Not from an employer-the 39-year-old plant ecologist is gainfully employed as the curator of the Wheeler Orchid Collection and Species Bank at Ball State University.

Not from a new love-she's happily married and has two children ages 12 and 9.

And not from the U.S. Olympic Speedskating Team-though she's been known to scorch fellow inline skaters on the Cardinal Greenway.

She is on call to fight her first fire. And not just any fire, either. LeBlanc is on standby with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry to extinguish forest-eating wildland fires in the western United States.

People meeting LeBlanc for the first time ask, "Why does an orchid curator want to fight dangerous wildfires?"

LeBlanc was drawn to firefighting because of the physical aspect and the chance to perform a worthwhile service. "My mom would say it's because I'm a fire sign (an Aries)," she says.

Fires, LeBlanc likes to explain, are necessary to maintain healthy plant systems and are closely related to her profession. Federal fire prevention programs and loveable icons like Smokey Bear have played a major role in altering America's plant systems. Trees, not native to some prairies, are now proliferating in grasslands.

In western forests, some trees have thick bark that can withstand fires, LeBlanc says. Leaf litter and branches, that is now allowed to accumulate in woodlands, act as fuel. Today's fires burner hotter, longer and eat up more acreage. There would be less destruction if wildlands were allowed to complete their natural fire cycle on a more regular basis, LeBlanc says.

Already this year, there have been nearly 60,000 wildfires that have torched 5.9 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The number of fires for 2002 is nearly equal to the 10-year average. The number of acres that have burned, however, is nearly twice the average. Larger fires may be a reason why more Indiana firefighters have been called out this year.

Most years, four or five crews from the Hoosier State are activated. If the fires continue, this year's count will be eight, LeBlanc says. She thought she had missed her chance to go this year when she turned down being on standby earlier this summer. But with fire season continuing, her name came up again. This time she eagerly accepted, and she will remain on call until this year's fires are extinguished sometime this fall.

"My bags are packed and sitting by my door," LeBlanc says with a smile. "I'm ready to break in my new fire boots."

LeBlanc is trained as a wildland firefighter, which is different from being trained as a traditional structural firefighter. To become certified, she had to demonstrate how to properly use tools like a Pulaski-a hoe-like fireman's ax. She also had to pass written tests, a weekend of outdoor training and a grueling physical test. One of her final tasks was racing across a 3-mile trail in less than 45 minutes while shouldering a 45-pound pack. She finished first in her class.

When she gets called up, she will meet her crew of approximately 20 others at the Indiana Division of Forestry Headquarters in Martinsville. The next morning, they'll take a shuttle to the Indianapolis International Airport and fly to their designated outpost.

"I don't know where they'll send me," she says. "There are places in Idaho and Oregon that are still touch and go."

Elizabeth Schaefer, a junior majoring in wildlife biology, works with LeBlanc tending the Wheeler orchids. The 19-year-old from Piqua, Ohio, spent two weeks fighting Wyoming's Mule Fire (a 3,900-acre blaze that took more than 550 firefighters to contain) and has given LeBlanc a firsthand account of what to expect.

Schaefer arose from her tent each day at 5 a.m. After breakfast, firefighters attended a briefing at their scenic prairie campsite and then took a school bus to begin a 14-hour day. From their bus stop, they had to take a 30-minute hike to their work site. Once there, they dug fire lines, which are trenches that hopefully would isolate the fire. Once the smaller fires were corralled, firefighters would douse the flames with dirt and water. At day's end, Schaefer's soot-covered face looked more like a coal miner's than a college student's.

"The big fire was just over the ridge next to us," Schaefer says. "Throughout the day, we'd all keep an eye on the ridge to make sure it didn't come over the top."

Schaefer did not have any close calls and is looking forward to returning next summer. Seeing Schaefer's enthusiasm merely intensifies LeBlanc's yearning to be called up.

"She's a firebug like me," LeBlanc says.

In the meantime, LeBlanc will tend her orchids and post blazing speeds on the greenway.

(Note to Editors: For more information, contact LeBlanc at (765) 285-8839 or cleblanc@bsu.edu.)