Outdoor Program Rises from Ashes

PIONEERTOWN - Probably it helped somewhat that the Boojum Institute folks were so familiar with the intellectual faculties of problem-solving and decision-making when a staff member saw a wall of flame crest the ridge behind the program's base camp in Pioneertown.

The staff present quickly identified the problem. "That fire is going to overrun us in about 40 minutes." The decision followed logically. "Get out!"

Of course, anyone with or without special training probably would have made the same decision. There weren't a lot of options. Boojum Executive Director Jeff Baierlein was on the phone with a client at the time he got the word. When he started that phone conversation, the skies overhead had been blue and the Sawtooth fire in the vicinity seemed like a nearby but avoidable threat.

Wind speed changed all that, and ultimately Baierlein had the unpleasant opportunity to watch his base of operations go up in smoke.

He and Mark Campese lingered too long on-site in their efforts to load records and office equipment into their vehicles. When firefighters arrived, it was too late to fight, and it was too late to run. Firefighters advised Baierlein and Campese to stay where they were because the retreat ... well, there wasn't any retreat.

Although Boojum leased its property and structures from The Wildlands Conservancy at no cost, it still lost over $100,000 worth of program materials, equipment and personal property. An experiential education program specializing in wilderness trips, Boojum's operational reality depends on its capacity to equip and feed clients in the field.

During a typical year, the program serves about 8,000 people, according to Baierlein. This service is its only product, and its only purpose. It requires a staff of six in administration and 40 field instructors to run a year's programming, and this small battery of people also requires a certain amount of resource and supply to accommodate.

All its loss to the fire considered, it might seem logical for Boojum to cancel its already-scheduled fall and early winter programming. Not at all. Whereas the school didn't really have time during the fire to exercise its problem-solving and decision-making savvy toward any kind of constructive outcome, there are other personal development skills it also emphasizes which give it the determination to not give up.

"We'll solve this problem, and we'll do it with the kind of teamwork, resourcefulness and dedication to purpose we try to instill in our students," Baierlein assured.

Furthermore, he insisted the fall/winter schedule will proceed without one grain of reduction to program quality or fun.

Boojum prides itself in being fully "hands-on," a program which helps enable the personal development of its students while at the same time teaching them about the life and land that surrounds them on their excursions.

As Baierlein and his administrative staff scramble to find office space, staff housing and replace equipment, and as the field staff scrambles to replace lost personal gear while planning imminent courses, the Boojum ideal will have its own hands-on opportunity to save itself. At least this is Baierlein's conviction. The fire created a significant problem, but that problem's solution, he insists, does not include backing out of commitments.