Fresno State junior a Hot Spot

By Valerie Westen
The Collegian

Daniel Ching is not the typical Fresno State junior — he is a hero who risks his life fighting forest fires while continuing his education.

Ching, a history major, has been a Hot Shot for the Crane Valley firefighting crew for three years. He followed his brothers’ footsteps who were Hot Shots before him, which got him interested in the job.

“My brothers made really good friends, travelled around the nation and they made it seem like a good challenge,” Ching said.

Hot Shots are the men and women who fight forest fires. During the fire season, thousands of these firefighters travel across the nation to help save lives and properties.

Their work includes creating firebreaks, which help make the fire die out by starving it of fuel. This type of firefighting requires much training and knowledge.

Ching grew up in North Fork and went to Sierra High School where he played football, basketball, ran track and played in the school band. He said he loved growing up in the mountains and that is one of the reason why he decided to fight fires.

Now, Ching lives in Fresno with childhood friends and attends Fresno State only one semester a year because of his job. The fire season usually starts in May and ends in November.

“I only go to school in the spring and the week of finals is usually the hardest to deal with because I start the job around the same time,” Ching said.

Ching said he feels very different from other students because of what he does.

“When I go to school, I think I am more focused than other students because I know I worked hard to afford being there. Sometimes when I’m fighting a fire, I wish I were in school because I am so behind,”Ching said.

Being a Hot Shot is a seasonal job that lasts six months and crewmembers may leave to fight fires out of town for weeks at a time.

“We work up to 16 hours a day and go anywhere from Alaska to Florida because we are employed by a national goverment organization, the USDA Forest Service,” Ching said.

“It is hard to be away from my family for so long, but I can save the money to pay for school and for the future,” Ching said.

Most of the time, he does not believe his life is in danger when on the job and believes that the training the crew has received along with the experience gained over the years make the job safe.

“It’s all about trusting the captain and the experienced guys,” Ching said, “we are not in danger because we take all the safety precautions needed.”

Ching can only recall a few times when he feared for his life. One of those was this past summer in Auberry.

“I got scared for a split second. We were working when all the sudden the wind started to pick up and hit the power lines and sparks flew everywhere. It was pretty scary and we all had to start running away fast,” Ching said.

Ching said these situations rarely happen and although being a Hot Shot is one of the hardest jobs, he loves and enjoys it very much.

“I won’t do it forever,” he said, “once I am married and have children, I won’t want to be on the road and miss out on things. But for now, the guys on the crew are my family during fire season and it is one of the best experiences of my life.”

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