I honestly had never cared about blacksmithing in my life, after being directed here from how ridiculous i have watched damn near every video you have put up. your editing is phenomenal but the best part is just how happy you are doing what you love, and how enthusiastic you are about learning new skills.
Hi, I'm seventeen years old and about a year ago, I started watching Forged in Fire and a little a bit after I found your RUclips channel. I love everything you do, and your enthusiasm with the craft, that alone furthered my enthusiasm to try blacksmithing. So, two days ago, I went to my first blacksmithing class. It was one of the best experiences I have ever had. I really enjoyed myself and I plan on to keep learning as much as I can. I want to thank you for all of the knowledge that I've gained from your videos and giving me the confidence to try blacksmithing for myself. Also, I hope you stay safe and the fire is delt with quickly.
And yall are the exact reason I introduce youth to the craft through BSA Blacksmithing merit badge. Keep up the enthuseasim and don't let anything stand in your way to suceed. I promise you will have stumbles but just remember the love you have of it now and that will get you through. Alec and Will both started out as yall and look at them now. P.S. the balcksmithing community is a very inviting one and you can usually meet up with a local club that will help you out, most states and larger towns have some sort of club, or classes like yall have found.
when i see smoke like that it takes me back to the start of last fires here in Victoria Australia ... followed by cold chills ... i hope everyone thats in the fires range is safe and continues to stay that way until it out
rob burdack I grew up in Southern California in an area that burned every couple of years. Once we even had to evacuate our house. I will never forget the smell of fires, or what it felt like to watch ash fall onto my home.
@Matthew Gehrig yeah we lost a 120 year old house and a full machinery shed and every fence on the 800 access .. lucky we moved the live stock down to the flood plains about 2 week earlier ... we where lucky to miss every previous fire ... the ones before we spent 90 days in total in smoke with nothing but a orange glow from the fire 24/7 ...i have no doubt being up in the mountains in the national parks that we will see far far worse with the tree fall from heat and the dry electrical storms we have been getting
Firemen, regardless of where they are, are absolute heros! Unfortunatly they often don't get the respect they deserve. On a side note, and i don't wanto to rain on anyones parade, the roman legion used a tool similar to the pulaski called "dolabra".
Try, if you will, to imagine a 200 foot wall of, roaring, howling, 1000 degree flames, moving through, and consuming, everything, faster than you can run. add to that the choking smoke and near zero visibility and it is literally the stuff of nightmares. The people (most of whom are unpaid volunteers) who fight these fires are more than heroes, and should have a national day to celebrate them. I've always had great admiration for the CFA and RFS crews who go out and fight these monstrous and terrifying fires, my dad was a member for 20 years. Growing up in Australia and living most of my life in rural-urban areas (houses built withing the bush and forests), I've seen a number of major fire events in my 43 years on this planet.. and each year the severity gets worse - there's less days of rain (but more severe rain storms leading to floods), summer temps get hotter, and the fire season gets longer. - Ash Wednesday in 1983 was right across Victoria, and one section came within 5 km (3 miles) of my house, pretty freaky for a 5 year old. - Then one major fire in January '97 came through my town of Upwey, killing 3 who were trapped in a dead-end road in their cars, and roasting 41 homes, including the house directly behind my girlfriends place, (she watched it go up in under 2 minutes as she beat out spot fires in her backyard with a wet bath towel). - In February 2009 we had the Black Saturday fires which killed 173 people, with some of those being arson, and again parts of Upwey was run through. - Then last summer was literally the worst (and longest - June 2019 to March 2020) fire season since records began.. I don't doubt many people would have seen the news about this, just as we are now seeing the US west coast fires. In a 2 month period starting in November, and encouraged by 5 years of ongoing drought and insanely high average temperatures, 600 or so fires ripped up and down the east coast of Australia - I had 6 major fires within 100 km of my location covering some 7 million hectares. Many fires joined up and raged on 24 hours a day for weeks. In total over 18.6 million hectares (46 MILLION acres!) of national park and inaccessible rugged forest was reduced to ash, taking with it over a billion wild native animals, thousands of homes, and three dozen human lives, and caused apocalyptic-esque air quality for a solid month, (it looked like Mars in a dust storm for weeks here). 4000ks across the Tasman ash and smoke blanketed most of New Zealand for a few weeks as well.. The admiration I had for the CFA and RFS crews who went in and fought THOSE fires increased beyond measure. Heroes barely begins to describe these people. If you've read this far, bravo. And Alec, kudos to you for this auction, I'm sure if you made a dozen (or 3 dozen) of these Pulaski's they'd all get snapped up in seconds.
The second Alec said what they make, I knew they are going to sell it and give the money away. Alec is just the person who would do something like that.
@@iwantmy2dollars662 To be honest, a single axe isn't going to help firefighters much, no matter how amazing that axe is. So donating money was probably the right move overall...
Thank you for doing the auction and donating the proceeds! Thank you to all the firefighters that risk their lives to protect others! Remember though, fire is an active ingredient to the health of a forest. It cleans out the dead and down trees and clears brush. Native Americans would start fires so that new growth would start and bring in animals that they could hunt for food. Proper management of a forest allows for fire to do its job without wiping everything out, promotes healthy, sustainable timber growth and active wildlife habitat. Fire is necessary but needs to be controllable, forest management does that.
If California would be more responsible about forest management instead of blindly following the extreme eco-mentalist ideologies (not the same thing as responsible environmentalism) they wouldn’t be in the situation they’re in every other year or so.
@@SAAltPants I know this is a very old comment to reply to, but I'd like to add some context. A very small percentage of the forests in California are owned or managed by the state (less than 5%.) The rest are either federal property or privately owned. So, saying that California forests should be maintained more responsibly is an admission that either federal resources for forest management should be increased, or heavier regulations for private landowners should be enforced, or both.
My mom is a retired Chief of 30 years. My friends are all cal-firefighters and everyone in my family has been involved with the service in one way or another. Northern California. I really appreciate this video and I know my mom and my family, will too. (Almost lost a finger mis-using a halligan. I mimgaine making one of those, would be a fun project for ya as well). Thank you Alec and crew.
And for us, it isn't end of summer, either. Bushfire season officially starts on 1 OctOgre and goes to 1 Apull. The first fire of the unofficial season started in AwGhost...
@@myrdraal2001 Translation: Bushfire season officially starts on 1 October and goes to 1 April. The first fire of the unofficial season started in August.
The start of the year was especially insane. I've never seen anything quite like that in all the time I've lived in Australia. Fires during summer are common, but that was like most of the country on fire at the same time. I managed to find myself living in the one town that was more or less safe from it in the area. It's like being in the eye of a storm though. Every road cut off due to a fire somewhere nearby... You're relatively safe but you can see the devastation no matter where you look...
This is an awesome project. My dad is a firefighter down here in Florida and we have a brush fire almost yearly. It means a lot for you to do this and its gonna turn out awesome. Love the content and hope you are well
Mr.Steele, being from Colorado and having seen the scars left by the fires we have had in previous years and even in the last few months, I just want to thank you on behalf of everyone who has been affected by fires such as these and everyone who is working hard to prevent the spread of these terrible disasters.
I’m a big fan of the channel but this video really means the most to me. I was raised on a forest service firefighting base in Oregon and lost a good friend in 1994 who was a hotshot fire fighter that died on storm king mountain. Thank you for doing this to help the foundation.
I am never usually one to comment because I respect all of your work but surely making three regular palasks for the current firefighters and donating them would have made much more sense than making one Damascus palasks that looks cool. Still I respect your work but I feel you could have done more for the wildfires
Luke Moss he’s not donating just one axe, he’s auctioning it off, and donating all the proceeds to the firefighters. I’d say that helps a lot more than just making a few regular Pulaskis and giving them to the firefighters.
Just wanted to say thank you Alec and team for thinking of the Wildland Firefighters during these troubling times. Its nice to see some positivity coming from your hard work. I used to be a Volunteer Firefighter and its awesome to see you guys thinking of my brothers and sisters out there putting their lives on the line.
As a Wildland Firefighter and amateur bladesmith, this is my favorite project yet. The WFF is an amazing organization that helps support the families of our Fallen brothers and sisters. I’ve been watching since long before you moved from the barker street forge and couldn’t be more pleased right now.
Been a wildland firefighter in Montana for some years now. Awesome work. The foundation means a lot to us, and we love to see them get publicity. Also, the helicopter at 2:05 is a Minuteman aviation ship, probably N210MA. I flew on that ship in 2017 and 2018 with a lot of great firefighters.
Thank you for your work and donation , this will be much appreciated and help to the folks that have paid the price going into these bad situations. As a volunteer firefighter I know what they are going through, I've spent long hours on wild fires here in central Oklahoma but we do not have the terrain that those fighting fire in the mountains have , I think about them and always hope for the best and pray they all make it out to be with their families when it's over .
Alec, wildfires are part of the life cycle for many of the plant species in the Rocky Mountains. There are some species of pine trees where their cones don't open up to release the seeds unless they're burned. Proper forest management and controlled burns reduce the impact wildfires have on human population, but the fires themselves are a part of nature.
@@Nick-xm1ux as was stated, some species of of trees REQUIRE fire to open their cones to release seeds to rejuvenate the forest. It also creates new forage once other plants come back after the fire. Animals do die sometimes, but they aren't stuck in one place and simply die.
While all you said is true, fires in recent years have been much more intense than fires in the past due to humans putting fires out rather than letting smaller fires clear out underbrush and deadfall
@@Nick-xm1ux Wildfires do not destroy mountain ranges nor do they destroy forests. A wildfire is a healthy part of a healthy and functioning ecosystem; it only becomes a bad thing when it is mismanaged and not allowed to happen naturally or when done properly by Foresters. By stating off wildfires for the past three decades when wildfires do occur they are often much much worse than they would naturally or normally be because of the build up debris and a healthy and functioning ecosystem. Especially in Montana wildfire will rip through burning out the young, the old and the infirm trees leaving the healthy ones intact. Likewise the carbon and potash which is left over is vital for new growth and is kind of like the forest's way of spreading fertilizer many species of trees and bushes need wildfires to grow. That being said I am deeply sorry for anybody who has lost land property or loved ones to a fire.
What a fantastic idea for an incredibly worthy cause! I love watching Wranglestar's videos as well. We're in SW Washington State where the air quality index has been in the 'airpocolypse' range for days due the the combined smoke from all the wildfires. We will be glued to notifications to see you complete this amazing project and look into the auction. If we can't win that we will definitely make a direct donation! Keep up the fantastic work Alec, Will and team!
I unsubbed from Wranglerstar last month, i liked the practical videos but half of his videos are political trash these days... Its clear that guy gets all his news from Drudge and Fox News, its sad really.
@@osu45d Yeah I felt like his channel went a little off-topic in the last year or so. I also got a bit tired of his clickbaiting. Just because it draws in more views doesn't mean it's ultimately the best choice for the channel.
I appreciate y'all doing even just a little bit for the guys and gals out west. My Brother is currently fighting the fires in Oregon, he hasn't been at home for almost 3 months now.
When i was in montana, i wasin Bozeman, but 300 miles away there were fires in glacier national park. But the area on that direction looked like Mordor from lord of the rings, and the air quality wasn't great. Wildfires are one of those forces of nature that are so destructive but also beautiful in a way.
This is really cool! Over here in Oregon the wildfires have been pretty bad. I really do love and respect those men and women trying to control these fires.
Awesome. I have a friend in Colorado that is a wildlands firefighter. What they do is crazy and so very important. I was in Colorado during the Hayman fires and we were about 7miles as the crow flies from the fire. We almost evacuated. Thank you for supporting those brave men and women who put their lives at risk to protect ours. Stay safe and have a beautiful day.
One thing to remember is that evergreen forests need fires in order to rejuvenate -- they have a life cycle that includes different species of brush and trees growing at different phases during that life cycle. The fires reset this cycle. Its a shame when people are hurt and property is damaged, but I wouldn't say that a fire is "destroying the mountain" by any stretch.
The biggest problem is us. For decades in the name of fire control and land conservation we stopped the fires and let the under brush build up because that's what we thought was good but we just made it a bigger tinderbox. In some places it even still illegal to clear under brush and thin out over crowded trees. Which means there is a lot of dead wood making the fires burn hotter. So now instead of small fires that didn't really touch the canopies of the trees they are infernos. It's sad that people are hurt and lose so much but like armchair said it was a natural part of the life cycle until we messed it up.
Thanks for pointing that out. I've been out here for 34 years, and the woods burn every single year. My brother just went through his 3rd hurricane. He is again without power, but he survived another one. It's sad when people are hurt by nature, but it's natural for it to happen. Something else to consider is how fast the wilds recover from these fires. Nearly everywhere out here you can find evidence of past fires, but the land is beautiful none the less.
@@josephdecesaro1528 I second this point. I suspect you can closely approximate the situation as: In the long run you are going to get the same amount of fire, the only choice you get is if it's all at once or spread out over time.
@@duster0066 There's nothing "natural" about arson. The morons that light these fires aren't "helping nature"; their mindless actions are destroying property and taking lives. Where I'm from - that's called murder.
I’m in Oregon, the fire came a half mile from my home, by the grace of God and the work of the firefighters my house and the small town I live in was saved, thank you for the contribution this auction will bring to the hard work the firefighters do!
@@sigmasquadleader while I agree we are destructive, we also create aswell. However, we don't need to get overly philosophical or whatever here. The point I was making ONLY went so far as meaning "little fire in metal box good for people. Big fire on mountain eating vegetation, animals and maybe some people and people-dwellings very bad for people."
Ed Pulaski was stationed out of my little home town (Wallace, Idaho) during the Fire of 1910. Just outside of town, there is now a commemorative "Pulaski Trail" which leads to the abandoned mine that he took his men to in order to save their lives during the blaze. My brother is now a Wildland Fire Fighter in the area, and my other brother used to be as well. I recommend checking it out and lingering in Wallace, ID for a beer. Beautiful country...
This hasn't had much coverage here in Scotland. Maybe sounds a bit odd but I really hope there's a whole lot of rain with your thunderstorm. The storm might be just what's needed - I hope so. The wind will be the dangerous, unwanted part but hopefully the rain will do enough. Good Luck to all concerned.
I was going to mention that, too. I'm in Oregon as well. I think the Holiday Farm one is 6% contained now and has taken out 150,000 acres? I don't remember for sure. But the thunder did come with rain, it hit around 7:30. Still going at midnight, I can still hear the rain and see flashes and hear the thunder. I really hope it helps and no fires start from the lightning.
Alec, I’ve been watching you since 3 shops ago in England. Strange to see you posting about the fire that I live just a couple miles away from now. Love that you are supporting the firefighters. Your generosity is as awesome as your skilled work.
Most of my home state of California is either on fire or has burned. Same with Oregon and Washington. If you're still in Montana like I think you are, then that's v bad. There's way too many fires this year. Edit: 16 plus people have died in the west coast wildfires this year. I dont know if Montana is being counted for the death toll, but I know that the northwest wilfires are extremely dangerous and deadly. They're moving so fast that firefighters and civilians alike are getting caught with no escape. Over 3 million acres burned across the west coast. Another edit: it would be incredible if whomever buys this polaski gives it to a fire station. I dont know if they'd be able to use it in the line of duty, but it would be cool.
It's literally all bad fire policy. California's a land of fire, the plants there evolved to burn a low-level fire every 5-10 years on average since at least the arrival of amerindians; the native plants will generally survive, especially larger trees. Then the state governments decided that just because they can prevent all wildfires, they should. Now the stockpile of stuff-to-burn, especially invasive undergrowth species, has built up to cataclysmic levels which leaves only ashes in its wake and makes the fires much larger in scale. There's little to be done at this point.
Alec, well done for using your channel to show people how real this is. As someone living in Australia (also dealing with fires annually), I can say it's a sincere help in educating people. Also.. love the channel, found it very therapeutic during 'lockdown'. Could we possibly ask for a video on "how / where to begin your forging journey?"
The 124 “thumbs down” people should be ashamed. I’m in the southeast US (where we rarely have Forest fires of any magnitude), and because of this video I’ll be donating to the WF Foundation. Thanks Alec!
Thank you for your generosity and caring. These firefighters need all the help they can get. On behalf of the South Australian Country Fire Service in Gumeracha South Australia we thank you.
It's a damn shame that so many of these comments are being pulled away from the good that you guys are doing and dragged into politics. So thank you for all that you are doing for us when you don't have to. You are a better American than most that are born here.
I am so excited you are doing this. Being a firefighter for over 20 years, moving to a forested area. Our fire dept is looking into wildland fire fighting gear. Sitting on the edge of my seat so to say. Love your videos and have been watching for quite a while.
Structural firefighter here, just wanted to say thank you for supporting my wildland brothers. Oven the last two years they have really taken a beating during the fire season, all over the world. Being a wildland firefighter truly is one of the toughest parts of fire fighting. Always been a huge fan of your channel, keep doing what you're doing brother. Positively brilliant!
My wife’s uncle was a firefighter for over 30years with cal fire... the firehouse is a welcoming place! When I was younger we would go hang out at the firehouse! God bless these firefighters! Especially here in California!
I’m just in awe of the amount of skill and talent you both have. Have you ever forged Damascus steel with a hand hammer? What’s the process like? What doe flux do, when forge welding?
Alec Thank you for the great videos as well as building this great tool and Donating the proceeds to a great foundation that has helped many families when in need.
I've worked fires here in my home state of California and watched flames jump a ridge. The sheer power and ferocity of forest wildfires is terrifying. More power to the brave men and women fighting with their lives on the line to keep our hones and forests safe. Thank you for doing this, Alex.
As an Australian who both saw family lose their homes, and friends battle the fires earlier this year in New South Wales - it is really inspiring to see people emphasising the courage and importance of volunteer firefighters. Seriously huge respect to Alec and the guys for pushing for the recognition of these heroes of the community. Well played guys. 👌🏼
As a wildland firefighter myself, my hats off to you for this build, walked many miles with a Pulaski in my hand, now at age 58, I’m still a wildland firefighter, but in heavy equipment now, looking forward to see the finished piece, God bless you and all our fellow firefighters.
The enthusiasm that you have for America, having come here to make your own thing work, it's really nice. Feels like a last swan song to the ideals of the country.
Luckily here in Montana they will let fires burn and do the best they can to protect people and property. One of the most common trees in the state the Lodgepole Pine actually has a mechanism that only will open the pinecones up to release seeds in the event of a fire and with the burnt organic material on the ground the seeds flourish and starts the cycle over again. They manage things very well here and other states should do the same.
Yes, you're finally making the Pulaski that I've been begging you to make! Thank you! Btw, I'm a wildland firefighter (20 years) & my dad was one for 45 years. Both of us work(ed) for the NC Forest Service.
Here in The Springs, my wife and I, saw the image that became national when we, literally, saw a mountain erupt in fire. it's one of the most awesome, and frightening things I've ever seen. God bless you for your efforts to honor these brave men and women, of which one of my nephews is a member.
Great to see one of these made. Always wanted to try making one. Found a vintage one at a scrap yard I used to work at and have always thought it was one of my best finds. Can't wait to see the finished product.
Thank you for doing this. I was on the Bobcat fire farther to the east when the one in Bozeman started. Well done on your support of the foundation!!! I have said the last several time you have put out a survey, to do firefighter tools. We have some really cool tools that would look amazing in damascus.
Just got over the Pine Gulch fire in Colorado. 139,000 acres, biggest in state history. Burned all of our summer grazing permit for our cattle, but by some miracle, sparred our cattle. Those firefighters worked their asses off on that one. Stay safe, and god bless all the firefighters across the country. Thank you.
I work at a department that's both city and rural and I can say that the pulaski has a lot of use and its one of my favorites
Pretty cool to know!:)
@ yeah thats when we mostly use it
@ I know its different but our rural part does wild land fires
Mr. MankeyMan44442 keep doing what you do brother 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
@Hunt For Adventure well thanks, and that would be cool but the auction hes doing is going to a good cause
I honestly had never cared about blacksmithing in my life, after being directed here from how ridiculous i have watched damn near every video you have put up. your editing is phenomenal but the best part is just how happy you are doing what you love, and how enthusiastic you are about learning new skills.
Welcome :)
Welcome! That is how almost all of us got here, I think^^
the editing is ok it has way to many jump cuts make some things hard to follow
That's how I found him too. And I hands watched everything so far. I think I only have a few videos left to watch 🤣🤣
Same
Hi, I'm seventeen years old and about a year ago, I started watching Forged in Fire and a little a bit after I found your RUclips channel. I love everything you do, and your enthusiasm with the craft, that alone furthered my enthusiasm to try blacksmithing.
So, two days ago, I went to my first blacksmithing class. It was one of the best experiences I have ever had. I really enjoyed myself and I plan on to keep learning as much as I can.
I want to thank you for all of the knowledge that I've gained from your videos and giving me the confidence to try blacksmithing for myself.
Also, I hope you stay safe and the fire is delt with quickly.
Ok.
Keep up the enthusiasm, dude!! Just remember, steel doesn't have to glow to burn your hand to charcoal...
I'm nearly the same, except I went to my first class two weeks ago.
And yall are the exact reason I introduce youth to the craft through BSA Blacksmithing merit badge. Keep up the enthuseasim and don't let anything stand in your way to suceed. I promise you will have stumbles but just remember the love you have of it now and that will get you through. Alec and Will both started out as yall and look at them now. P.S. the balcksmithing community is a very inviting one and you can usually meet up with a local club that will help you out, most states and larger towns have some sort of club, or classes like yall have found.
Awesome!! So cool to see other people getting into the craft!
Firemen:put out the fire
Alec Steele:let’s start the forge
Yeah this is big brain time
Thank you, Alex, we very much appreciate you're generosity,
Wranglerstar love your content
Hey mr. W! Didn't expect to see you here... maybe you can review a hand forged tool from alec, and will?
We all salute the sacrifice you and all other wildland firefighters make to keep Americans safe. God bless!
Alec*
Your*
Hey, Cody. Good to see you over here. Hope all is going well with you and yours.
Great way to help the situation and support the firefighters.
These are real men of focus, commitment and sheer fucking will
God bless the firefighters out there.
Hell yea
Amen!
Riiigghhttt.... because "god" created those same fires right? Lol tard
when i see smoke like that it takes me back to the start of last fires here in Victoria Australia ... followed by cold chills ... i hope everyone thats in the fires range is safe and continues to stay that way until it out
rob burdack I grew up in Southern California in an area that burned every couple of years. Once we even had to evacuate our house. I will never forget the smell of fires, or what it felt like to watch ash fall onto my home.
@Matthew Gehrig yeah we lost a 120 year old house and a full machinery shed and every fence on the 800 access .. lucky we moved the live stock down to the flood plains about 2 week earlier ... we where lucky to miss every previous fire ... the ones before we spent 90 days in total in smoke with nothing but a orange glow from the fire 24/7 ...i have no doubt being up in the mountains in the national parks that we will see far far worse with the tree fall from heat and the dry electrical storms we have been getting
Pulaski, the man, was a badass wildland firefighter. Naming the tool after him is a testament to the legacy of wildland firefighters.
its named after him as he is the one that's credited for the invention of the tool. but yea he was a badass.
Firemen, regardless of where they are, are absolute heros! Unfortunatly they often don't get the respect they deserve.
On a side note, and i don't wanto to rain on anyones parade, the roman legion used a tool similar to the pulaski called "dolabra".
You should do a hunting knife project with Steve Rinella and the meat eater crew. I think are in Bozeman too.
That would be amazing
This would be sooo awesome!!
He is sponsored by Benchmade so idk how that would go
Thats not people trying to stop that fire.. they are ABSOLUTE HEROES!!!
agreed!
Heroes indeed
Try, if you will, to imagine a 200 foot wall of, roaring, howling, 1000 degree flames, moving through, and consuming, everything, faster than you can run.
add to that the choking smoke and near zero visibility and it is literally the stuff of nightmares.
The people (most of whom are unpaid volunteers) who fight these fires are more than heroes, and should have a national day to celebrate them.
I've always had great admiration for the CFA and RFS crews who go out and fight these monstrous and terrifying fires, my dad was a member for 20 years.
Growing up in Australia and living most of my life in rural-urban areas (houses built withing the bush and forests),
I've seen a number of major fire events in my 43 years on this planet.. and each year the severity gets worse - there's less days of rain (but more severe rain storms leading to floods), summer temps get hotter, and the fire season gets longer.
- Ash Wednesday in 1983 was right across Victoria, and one section came within 5 km (3 miles) of my house, pretty freaky for a 5 year old.
- Then one major fire in January '97 came through my town of Upwey, killing 3 who were trapped in a dead-end road in their cars, and roasting 41 homes, including the house directly behind my girlfriends place, (she watched it go up in under 2 minutes as she beat out spot fires in her backyard with a wet bath towel).
- In February 2009 we had the Black Saturday fires which killed 173 people, with some of those being arson, and again parts of Upwey was run through.
- Then last summer was literally the worst (and longest - June 2019 to March 2020) fire season since records began..
I don't doubt many people would have seen the news about this, just as we are now seeing the US west coast fires.
In a 2 month period starting in November, and encouraged by 5 years of ongoing drought and insanely high average temperatures, 600 or so fires ripped up and down the east coast of Australia - I had 6 major fires within 100 km of my location covering some 7 million hectares.
Many fires joined up and raged on 24 hours a day for weeks.
In total over 18.6 million hectares (46 MILLION acres!) of national park and inaccessible rugged forest was reduced to ash, taking with it over a billion wild native animals, thousands of homes, and three dozen human lives, and caused apocalyptic-esque air quality for a solid month, (it looked like Mars in a dust storm for weeks here).
4000ks across the Tasman ash and smoke blanketed most of New Zealand for a few weeks as well..
The admiration I had for the CFA and RFS crews who went in and fought THOSE fires increased beyond measure.
Heroes barely begins to describe these people.
If you've read this far, bravo.
And Alec, kudos to you for this auction, I'm sure if you made a dozen (or 3 dozen) of these Pulaski's they'd all get snapped up in seconds.
The second Alec said what they make, I knew they are going to sell it and give the money away.
Alec is just the person who would do something like that.
Jack Writer i wasn't sure if he would still it, or donate it to the firefighters to use...
One thing that makes Alec so likeable is his well principled and optimistic mentality👍
@@iwantmy2dollars662 To be honest, a single axe isn't going to help firefighters much, no matter how amazing that axe is.
So donating money was probably the right move overall...
Thank you for doing the auction and donating the proceeds! Thank you to all the firefighters that risk their lives to protect others! Remember though, fire is an active ingredient to the health of a forest. It cleans out the dead and down trees and clears brush. Native Americans would start fires so that new growth would start and bring in animals that they could hunt for food. Proper management of a forest allows for fire to do its job without wiping everything out, promotes healthy, sustainable timber growth and active wildlife habitat. Fire is necessary but needs to be controllable, forest management does that.
If California would be more responsible about forest management instead of blindly following the extreme eco-mentalist ideologies (not the same thing as responsible environmentalism) they wouldn’t be in the situation they’re in every other year or so.
@@SAAltPants I know this is a very old comment to reply to, but I'd like to add some context. A very small percentage of the forests in California are owned or managed by the state (less than 5%.) The rest are either federal property or privately owned.
So, saying that California forests should be maintained more responsibly is an admission that either federal resources for forest management should be increased, or heavier regulations for private landowners should be enforced, or both.
My mom is a retired Chief of 30 years. My friends are all cal-firefighters and everyone in my family has been involved with the service in one way or another. Northern California. I really appreciate this video and I know my mom and my family, will too. (Almost lost a finger mis-using a halligan. I mimgaine making one of those, would be a fun project for ya as well).
Thank you Alec and crew.
The fires in Australia in some parts of the state we didn’t see the sky for two weeks pretty crazy
I'm near Portland Oregon. We haven't seen sky since last Tuesday. Fires near by are bad
And for us, it isn't end of summer, either. Bushfire season officially starts on 1 OctOgre and goes to 1 Apull. The first fire of the unofficial season started in AwGhost...
@@NemoConsequentae what?
@@myrdraal2001 Translation: Bushfire season officially starts on 1 October and goes to 1 April. The first fire of the unofficial season started in August.
The start of the year was especially insane. I've never seen anything quite like that in all the time I've lived in Australia.
Fires during summer are common, but that was like most of the country on fire at the same time.
I managed to find myself living in the one town that was more or less safe from it in the area.
It's like being in the eye of a storm though. Every road cut off due to a fire somewhere nearby...
You're relatively safe but you can see the devastation no matter where you look...
This is an awesome project. My dad is a firefighter down here in Florida and we have a brush fire almost yearly. It means a lot for you to do this and its gonna turn out awesome. Love the content and hope you are well
From being born and bred in the UK you've become one hell of an American.
Welcome to the team.
Mr.Steele, being from Colorado and having seen the scars left by the fires we have had in previous years and even in the last few months, I just want to thank you on behalf of everyone who has been affected by fires such as these and everyone who is working hard to prevent the spread of these terrible disasters.
Absolutely love the editing and cinematography/videography of this video. Great video!!!
I'm so happy to see y'all supporting and honouring our wildlife firefighters.
Heyyyyyy my notifications actually did their job and notifyed me before it was 3 days old...
lol, I know the feeling!
@@conman3609theoriginal right?😂p.s. I am actually happy I was 1st but I didn't want to be obnoxious
@@nullsnaggle5198 Nice, it's just so weird, like the other day I got a notification for a video I watched a week before then!
You're lucky. I haven't had a notification for weeks. I get told about comments, but not video releases.
@@2H80vids hm....weeerrrd
My sister has been working 16 hour days the past month straight fighting wildfires in the west coast. Thank you for bringing awareness to this ❤️
The gravitas given to this video is absolutely phenomenal
I’m a big fan of the channel but this video really means the most to me. I was raised on a forest service firefighting base in Oregon and lost a good friend in 1994 who was a hotshot fire fighter that died on storm king mountain. Thank you for doing this to help the foundation.
It’s horrible to see the fires so close to you guys. Hopefully your shop and homes stay safe. Don’t want to see you all end up like William Osman.
Lmao the William Osman reference
I am never usually one to comment because I respect all of your work but surely making three regular palasks for the current firefighters and donating them would have made much more sense than making one Damascus palasks that looks cool. Still I respect your work but I feel you could have done more for the wildfires
Luke Moss he’s not donating just one axe, he’s auctioning it off, and donating all the proceeds to the firefighters. I’d say that helps a lot more than just making a few regular Pulaskis and giving them to the firefighters.
@@TheDeafJeep Couldn't agree more.
@@lukemoss6430 Three regular pulaskis cost $240.
The auction for the damascus pulaski will put at least a THOUSAND dollars in the charities hand.
Just wanted to say thank you Alec and team for thinking of the Wildland Firefighters during these troubling times. Its nice to see some positivity coming from your hard work. I used to be a Volunteer Firefighter and its awesome to see you guys thinking of my brothers and sisters out there putting their lives on the line.
I was a wildland firefighter, very hard and long work but well worth it
Pulaski is for sure my favorite tool for digging fire line! Just got done with a month-long tour fighting fires in Cali/Arizona.
I love watching his videos, his positivity is absolutely contagious
As a Wildland Firefighter and amateur bladesmith, this is my favorite project yet. The WFF is an amazing organization that helps support the families of our Fallen brothers and sisters. I’ve been watching since long before you moved from the barker street forge and couldn’t be more pleased right now.
Keep up the amazing work
Been a wildland firefighter in Montana for some years now. Awesome work. The foundation means a lot to us, and we love to see them get publicity. Also, the helicopter at 2:05 is a Minuteman aviation ship, probably N210MA. I flew on that ship in 2017 and 2018 with a lot of great firefighters.
does anyone else love the sound of the automatic hammer hitting the heated steal
Thank you for your work and donation , this will be much appreciated and help to the folks that have paid the price going into these bad situations.
As a volunteer firefighter I know what they are going through, I've spent long hours on wild fires here in central Oklahoma but we do not have the terrain that those fighting fire in the mountains have , I think about them and always hope for the best and pray they all make it out to be with their families when it's over .
Alec, wildfires are part of the life cycle for many of the plant species in the Rocky Mountains. There are some species of pine trees where their cones don't open up to release the seeds unless they're burned. Proper forest management and controlled burns reduce the impact wildfires have on human population, but the fires themselves are a part of nature.
we know that duh but the problem is if the fires burn the whole forest and kill the wildlife inside there won't be any reguvination
@@Nick-xm1ux as was stated, some species of of trees REQUIRE fire to open their cones to release seeds to rejuvenate the forest. It also creates new forage once other plants come back after the fire. Animals do die sometimes, but they aren't stuck in one place and simply die.
While all you said is true, fires in recent years have been much more intense than fires in the past due to humans putting fires out rather than letting smaller fires clear out underbrush and deadfall
@@Nick-xm1ux Wildfires do not destroy mountain ranges nor do they destroy forests. A wildfire is a healthy part of a healthy and functioning ecosystem; it only becomes a bad thing when it is mismanaged and not allowed to happen naturally or when done properly by Foresters. By stating off wildfires for the past three decades when wildfires do occur they are often much much worse than they would naturally or normally be because of the build up debris and a healthy and functioning ecosystem. Especially in Montana wildfire will rip through burning out the young, the old and the infirm trees leaving the healthy ones intact. Likewise the carbon and potash which is left over is vital for new growth and is kind of like the forest's way of spreading fertilizer many species of trees and bushes need wildfires to grow. That being said I am deeply sorry for anybody who has lost land property or loved ones to a fire.
@@Nick-xm1ux Thats not true. Fires actually promote more and new growth
Alec, I love watching you work with the power hammer. You look so at ease.
What a fantastic idea for an incredibly worthy cause! I love watching Wranglestar's videos as well. We're in SW Washington State where the air quality index has been in the 'airpocolypse' range for days due the the combined smoke from all the wildfires.
We will be glued to notifications to see you complete this amazing project and look into the auction. If we can't win that we will definitely make a direct donation! Keep up the fantastic work Alec, Will and team!
I unsubbed from Wranglerstar last month, i liked the practical videos but half of his videos are political trash these days... Its clear that guy gets all his news from Drudge and Fox News, its sad really.
Stay safe and get yourself an N100 someday to prepare for the next big smoke
@@osu45d Yeah I felt like his channel went a little off-topic in the last year or so. I also got a bit tired of his clickbaiting. Just because it draws in more views doesn't mean it's ultimately the best choice for the channel.
I appreciate y'all doing even just a little bit for the guys and gals out west. My Brother is currently fighting the fires in Oregon, he hasn't been at home for almost 3 months now.
When i was in montana, i wasin Bozeman, but 300 miles away there were fires in glacier national park. But the area on that direction looked like Mordor from lord of the rings, and the air quality wasn't great. Wildfires are one of those forces of nature that are so destructive but also beautiful in a way.
It’s so satisfying watching you work. You truly are an expert at your craft.
Just got back from a fire evac order in northern California, its great to see the support for firefighters everywhere.
Its cool that there are people out there that would be so kind and awesome to do what you are doing for them
We found a titanium anvil at the sight where the fire started. Very mysterious
shh dude, keep that secret
Lol
This is really cool! Over here in Oregon the wildfires have been pretty bad. I really do love and respect those men and women trying to control these fires.
Great job!
Awesome. I have a friend in Colorado that is a wildlands firefighter. What they do is crazy and so very important. I was in Colorado during the Hayman fires and we were about 7miles as the crow flies from the fire. We almost evacuated. Thank you for supporting those brave men and women who put their lives at risk to protect ours. Stay safe and have a beautiful day.
Alec, have you been using your titanium anvil in the mountains again?
Whoever your videographer is deserves high praise for making you guys look so good . Great opening scenes!
One thing to remember is that evergreen forests need fires in order to rejuvenate -- they have a life cycle that includes different species of brush and trees growing at different phases during that life cycle. The fires reset this cycle. Its a shame when people are hurt and property is damaged, but I wouldn't say that a fire is "destroying the mountain" by any stretch.
Came to make that point. Well put.
The biggest problem is us. For decades in the name of fire control and land conservation we stopped the fires and let the under brush build up because that's what we thought was good but we just made it a bigger tinderbox. In some places it even still illegal to clear under brush and thin out over crowded trees. Which means there is a lot of dead wood making the fires burn hotter. So now instead of small fires that didn't really touch the canopies of the trees they are infernos. It's sad that people are hurt and lose so much but like armchair said it was a natural part of the life cycle until we messed it up.
Thanks for pointing that out. I've been out here for 34 years, and the woods burn every single year. My brother just went through his 3rd hurricane. He is again without power, but he survived another one. It's sad when people are hurt by nature, but it's natural for it to happen. Something else to consider is how fast the wilds recover from these fires. Nearly everywhere out here you can find evidence of past fires, but the land is beautiful none the less.
@@josephdecesaro1528 I second this point. I suspect you can closely approximate the situation as: In the long run you are going to get the same amount of fire, the only choice you get is if it's all at once or spread out over time.
@@duster0066 There's nothing "natural" about arson. The morons that light these fires aren't "helping nature"; their mindless actions are destroying property and taking lives. Where I'm from - that's called murder.
I’m in Oregon, the fire came a half mile from my home, by the grace of God and the work of the firefighters my house and the small town I live in was saved, thank you for the contribution this auction will bring to the hard work the firefighters do!
What a juxtaposition, fire that destroys in the mountain, fire that creates in the workshop.
♪...It's the ciiiircle of life...♫
The fire on the mountain creates too, but we constantly see fire as destructive because we are inherently destructive.
@@sigmasquadleader while I agree we are destructive, we also create aswell. However, we don't need to get overly philosophical or whatever here. The point I was making ONLY went so far as meaning "little fire in metal box good for people. Big fire on mountain eating vegetation, animals and maybe some people and people-dwellings very bad for people."
Ed Pulaski was stationed out of my little home town (Wallace, Idaho) during the Fire of 1910. Just outside of town, there is now a commemorative "Pulaski Trail" which leads to the abandoned mine that he took his men to in order to save their lives during the blaze. My brother is now a Wildland Fire Fighter in the area, and my other brother used to be as well. I recommend checking it out and lingering in Wallace, ID for a beer. Beautiful country...
We’re still fighting ours here in Oregon. The fires here are 5% contained and there’s a thunderstorm due to hit the Willamette Valley tonight.
Oh dang, didn't know about the thunderstorm
Why did I hear about this on RUclips comments.. thanks for the update (also in Oregon)
This hasn't had much coverage here in Scotland. Maybe sounds a bit odd but I really hope there's a whole lot of rain with your thunderstorm. The storm might be just what's needed - I hope so. The wind will be the dangerous, unwanted part but hopefully the rain will do enough. Good Luck to all concerned.
I was going to mention that, too. I'm in Oregon as well. I think the Holiday Farm one is 6% contained now and has taken out 150,000 acres? I don't remember for sure. But the thunder did come with rain, it hit around 7:30. Still going at midnight, I can still hear the rain and see flashes and hear the thunder. I really hope it helps and no fires start from the lightning.
Any news on the obenchain Fire?
My eldest brother was a California forest service firefighter for over 10 years. I love this project, especially for the auction.
Give it to the heroic firefighters, they deserve it!
Alec, I’ve been watching you since 3 shops ago in England. Strange to see you posting about the fire that I live just a couple miles away from now. Love that you are supporting the firefighters. Your generosity is as awesome as your skilled work.
My friend logan lives around there and was going to be evacuated
I worked as a wildland firefighter in Oregon and I used a pulaski...its an awesome tool
Most of my home state of California is either on fire or has burned. Same with Oregon and Washington. If you're still in Montana like I think you are, then that's v bad. There's way too many fires this year.
Edit: 16 plus people have died in the west coast wildfires this year. I dont know if Montana is being counted for the death toll, but I know that the northwest wilfires are extremely dangerous and deadly. They're moving so fast that firefighters and civilians alike are getting caught with no escape. Over 3 million acres burned across the west coast.
Another edit: it would be incredible if whomever buys this polaski gives it to a fire station. I dont know if they'd be able to use it in the line of duty, but it would be cool.
J.R. Spingly shouldn’t Trump have fixed that after 4 years?
It's literally all bad fire policy. California's a land of fire, the plants there evolved to burn a low-level fire every 5-10 years on average since at least the arrival of amerindians; the native plants will generally survive, especially larger trees. Then the state governments decided that just because they can prevent all wildfires, they should. Now the stockpile of stuff-to-burn, especially invasive undergrowth species, has built up to cataclysmic levels which leaves only ashes in its wake and makes the fires much larger in scale. There's little to be done at this point.
epic
@@andrewwinch474 You have literally no idea how America works, do you?
@J.R. Spingly thats kind of a silly thing to say considering most of the fires in Oregon are national forests and governed by the US Forest Service.
Alec, well done for using your channel to show people how real this is. As someone living in Australia (also dealing with fires annually), I can say it's a sincere help in educating people.
Also.. love the channel, found it very therapeutic during 'lockdown'.
Could we possibly ask for a video on "how / where to begin your forging journey?"
The 124 “thumbs down” people should be ashamed. I’m in the southeast US (where we rarely have Forest fires of any magnitude), and because of this video I’ll be donating to the WF Foundation. Thanks Alec!
I know the feeling. The pine gulch fire here in Colorado was very to town and has smudged out the sun for a long time. Great work fire fighters!!!
Alternate title: fighting fire with fire...🤔
I’m lovin the new footage and flow of the time lapses, They’re awesome.
Friendly reminder that wildfires are actually good for the long term health of the ecosystem (minus property damage/lives lost obviously)
In moderation
you mean: minus capitalism...
@J.R. Spingly Obviously the government needs to keep defunding the parks service so the military can buy more missiles. /s
The increasing amount of wild fires isn’t good for forests and is being caused by global warming
@@thedreammakerco nice try
Thank you for your generosity and caring. These firefighters need all the help they can get. On behalf of the South Australian Country Fire Service in Gumeracha South Australia we thank you.
This is effective use of my class time right?
Matthew Sulin it is
Absolutely great of you to do this, Alec. Thank you and thank you to the firefighters out there keeping us safe
23 seconds new record
FINALLY!!! I have been begging for this build for at least three shops and two continents
It's a damn shame that so many of these comments are being pulled away from the good that you guys are doing and dragged into politics.
So thank you for all that you are doing for us when you don't have to. You are a better American than most that are born here.
I heartedly agree...people just have to drag in politics on almost every subject.
I havent seen a single political comment...
@@phonn6935 i cannot get around politics. Thankful this channel rarely devolves into it.
@@phonn6935 look deeper my friend, look deeper
@@sbrracingpop I don't like looking around to reply to dumbass comments
The quality of the production and story of this video was well done. Thank you for the entertainment
"The forging is almost done. Which is very exciting, we are halfway done through forging on it."
Yo is it almost done or half-way done?
Almost is a very relative term. I can mean a lot of things. Maybe for Alec it's almost done because the hardest part is behind him. Who knows?
Yes
@@baphoreart7573 Good way of looking at it.
I am so excited you are doing this. Being a firefighter for over 20 years, moving to a forested area. Our fire dept is looking into wildland fire fighting gear. Sitting on the edge of my seat so to say. Love your videos and have been watching for quite a while.
I am the Lorax I speak for the trees save the mountain or i,ll break your knees
Structural firefighter here, just wanted to say thank you for supporting my wildland brothers. Oven the last two years they have really taken a beating during the fire season, all over the world. Being a wildland firefighter truly is one of the toughest parts of fire fighting. Always been a huge fan of your channel, keep doing what you're doing brother. Positively brilliant!
Is it just me or does this guy forge drifts nearly every video
He must have hundreds of drifts that dont fit
can we talk about the editing and the camera shooting of his channel's vids? They are absolutely amazing.
Première
My wife’s uncle was a firefighter for over 30years with cal fire... the firehouse is a welcoming place! When I was younger we would go hang out at the firehouse! God bless these firefighters! Especially here in California!
Man, the quality of that video is out of this world. Well done, great job.
I’m just in awe of the amount of skill and talent you both have. Have you ever forged Damascus steel with a hand hammer? What’s the process like? What doe flux do, when forge welding?
This is an amazing way to help out Alec! My brother and sister in law live just on the other side of those mountains.
Alec Thank you for the great videos as well as building this great tool and Donating the proceeds to a great foundation that has helped many families when in need.
I've worked fires here in my home state of California and watched flames jump a ridge. The sheer power and ferocity of forest wildfires is terrifying.
More power to the brave men and women fighting with their lives on the line to keep our hones and forests safe. Thank you for doing this, Alex.
This channel as well as other blacksmithing channels, is my guilty pleasure.
That is the most satisfying to see the forge rust stuff crumble of with the power hammer
As an Australian who both saw family lose their homes, and friends battle the fires earlier this year in New South Wales - it is really inspiring to see people emphasising the courage and importance of volunteer firefighters. Seriously huge respect to Alec and the guys for pushing for the recognition of these heroes of the community. Well played guys. 👌🏼
As a wildland firefighter myself, my hats off to you for this build, walked many miles with a Pulaski in my hand, now at age 58, I’m still a wildland firefighter, but in heavy equipment now, looking forward to see the finished piece, God bless you and all our fellow firefighters.
The enthusiasm that you have for America, having come here to make your own thing work, it's really nice. Feels like a last swan song to the ideals of the country.
Luckily here in Montana they will let fires burn and do the best they can to protect people and property. One of the most common trees in the state the Lodgepole Pine actually has a mechanism that only will open the pinecones up to release seeds in the event of a fire and with the burnt organic material on the ground the seeds flourish and starts the cycle over again. They manage things very well here and other states should do the same.
Was sent this video by a coworker, I love this so much. Been a wildland firefighter for 3 years and love it so much
Yes, you're finally making the Pulaski that I've been begging you to make! Thank you! Btw, I'm a wildland firefighter (20 years) & my dad was one for 45 years. Both of us work(ed) for the NC Forest Service.
Here in The Springs, my wife and I, saw the image that became national when we, literally, saw a mountain erupt in fire. it's one of the most awesome, and frightening things I've ever seen. God bless you for your efforts to honor these brave men and women, of which one of my nephews is a member.
Great to see one of these made. Always wanted to try making one. Found a vintage one at a scrap yard I used to work at and have always thought it was one of my best finds. Can't wait to see the finished product.
Thank you for doing this. I was on the Bobcat fire farther to the east when the one in Bozeman started. Well done on your support of the foundation!!!
I have said the last several time you have put out a survey, to do firefighter tools. We have some really cool tools that would look amazing in damascus.
There is not a channel on RUclips that comes even close to the level of cinematography that you guys produce. Unbelievable as always. Great work!
Hell yeah brother this was my tool for digging line around the fire Navajo Scouts Wildland firefighters out of Fort Defiance, AZ
Just got over the Pine Gulch fire in Colorado. 139,000 acres, biggest in state history. Burned all of our summer grazing permit for our cattle, but by some miracle, sparred our cattle. Those firefighters worked their asses off on that one. Stay safe, and god bless all the firefighters across the country. Thank you.
I live in SoCal. Were on fire too. It's cool to see people recognize just how gnarly and badass those firefighters are.