He Almost Died Doing One of the Riskiest Jobs in Firefighting. Inside the Lives of California’s Wildfire Bulldozer Operators

Andrew Carter’s bulldozer wasn’t supposed to move.

Perched on a ridge in the Angeles National Forest in Southern California just hours after the Creek fire sparked on Dec. 5, 2017, the veteran firefighter parked the bulldozer he was operating to build a strong containment line to stop the fire’s path. Gusts of wind brought in smoke and haze from the fresh inferno, and, within seconds, he couldn’t see anything through the window of his bulldozer.