by Peter Twitchell
When we’re out in the wilderness camping, hunting, berry picking let’s all take extra precautions to avoid having a wildfire. It’s summer and it gets hot and dry grass and the trees and tundra can burn out of control and spread and grow very quickly.
When my first cousins and I were out hunting in the spring and fall we were very careful not to have an open fire near the grass, tundra, or trees. We usually built a fire on a dry or sandy beach to warm up.
We always used to Coleman gas stove to make coffee and warm up some food. My first cousin Henry Kohl was “Johnny on the spot” to make sure the camp stove was ready. And whether it was an open fire to warm up or to cook food we always checked to make sure we weren’t careless. We were always watchful that we weren’t responsible for starting a wildfire.
Back in 1967 when I was 17 Mom would invite the new recruits of state troopers who didn’t have families and invite them to the house for a Thanksgiving meal.
On one such occasion Alaska state Trooper Jim Boa was over at our house having Thanksgiving dinner with us. He told mom and I that anyone 18 and older who wants to go firefighting should be in front of the Swanson’s Marina 7:00am in the morning to board the state bus to take all interested men to the airport and transport them from Bethel to Lake Minchumina. After fighting the fire there they would go over to Chicken, Alaska which was just 15 miles from the Canadian border where the wildfires were.
That night I stayed up painting Mom’s kitchen and I planned to go firefighting for BLM if it was at all possible. I was only 17, not quite 18 years old.
I walked down to the river front and trooper Boa was signing up firefighters. When it was my turn in line to get up to the bus entrance I looked at Trooper Boa and I told him – remember I told you I was 17 but I need to go to work to pay my college tuition in the fall.
It was the end of the month of July and I planned at the spur of the moment when I returned from firefighting I would go to Sitka and go to the Sheldon Jackson (SJ) junior college. I also wanted to check out the Alaska State Trooper Academy. It was always my dream in my teenage years to become an Alaska State Trooper.
However my dream to become a law enforcement officer changed quickly as the Alaska State Troopers were recruiting at the same time I went to SJ, and I chose the junior college.
Going to college that year gave me a lot of choices on career possibilities.
I never regretted my career choices after college. My musical abilities also grew in my desire to work in the broadcasting field. My desire was to work with the Elders in southwest Alaska for the preservation of the values, storage, traditions and the history of our Yupiaq People. This kept me busy for 24 years at the KYUK Radio station. I felt that work with Elders was important in my calling in life to help our younger generation to understand where they came from and who they were and be proud of it.
