I have never actually worked a night shift on fire in my 5seasons. I imagine that one of these times I will, but from my limited experience in hiking off of a fire in the night I'm not exactly stoked on the idea. There are a few advantages to working the night shift on a wildfire. For one thing, it's a lot cooler at night, so working isn't quite so unbearable as the scorching sun added to the torching flames. Another thing is, it's easier to see spot fires and to know just where the heat is.
Since I've never done it before, I don't really know what other advantages or positives are.
There are a few downsides to working at night. Mostly, it has to do with visibility. Every firefighter carried a headlamp in their pack, but it doesn't make it a whole lot easier when you're hiking on a steep, rocky slope (which can be difficult in broad daylight).
What do you think about working the night shift on a fire?
What are the positive aspects? Or the negative?
Fire Away!
I imagine that the night crew will go in BEFORE dark, and get the lay of the land in their head, it may not be visibility, but it will be an advantage to know major things, like cliffs, drop offs and such before hand. It would also be more important to have good communication with your buddy instead of line of sight, ear shot, and sing or make noises to keep track of your fellows on a regular basis, I bet they will have some kind of action planned to make up with other senses
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