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27 June 2025
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Vintage: 'You gotta be a little crazy': Meet 92 year-old Idaho smoke jumper 'Wild Bill'
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30 years of jumping out of airplanes to fight remote wildfires is quite the career, and 'Wild Bill' Yensen is known for exactly that. The McCall-based smoke jumper was honoured in June 2025 for his decades of service fighting wildfires. "I got into smoke jumping when I was in college," says 'Wild Bill' Yensen. He was a US Forest Service smoke jumper from 1953 to 1986, although he missed two years of jumping because he was in the army.
"And of course, once I got into smoke jumping, you got to be wild there — if you aren't, you're in the wrong place," says Yensen.
When he first started, he made $1.75 an hour and was jumping out of planes with parachutes left over from World War II. "That flat-pack chute just went boom. You can imagine going 150mph, then you stop," Yensen explained.
In his more than 330 jumps during his career, the majority were in Idaho, with a few in Alaska and Utah. He says as a smoke jumper, sometimes your landings don't go as planned. "I swung forward, hit the tree in front, swung back and hit the tree behind, floated down and landed standing up," Yensen said with a laugh as he recounted one of his more challenging missions.
"We've known him since we started training about 55 years ago, so we've known him a long time," says EJ Kral, a retired smoke jumper.
Bill's friends EJ and Eldon worked with him in the McCall Smoke Jumpers. "Whenever I worked with Bill, it just didn't seem like work because he was always there to encourage us and to share stories about his experiences too," says Eldon Askelson, a retired smoke jumper. They were among the many smoke jumpers who attended Sunday’s event to honour Bill and his decades of service.
He was awarded a Black Mountain by the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. "That's just an appreciation of and in recognition of his service — 30 years of service in the wildland [firefighting] community," says Eric Brocksome, with the Wildland Firefighter Foundation.
Bill spent his time on Sunday swapping stories and memories with his friends. "Do you remember the two-man-er where we hiked up to the lookout and spent the night in the lookout? That was one of our better jumps, you don't get to do that very often," Kral said, reminiscing with Bill.
"Yep, they're the best of the best. You gotta be a little crazy, but it helps," says Yensen.
Source: Idaho News 6
"And of course, once I got into smoke jumping, you got to be wild there — if you aren't, you're in the wrong place," says Yensen.
When he first started, he made $1.75 an hour and was jumping out of planes with parachutes left over from World War II. "That flat-pack chute just went boom. You can imagine going 150mph, then you stop," Yensen explained.
In his more than 330 jumps during his career, the majority were in Idaho, with a few in Alaska and Utah. He says as a smoke jumper, sometimes your landings don't go as planned. "I swung forward, hit the tree in front, swung back and hit the tree behind, floated down and landed standing up," Yensen said with a laugh as he recounted one of his more challenging missions.
"We've known him since we started training about 55 years ago, so we've known him a long time," says EJ Kral, a retired smoke jumper.
Bill's friends EJ and Eldon worked with him in the McCall Smoke Jumpers. "Whenever I worked with Bill, it just didn't seem like work because he was always there to encourage us and to share stories about his experiences too," says Eldon Askelson, a retired smoke jumper. They were among the many smoke jumpers who attended Sunday’s event to honour Bill and his decades of service.
He was awarded a Black Mountain by the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. "That's just an appreciation of and in recognition of his service — 30 years of service in the wildland [firefighting] community," says Eric Brocksome, with the Wildland Firefighter Foundation.
Bill spent his time on Sunday swapping stories and memories with his friends. "Do you remember the two-man-er where we hiked up to the lookout and spent the night in the lookout? That was one of our better jumps, you don't get to do that very often," Kral said, reminiscing with Bill.
"Yep, they're the best of the best. You gotta be a little crazy, but it helps," says Yensen.
Source: Idaho News 6