Dates:
Thursday, May 31 through Saturday, September 1
Categories: Local Highlights
Parachuting out of planes to fight forest fires – all in a day's work for a smokejumper. Get a look at this unusual and demanding job in Missoula, home to the largest active smokejumper base in the United States. Buzzing with incoming and outgoing planes, the Missoula Fire, Science and Technology Center and Smokejumper Base is the U.S. Forest Service's Northern Region training base. Blazes from Alaska to Florida count on the smokejumpers headquartered at this outpost. Learn about smokejumper history from 1939 to the present. Be sure to stop by the visitor center, which includes a memorial, a replica of a 1930s lookout tower, movies, and murals. Daily tours take visitors to see a smokejumper loft, including the ready room, where the jumpers prepare for fire calls, and the load masters room, where cargo is stored. You might even get to see some of the U.S. Forest Service smokejumpers in training.
The visitor center is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day, 8:30 AM to 5 PM and the rest of the year by appointment. Free tours are available at 10 AM, 11AM, 2 PM, 3 PM and 4 PM daily. Admission is free, but donations are accepted. The facility, which is handicap accessible, is located one-half mile west of the Johnson-Bell Airport on Interstate 93, just 10 miles west of Missoula. For more information about the Visitor Center, call 406-329-4934. For more information on Smokejumping, click here.
|
