There is a large forest fire in the Black Hills National Forest currently, which is occuring directly across the road from my home.
For three days I've had amazing views of the fire and the efforts to contain it.
Interestingly, on the first morning of the fire, upon seeing it I jumped on my dirtbike motorcyle to go see if I could be of any help since I know a couple families who live dangerously close to it.
At the gate to the forest trail, I ran into the first Forest Service fire truck on the scene.
I thought he would tell me to get back and go home, but instead, he said it would be of great help if I rode ahead into the forest on my dirtbike to try and find a route to the fire that the trucks could reach.
No one had yet located the exact location of the fire, and since my dirtbike could slip through several locked gates and traverse the off-road terrain quickly, I could be of help.
With one of the neighbors, Tom, who was on a four wheeler, we explored three or four miles of trails into the forest and sure enough found the fire and how to access it.
My dirtbike was faster then the four wheeler and could navigate the rough terrain better, so it turned out that I was the very first person to find and arrive at the fire.
Tom and I returned and led the fire crew to the base of the fire, and then the firemen gave us bright pink tape and asked us to retrace the route, marking the route with the tape so the other trucks would be able to find it.
It was very exciting and I was so glad I could actually be of help.