to "take an extra pair of socks, a long sleeved shirt or jacket, any critical meds, sunglasses, camera, and hat" (two guest ladies asked me why underwear wouldn't be considered critical, so I said, sure, if that is a priority, by all means!) And I added "take a toothbrush" (one of them was a dental hygienist).
Thanks to all Cruise West Alaska Land staff who helped the Nenana fire "jump". You were guest focused, EL supportive, and did rapid work to make this no-notice mission work; and special thanks to Timberline aviation, who hauled when called.
You know, Andy, I think all of us Exploration Leaders could practice this contingency...
I know where we could get some parachutes...
Chris Tomsen, Exploration Leader
Go Cruise West Alaska Land Division! (Airborne All the Way! RLTW !)
Kudos to Chris and Ed for not only taking excellent care of our guests, but also for taking the time to share their story with us. We are proud to have them on our team.
Posted by Andy on June 16, 2006 1:22 PM
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