Brianna Proctor. Bri, as she is called by her friends, is a Wildland Firefighter and has been for 13 seasons. I had the opportunity to catch up with her last week and learn a little about her remarkable life.

Her Work. A native of Northern Utah, she began working as a Wildland Firefighter when she was 18 years old.  Starting her career with the Forest Service, she quickly advanced in skills, experience, knowledge and certifications to become a leader of the 21 member crew based in Jackson Hole, WY.  Her 16 hour days are unpredictable and can bring a wide range of work, including prescribed fires, search and rescue, short-haul emergency evacuations, repelling out of 1 of two choppers into a hot zone, laying down fire to fight on-coming flames, and more.  She and her crew have served in nearly all 50 states.  Wherever there’s smoke, there’s Bri! Read about and watch some of her work at these links:

https://www.verticalmag.com/news/forest-service-short-haul-program-conducts-first-medevac/

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OOhbUP5b14U

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v+bNDmDihm9YQ

Her training.  She gets an hour/day for personal training if she and her crews are not deployed.  She’s a triathlete and Crossfitter.  I asked her what was one of the most important outcomes of her training?  “Speed,” she said. “When time is of the essence, you’ve got to make that ascent.  You’ve got to use speed.”

Her calories consumed per day? She packs 3,000 – 4,000 calories of food with her, together with 2 liters of water (Nalgenes of course).  Now, those calories include Elements Meals for Athletes.

During our first conversation, she asked me, “Tell me the story about how you came up with these great meals that solve such a pain point for me?”

We are humbled and grateful to be able to offer Bri and her crew high performance food to power through their days while preserving and edifying our marvelous public lands.

The kind of work Bri does fascinates me. You get up in the morning and wonder if you’ll be coming home that night. Serious stuff.

How can we help Bri and her crew?  We can show our gratitude for Bri's work and service, along with that of her crew and other Wildland Firefighters, by contributing to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation at https://wffoundation.org/

Please continue to send us names of first responders.  You have sent in several thus far.  Thank you.