He’s regularly called upon to take down flaming trees. He recently won the regional Game of Logging title in August.

Sam Heffner can cut with the best of them.

He grew up in Oxford and graduated from Oxford Hills Regional High School in 2000. He’s been a state forest ranger since May 2007. Heffner’s turf: Close to half a million acres from Rockwood to the Canadian border. He’s also a chain saw instructor with the Maine Forest Service and in August took the top prize in a chain saw-heavy competition.

“Most of the chain saw use (on the job) pertains to wildfires,” he said. “Lightning strikes a big pine tree and it’s on fire and we have to safely set it on the ground before it spreads.”

How he got his start, how the competition works and how he once narrowly avoided a karate-chopping moose.

Name: Sam Heffner

Age: 29

Lives: Greenville

Single, relationship, married? Married 3 years.

I knew I wanted to be a ranger when: Honestly, when I saw the job posting on the Maine website. Prior to that, I didn’t know forest rangers existed. The hiring process was tough. It took around six months, which included a fitness test, oral interview, background check, polygraph test and final interview with the colonel. God is good: There hasn’t been a day in my four-year career I haven’t looked forward to going to work.

When did you pick up a chain saw for the first time? I was probably 15 when I first picked up a chain saw. I’m sure I started at age 5 trying to convince my Dad I should be cutting all the firewood.

Could you describe the Game of Logging competition and what you had to do? There were 13 events. The first event is chain sharpening. You’re given 30 minutes to sharpen a dull chain. How accurately you sharpen your chain effects your performance in all the other events. The events all test safety, accuracy and control of the chain saw.

Are you judged on speed or accuracy? There are two timed events. All the other events are accuracy. During all the events I was being judged on safety.

Competition highlight: Seeing my wife in the crowd smiling at me. A guy just wants to know his wife thinks he’s the man.

What sort of safety gear would someone find you with in the woods? Chain saw PPE (personal protective equipment) includes: helmet, eye protection, ear protection, gloves, chaps for my legs (made from multiple layers of Kevlar, designed to stop the saw chain should it contact your leg). Cut resistant boots also constructed with Kevlar. The chain on a chain saw travels in excess of 60 mph around the guide bar. It makes me cringe to think that some folks will use one in shorts and sneakers.

In an average month, how many small fires do you have to squash out on the job? That varies a lot. July of this year I responded to three wildfires. Last summer our district, one of nine in the state, responded to 44 wildfires, and there were a total of 562 wildfires statewide.

Plan to go the National Game of Logging Finals in Ohio next week? My wife and I will be driving out to Ohio for nationals. There will be a tree limbing event at nationals. I have never competed in this event, so that will be my focus for practicing. I will have to remove 30 limbs from a tree as fast as possible. I will also be judged on safety and accuracy.

You say Greenville, I think moose. A fair association to have with the area? Any moose stories? I have a great moose story. A co-worker and I were on snowmobiles and met a moose in the trail. The moose turned on us and looked like it was going to charge us. I thought quickly, “Hmmm, they say if a bear charges, make yourself look as big as possible and yell.” That’s what I did. I stood up on the seat of the snowmobile, put my arms up and started yelling. That particular method doesn’t work with a moose. It charged. Doug and I dove into the woods. The moose reared up on its hind legs, karate chopped the snowmobile’s windshield — shattering it — looked at me like “You’re next,” and then thankfully ran off down the trail.

kskelton@sunjournal.com

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