Exhausted Firefighters Sing Together After 14-Hour Shift Battling Bushfires

Sep 22, 2020

In a time when wildfires are tearing across the West Coast and thick clouds of smoke fill the sky, it's hard to deny the heroic bravery of the people who fight to hold these fires back. Among them are the Grizzly Firefighters, an Oregon crew that recently ended their 14-hour shift with a charming and viral bit of song.

Firehouse, a digital publication for the firefighting industry, claims that there are 50 traits that belong to every great firefighter. Among these traits are accountability, responsibility, intelligence, dependability, resilience, and many more.

The Grizzly Firefighters believe firmly in these traits, and each member of the group expresses the qualities of a firefighter in their own unique way. These men are strong, hardworking, and determined to save their local community of The Dalles, Oregon. In fact, many of them had to personally evacuate, as was noted by Theodore Hiner, the head of the crew, in an interview with CNN:

"I would say over half the crew had our families evacuated. We’re pretty sure at least one of us lost a house."

Fighting fires isn't easy work. As long as the flames are roaring, someone has to try and hold them back–and there are never enough people to get the job done. When the Grizzly Firefighters recorded this video, they'd been deployed for nine days straight. Fires don't exactly take days off, so firefighters usually don't either.

Each of those workdays had been around 14 hours long, so the Grizzly Firefighters were understandably tired. The video was filmed at the end of one of their massive shifts, and all of the firefighters were covered from head to toe in ash. Many of the men collapsed on the ground in complete exhaustion as soon as they had the chance.

Still, energy might have been low, but spirits were high when this event took place. There's nothing quite like the thrill of fighting a fire, and the entire crew had been working as a seamless unit for hours on end. After an experience like that, you can't just go home right away. And so, still laughing and talking together, the tired crew soon burst into song:

"Take me out to the fire.

Take me out to the line.

Bring me some sawyers and hazel hoes.

I don’t care if I ever get home.

Root, root, root for the red crew.

You know we want the most days.

For it’s 1, 2, 3 tool types out at the old fire line."

This whimsical rewrite of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" has a melody that the whole crew knew, making it easy for the men to fall into harmony. The contagious laughter at the end of the clip is enough to make everyone who watches it smile.

Theodore Hiner recorded the entire song, and he was excited to share it with social media.

“Exhausted but still excellent. Busted their butts today. And still make me laugh. My crew. My guys,” Theodore noted as he shared the video to Facebook.

The response was both swift and positive. As one commenter put it: "I just can’t imagine how exhausted they are! Thank you for your efforts." Another user posted: "Awesome guys. Truly the best we all needed this!! Hang in there stay safe and God Bless."

Theodore received countless comments like this, and his video was watched by thousands of people. The entire country seems to be grateful that the Grizzly Firefighters are working so hard in Oregon, ready to keep the smoke and flames at bay.

Have you witnessed the smoke from any of the nation's wildfires? Talk about it in the comments, and don't forget to post this article for all of your friends.