FORT ST. JOHN, British Columbia (AP) — When James Bergen steps from a plane and plummets toward fire below, he’s not scared. Instead, he says, he gets a rush from not knowing exactly what he’ll face ...

Smokejumpers are among the most elite firefighters in the world, deployed when wildfires ignite in the most remote and ...

When James Bergen steps from a plane and plummets toward fire below, he’s not scared. Instead, he says, he gets a rush from not knowing exactly what he’ll face when he parachutes in as one of the ...

With the massive Pacific Airshow in Huntington Beach this weekend, here’s a look at one of the most amazing jobs involving aviation there is in the West. If fighting wildfires across the West weren’t ...

Big wildfires like the York fire in California and the blaze in Lahaina, Hawaii, have been big news stories recently. But there are many more fires that never make the headlines, and that's sometimes ...

When 33-year-old Cole Skinner said he would be dropping by his workplace, he meant it literally. "The whole thing is a pure adrenaline rush," he said. Skinner is part of an elite group of firefighters ...

REDMOND, Ore. (KATU) — It’s not hard to compare the nation’s smokejumpers to elite U.S. special forces, like the Navy’s SEALs. Smokejumpers are specialized wildland firefighters, but instead of being ...

U.S Forest service smokejumper Kevin Schmitz rigs a parachute July 1 in Fort St. John, British Columbia. Schmitz is one of approximately 100 American smokejumpers, firefighters who parachute into ...

JAMESTOWN, N.D. - Being a smokejumper is one of the toughest jobs. There may be only one job that's tougher - being a smokejumper's mother. "I started crying right away when I heard," said Barb Hill ...

Get any of our free daily email newsletters — news headlines, opinion, e-edition, obituaries and more. The National Smokejumper Center's Junior Smokejumper program educates kids about the science of ...