Thump. Thump. Thump. Elephants move heavy logs. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Elephants clear brush. These giant creatures can work hard—and ever since the blazes in Indonesia, they have added a new job to their list. They are fighting fires! You of course know an elephant by its flappy ears, curved white tusks, and long, snake-like trunk. Part nose, part mouth, and part hand, an elephant’s trunk can crack a peanut shell, scratch the elephant’s back, smell an enemy, suck up more than two gallons of water, and whoooooosh!—give the elephant a shower.

But elephants are good for more than just looking at. In ancient times, elephants went to war. They wore heavy body armor. Men rode high on their backs. Elephants also make good workers. They are strong. They memorize well and can respond to over 30 voice commands. In many parts of the world, elephants haul trees, pull wagons, carry people, and lead parades. Coffee growers in Thailand feed elephants coffee beans. Then they harvest the elephants’ bean-filled dung. Elephant poo coffee is a popular drink. Yuck!

Elephants sometimes settle fights between wild elephants and humans too. How does that work? Well, they don’t sit down and chat! Instead, tamed elephants chase wild elephants out of human villages. They run the wild animals all the way back to their forest homes.

Asian elephants can measure seven to 10 feet tall. They sometimes weigh 10,000 pounds! Think that’s big? Asian elephants are smaller than their African cousins. A full-grown African elephant can be 13 feet tall and weigh 15,000 pounds!

Today, the fire-fighting elephants carry water pumps and hoses. Men climb aboard. Then the elephants trudge through the forests. They spray the burning peat lands. The men stay safe high above the hot forest floor. Hooray for the world’s biggest firefighters!