Exhausted firefighters sing 'Take Me Out to the Fire Line' after 14 hours of fighting back flames

After months of fires, it may have felt like the seventh-inning stretch.

September 18, 2020, 7:41 PM

After months of facing devastating fires across the West Coast, for some firefighters, it may have felt like the seventh-inning stretch.

In a moment of camaraderie after a grueling 14-hour shift on the frontlines of Oregon, the exhausted Grizzly Firefighters crew sang “Take Me Out to the Fire Line,” their version of Major League Baseball’s official anthem, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

PHOTO: Smoke from the Lionshead Fire and Beachie Creek Fire create an orange glow as an "extremely critical" fire warning  is issued on Monday, Sept. 7, 2020 on U.S. Highway 20 near Gates, Ore.

Wildfire370
Smoke from the Lionshead Fire and Beachie Creek Fire create an orange glow as an "extremely critical" fire warning is issued on Monday, Sept. 7, 2020 on U.S. Highway 20 near Gates, Ore. Wildfire370
Abigail Dollins / Statesman Journal

“Take me out to the fire, take me out to the line, bring me some sawers and hazel hoes, I don’t care if I ever get home,” sang the firefighting crew.

The 20 firefighters have been together for nearly 60 days since the crew began fighting the fires in California. It has now joined more than 1,000 other firefighters fighting the Lionshead Fire in Oregon, which was only approximately 10% contained on Friday, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The fire crew’s boss, Theodore Hiner, told ABC News affiliate KATU that it was a moment of fun during dark times.

A destroyed fire engine from the Idanha-Detroit Rural Fire Protection District sits on Detroit Avenue in Detroit, Ore., Sept. 11, 2020,
Mark Ylen/AP, FILE

“They said, ‘Hey boss, we want you to hear something,’ and I said, ‘Oh, this is too good,’’’ said Hiner, who recorded the moment on his cellphone and later posted it to Facebook. “I was like, ‘Alright, do it one more time boys, because this is the most fun thing I’ve heard in a minute.’”

The video has since gone viral and garnered over 8,000 likes on Facebook. Hiner said in the caption, “Exhausted, but still excellent. Busted their butts today. And still make me laugh. My crew. My guys.”