Listening to a steady rain pelt the roof of our Brooklyn office, it’s difficult to imagine the sheer dervish of wildfires currently ripping across portions of Colorado and New Mexico. Many are calling the High Park fire the worst flare-up in Colorado in decades – by Monday evening the blaze had consumed some 60 square miles. A fire walloping New Mexico had reached 42 square miles as of Monday morning, the AP reports. Together, 2012’s first round of mega-blazes aren’t just a drag for the thousands of line-of-fire residents being urged by officials to evacuate, and quick. Numerous scientists are asking whether today’s one-two punch could point to a Hellish future norm.

But while many flee the encroaching flames, others plunge headlong into the hot, ashen smoke. A few years back, VICE correspondent Thomas Morton caught up with a crew of responders working Oregon’s fire lines to try his hand at the decidedly low-tech course of a thankless and truly back-breaking job. Get out your shovel.

(Top image via Denver Post)

Reach this writer at brian@motherboard.tv. @thebanderson

Connections:

• Meet the DOK–ING Robotic Fire Fighting System
• San Francisco Bans Fire Breathing Robot, Fun