Maura Franklin
mlf@inreach.com
http://www.arrowheadhotshots.org
One of the most provocative aspects of the internet is the incredible power of communication that it provides. This has never been more apparent as it is with the website that I
built and maintain for my co-workers. What began as an basic informational site where folks might obtain information on the Arrowhead Hotshot Crew, has evolved into place where friends
and family of crew members can get up-to-date information on the status and whereabouts of their loved ones during fire season.
Officially, I am the cook for the Arrowhead Hotshot Crew. Unofficially, I am their also their webmaster. I say unofficially since it is listed nowhere in my government position
description. I just started doing it one day and with the encouragement of my supervisor, the crew Superintendent, the website has progressed to what it is today. I cook for the crew
when they are not on fire assignment. When they are on fire assignment, I stay behind and take care of some of the administrative requirements of this 20 person crew. I always know
where the crew is, what shifts they are working, how they are overall, etc.
It had very meager beginnings as one page of html -- a few active graphics (your standard fire breathing dragon and a helicopter that flew around the page...) and a few photos from
fire assignments. I think the main purpose back then was just to let people know that there is an Arrowhead Hotshot Crew, although it was buried so deep on an obscure government
server, I don't think any search engine would ever have found it. It was a humble beginning, but a start all the same.
I came in on the picture in 1999 and as I gradually learned more about the process of web building, I have been able to convert it into a place where anyone can learn about the crew
and where it is at any given moment during fire season. This is an invaluable tool for family and close friends of crew members. With the growing severity and massive size of
wildfires in the US and their related media coverage, these people are always comforted to know where their hotshots are. The popularity of the cell phone has enabled crew members to
keep in very close contact with those that matter to them, but the reliability of those phones can not always be relied upon, especially in rugged, mountainous terrain where so many
large wildfires occur. The crew is usually out on assignment for weeks at a time and often they are out of cell range the majority of the time. Thus, the website is a place where
anyone can go, day or night, 24 hours a day and get the latest crew updates. Because of my unique position, I am able to keep the website updated in a timely manner. These crews move
from fire to fire to fire at times, so it's not unusual to need to update the page more than once a day.
The website was originally on government servers, but with increased security issues and the need to keep the website accessible to everyone, we got our own domain and took it to an
outside host. It has flourished ever since.
We have managed with our website to fill a tiny bit of need in the day to day world. We know our website is successful because we get so much good feedback from it and we have done
a good thing in going forward with it. More hotshot crews are getting their own websites, but most are just basic information sites that don’t include their current status. The key is
to have someone close to the crew but not on assignment with them who can maintain or at least update the website.
The phone in our office no longer rings off the hook during fire season with those calls from mom and dad. In the dangerous world of wildfire, the parents and friends of these 20
hotshots know where to go on the WWW to confirm the safety and whereabouts of their Arrowhead Hotshots.
Maura Franklin
mlf@inreach.com
http://www.arrowheadhotshots.org |
