Fighting fire with sticks and rugs.

I left the house early today. 3.30am, to be precise. Dropped by the bakery and loaded some more Granola Bars and Chocolate Chip Cookies, and then went to the gathering point. I had an idea of what I've gotten myself into. Reality was different.

After a bit of waiting, we went up to the antenas, where the fire was ravaging the last days. But no fire there today - at least not when we were there. But the view - oh my! Deserves a photo post. It was very cold, around 4000 meters high. We even could see the Chimborazo:

No clouds at all, and Mamá Cotacachi was beautiful.

The haze from the fires was lingering all around. The landscape black, burned. But not burning.

So back we went, to the community of "Topo", where we started the ascend. Here you can see how high we went, from where we started to the upper part where the fire was - right below the cloud.

2 hours it took us just to get there. Exhausting.

Incredibly steep climbs, making me wonder on how I would get down again. The grass was slippery, though not wet at all, making the ascend harder, but the descend easier - just sit down and slide. And although we had provisions in our backpacks, we still stopped and got some mortiños, andean blueberries. Incredibly nutritious.

What surprised me that when we finally made it up there, the first thing was actually a break. Regain strength, eat, drink, organize. We weren't the first up there, others had already arrived and were starting to cut and hoe trenches. The idea is simple - make a trench, take all the organic matter out, and when the fire arrives at the edge, beat it with sticks that have rugs tied to them. Or professional rubber.

It works remarkably well. And here again, the strength is in numbers. It's incredibly demanding on the body, and I never was able to do it for more than two minutes, no matter how I tried to adapt and control. The air, thin and filled with smoke, just didn't give more for me. But whenever I needed a break, I just tossed my machete or azadón to the next guy, and they'd finish.

I spent around 5h up there, before I decided that it was enough. My water was very low, and my muscles tired, and I still had to get down.

I'd say we got a stretch of around 1km under control, extinguished. It's admirable how the communities work. There were professional fire fighters, but also the "Rupay" brigades, who are trained in fighting fires like this, but not professional. And so many Kichwa. Very few mestizos, though. I think that besides me, maybe 2 volunteers on our stretch of 300 people.

The path was sometimes very tricky to follow. But as we had walked up, we made it down. I took some time to take extra photos.

Having gotten the job done, it was easier to focus on the beauty.

When arriving at the station below, I was met with Panela-Water, Mote, and Papas y Tostado. Look that stuff up. It's good.

The communities organize very well. Each to their capacities. While the municipality is more focused on functions, the communities send the most resilient ones, and everyone else does support. Like cooking potatoes and serving food for those who come back from the mountain.

After that break, I gathered a truckload of people and we drove down. I brought them all to their places, and then came home to have an incredibly long shower and a beer. Necessary and deserved. As you can see here:

Time to sleep now. Tomorrow is a working day, I have to sell in Ibarra.