Making a Difference With Firefighting | Jason Ramos | TEDxCUNY

Jason has dropped out of helicopters into massive forest fires, and crawled through some of the most dangerous structural blazes in Los Angeles County. Join him as he shares his journey from the plane to the pen, and the impact he's made beyond just putting out the flames.

Jason Ramos is an aerially-delivered firefighter. He has responded to fires from Alaska to Florida and nearly everywhere in between. Aerially delivered firefighters, sometimes referred to as Smokejumpers/Helitack, are highly trained and specialized professionals who can parachute or rappel into remote areas to fight forest fires. They work independently in some of the most difficult terrain imaginable. They remain one of the oldest resources deployed by the fire service today.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx