Hello,
I'm the climber from Passion Play wall that ran to help the fire. My name's Andrew and my partner that day was River. I'll explain everything from my perspective.
River was on the second lead of his life, Passion Play. As he came near the anchor, I looked back after smelling burning. I asked him to look back and he saw flames rise about 8 to 12 feet. I told him to hook himself up so he was safe and then I immediately ran over with a jug of water and a sweatshirt. When I got there, 2 older men and 2 young boys were kicking sand at the flames. The older gentlemen were using tree branches to smack the flames. I told them to stop of course and to throw dirt on the flames instead, as they were really only fanning the fire. I poured my water to put out everything on the trail side of it and told the boys to fill the jug with sand and create a barrier on the ground to prevent spreading. They did so as I slapped down the flames and the others used dirt for containment as well.
Soon, many hikers came. At this point, we had taken care of the larger flames and really what was left were embers and coals. A nice couple came by and they were running to the creek at Passion Play, filling of water bottles and giving them to me to throw on the embers. The original family left and most hikers did as well, but this couple stayed until the rangers showed up and took out information.
It really wasn't a huge fire, but it certainly helped that there were plenty on people around, willing to aid however possible.
Thank you for your nice words of medals, but it wasn't just me at all. It was really a team effort and I thank all the hikers that gave up their water, and the couple that kept refilling bottles for me.
P.S. The parade sounds nice though
-Andrew
