A different kind of fight: Brady Hiestand helped fight Spokane wildfires during UFC hiatus
· Yahoo Sports
Brady Hiestand stepped on the scale Friday for the first time in over two years – 834 days to be exact.
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It's been a long road back. A torn ACL was the initial blow that dropped him and then a retear was a metaphorical follow-up shot. It wasn't what he wanted being on a three-fight winning streak and finally turning the corner in the eyes of many UFC fans.
During his time away, Hiestand (8-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) has grown into form physically, but mentally as well with new perspective. He's been fighting a different kind of fight – outside of the cage.
A longtime volunteer firefighter, Hiestand long dreamt of being hired. His stepfather a firefighter, his more an emergency room worker, he's wanted to follow in his family's footsteps. During his hiatus from fighting, that dream became a reality. It couldn't have come at a more important time.
"I got to mark it off the bucket list," Hiestand recently told MMA Junkie. "I've been a firefighter for the last six months, and it's perfect. The schedule works great with fighting. I love the work – and yeah, it's been crazy, especially with the wildfires up in Spokane."
In August, three major fires erupted around Spokane due to a severe drought and other environmental factors. It was all hands on deck, and a pair of those hands belonged to Hiestand. Approximately 1,000 buildings were destroyed and over 65,000 evacuated. Hiestand was one of them.
"It was three separate fires all going off at the same time, and they're all in my district, and they're calling people in," Hiestand said. "I was already on shift at the time, but I remember having to call my fiancée, who was at home with our two dogs, and telling her, 'You need to get ready in case you guys need to leave.' Six hours go by and the fire is coming right up to our house, and I'm like, 'You need to get out of there.' She packed everything up, thousands of people were trying to get out of our neighborhood, and she ended up driving out. She luckily made it out, thankfully with the dogs.
"We were displaced at the beginning of this camp for two weeks, sleeping in Airbnbs and at my brother's house, so that was kind of wild. I was on shift for the first three days. She had to go get an Airbnb, and eventually I met up with her once I got relieved, and we were bouncing around for a little bit."
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