MISSOULA, Mont. – As fire season blazes on, new research also persists at institutes like the University of Montana. NonStop Local spoke with one professor whose research expands beyond the science world and into the community.
UM Montana Center for Work Physiology and Exercise Metabolism Professor Brent Ruby is extremely involved in research at the University of Montana in the field of hotshot crew physiology, and he is well versed in the physical needs on site at fires.
Professor Ruby understands that doing the research is one thing, and offering it to fire crews is another. What makes Professor Ruby unique is that he is also getting the research out to the public and, specifically, the children.
“I’ve been so proud and pleased with how we’ve translated the science to the firefighters, but the firefighter, the wildland fire community, is much more than just firefighters,” said ProfessorRuby. “It’s fire families, fire grandparents, fire uncles, aunts, kids. And it’s kids don’t understand wildfire. A lot of times they don’t understand what their folks do or what their aunts and uncles do or what their grandparents do.”
That is why Professor Ruby created ‘Wrango and Banjo’. Professor Ruby wrote the story about his own two border collies, but he added in detailed, dense science from the lab into the story in terms that are accessible to kids,
The story is about a hotshot crew of dogs, so it is called a ‘hot dog crew’ in the book. The hot dog crew saves the day when they take on a fire on Missoula’s Mount Jumbo.
Professor Ruby’s findings and new studies are researched in the context of many , many variables, like food, water, training, and heart rate. One aspect of research that is especially pertinent to current conditions in Montana is temperature.
“You can monitor people during the Missoula marathon, they’re going to hit 100 and 204 all the time, but they won’t have problems with it. But, in this kind of heat, if you’re fully clothed the way they are, if they hit 104 or whatever, then that’s something that they cannot come back from unless you provide auxiliary cooling or shut things down, get clothes off, get water on them, get them in the shade,” Professor Ruby said.
Professor Ruby says that hotshot crews are often more calibrated than the equipment put on them because of their knowledge and training.
To learn more about Wrango and Banjo, visit the website here.
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