BACKBONE CONTRIBUTOR - SAM STRAIN Here's a little about Sam: As a second career, Sam left his political job in Chicago and joined a Hotshot crew at age 29. He’s currently employed with an R3 Hotshot Crew. He enjoys living in and traveling in his 1985 Toyota Motorhome and fishing trips with his parents. Sam gave us some insight on the burning questions one asks themselves when working in fire.  The internal questions about your decision to create a life around fighting forest fires start on day one of work and never end from that point on. The voice inside asking the questions gets louder with each hard assignment; as the years go by, the questions become repetitive, but new ones continue to creep into your brain. The questions range from mundane and repetitive like "Can my body do this anymore?" to urgent and existential like "Is fire ruining my life?" to the dark and scary, like "Can I get out of this place, is this the end?" I can't think of many careers where you ask yourself s...