What is the likelihood that a simple dare between a tree climber and an Army aviator led to the creation of a job in
which communities and individuals depend on during a wildfire? The job is a “Smokejumper,” and it was created in 1938
when Francis Lufkin, a professional tree climber who earned his living extracting Army parachutes from trees, was dared
by a member of the military to attempt a jump from an airplane and land his parachute in a small gap in the forest in a
remote area in the Cascade Mountains. Although Lufkin was not a fire fighter by trade, his audacious jump opened the
door to training fire fighters to become smokejumpers. These highly trained fire fighters are used to locate fires more
quickly, extinguish blazes before they become major fires, and communicate with fire fighter personnel about wildfires
from an upfront perspective.