NAMPA, Idaho – CrossFit, Plyometrics, open gym, lifting weights, running, swimming, hiking … there are plenty of ways for a college athlete to stay in shape during the summer.

Firefighting, however, is certainly a unique one.

Northwest Nazarene junior Zoe Wessels is in her fourth summer fighting wildland fires based in the Payette National Forest.

"Every day is awesome because you work super hard and it is fulfilling," said Wessels, who plays on the NNU women's basketball team. "You work together and you are surrounded by good people."

Wessels grew up in Council, Idaho, a small mountain town located northwest of the Treasure Valley.

The summer after her senior year of high school she didn't have many plans, so her history teacher at the time – Brian Joyce – helped her get a job fighting fires.

"I used to do it and I talked to kids all the time that if they want a summer job to pay their way through college, it is perfect," said Joyce, who is now the athletic director at McCall-Donnelly High School. "She's always been so athletic and strong, I told her she'd be awesome."

When Wessels first began she was intimidated because she was the only girl on her crew, but thanks to her hard work and easygoing personality she was soon a hit with her team.

"She's not afraid to get dirty and work hard," Joyce said. "That is what you look for in that world. Someone who won't be scared to sleep on the ground for two weeks or not shower – they are hard to come by, especially girls.

"She grew up that way. She is a country kid and is tough. I knew she would do well with it."

The first month of every summer, the season firefighters attend a school to learn about safety, technique and everything else the job demands.

In her first summer, one of her teachers was Jake Perry, who at the time was the cross country coach at NNU.

The pair didn't know each other, but eventually discovered they had athletics and NNU in common.

"I think she is probably rare," said Perry, who now works full time for Krassel Helitack. "I don't meet too many athletes just because it is so demanding. I think most athletes probably don't want to carry a 40-pound pack around all summer."

Wessels said she doesn't mind the pack, but she's not too fond of not getting to shower very often.

The 16-hour days digging fire lines, moving trees and fighting fires helps keep her in shape even if she isn't actually shooting a basketball.

That doesn't bother head women's basketball coach Steve Steele in the slightest.

"I thought it was cool when I first heard about it," he said. "It is a new experience and we are going to work with it. It is something she is passionate about and it's something she wants to do for her career and I'm not going to let basketball get in the way of that."

Wessels works on a 10-person crew and has fought fires in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Nevada. Her crew has been to California and Georgia, but she had already headed back to college and missed those trips.

"My favorite fire was last year in Utah," she said. "We were on a mountain and we were trying to back burn it so the fire wouldn't reach us or our line. A lighting crew on the other side didn't tell us they were lighting, so it burned super fast uphill and then we saw this 300-foot wall of flames coming at us.

"We just stood there with our fire hoses spraying it down as it got to us. It was the most intense fire experience I've had."

The inherent danger of firefighting doesn't bother Wessels, and while her family might not be in the same frame of mind they do support her.

"It scares my family a little bit," she said. "I don't tell them about all the close calls, but everything is dangerous and you can't live in fear."

She is hoping to make a career out of firefighting and has done some ride-alongs with the Nampa Fire Department.

"I like it because of the team aspect and you become really close and work together all summer," she said. "Plus, the blue-collar life is for me."