Wildfire news, May 21, 2009

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In the news today:

*”The Scavenger” at SFGate.com writes about Bill Prather, a fire district board member for the Rodeo-Hercules fire district near San Francisco, who shrewdly blurted out something about “5-foot, 2-inch females that can’t do the job”. He later revised his remarks to include diminutive men.

The “pack test,” which Fire Chief Gary Boyle supports, requires firefighters to carry a 45-pound vest three miles in 45 minutes. How hard could that possibly be? KGO’s Alan Wang was determined to find out. He somehow convinced three 5’2″ female guinea pigs from Rodeo to don the vest. Though they didn’t hoof it three miles, the 50-year-old woman and the mother of four Wang interviewed appeared to shrug, likening the weight to carrying children.

Victoria Tate, 50, said:”It feels heavy, but no more than 50 pounds of groceries that I carry up those stairs every day or two infants on my hips.”

Adela Lutz, a mother of four, added:

“During pregnancy we carry 45 pounds or even more.”  But, as KGO reports, some side with Prather. One man said:”They dropped all the standards that involve my safety and everyone else’s safety in a fire, just so they could get women in the fire service.”

Since his remark, Prather has been stripped of his board chairmanship and will have to take classes on hostile work environments and sex bias.

He also faces a censure vote.

I have had two 5-foot, 2-inch female firefighters work for me over the years. One was a physical fitness fanantic and could occasionally kick my ass on some physical physical fitness activities. She is still a physical fitness fanatic, but now is advocating it at the regional level. The other blew out her knee in her first month on the job while carrying a hose pack up a steep hill during hose lay training. That ended her firefighting career.

Thanks Kelly

*Fires in Russia and Mongolia:

NASA image of fires in Russia and Mongolia on May 21, 2009

*(From the AP) PARK FALLS, Wis.  – The U.S. Forest Service says three vacation homes were destroyed in a forest fire near Blockhouse Lake east of Park Falls that burned 112 acres. No one was hurt.  Spokesman Alan Barbian said Thursday that 13 fires broke out in Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest on Wednesday when high winds gusting to 40 mph caused downed power lines. Five were still burning Thursday as firefighters mopped up. Barbian said all the fires burned about 300 acres in the forest and their cause remained under investigation.

*Billy Goodnick over at edhat.com, who contributed a lot of great information about the Jesusita fire near Santa Barbara while it was burning, has some “Final Reflections” that are worth reading.

*500 people have been evacuated due to a 777-acre fire in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in Marquette County.  As of 9 a.m. the DNR says it it 65 percent contained. For the first time this year, the DNR is pre-positioning their Incident Management Teams around the state, in order to be prepared for The Big One.

*Governor Tim Pawlenty on Wednesday signed an emergency executive order to provide two National Guard helicopters to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for assistance in suppressing wildfires. A red flag warning is in effect for much of the state due to dry conditions.

*Gail Kimbell, Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, testified yesterday before the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees funding of wildland fire for the Forest Service and the Department of Interior agencies.

*The Santa Barbara Independent has another article about the controversy surrounding the downgrading of the Santa Maria, California air tanker base from full service to call-when-needed.

*In the category of the stupidest headline for a story about a wildfire, the prize goes to the Panama City News Herald:

“Winds flame windfires”

Update: the News Herald has changed it to:  “Winds flame wildfires”, which is only a little better.

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