Australia: government being sued for tactics used on bushfire

GavelThe government of New South Wales is being sued over their choice of firefighting tactics used on a fire in 2003 that burned through Canberra’s southwestern suburbs on January 18.

The legal proceedings have been going on for years and have advanced to the Australian Capital Territories Court of Appeal.

Below is an excerpt from the Canberra Times:

…Four people were killed, 435 injured, and 487 homes and 23 commercial and government buildings were lost.

[…]

On Thursday morning, counsel for QBE Regina Graycar criticised the approach taken to backburning near the Goodradigbee River containment line, which was being used to stop the fire spreading. Firefighters did not get time to carry out their plan to backburn near the river.

Ms Graycar said they must have known they didn’t have time to backburn before the next hot day, which is generally considered to be seven days away.
Backburning is generally needed to finish two days before the next hot day, she said.

Failing to recognise the time needed, Ms Graycar said, broke one of the basic rules of firefighting, something she described as “bushfire 101”.
The ACT Court of Appeal will hand down judgment at a later date.

Wildfire briefing, June 4, 2014

Up to 20 large air tankers this year

There could be as many as 20 large air tankers on exclusive use contracts this year, the largest number since 2009. This increase follows the downward spiral in the number since there were 44 in 2002. Fire Aviation has the details, but below is a list.

Large air tankers-2014

 

Galahad fire on the north rim grows to 2,702 acres

The National Park Service is managing, rather than completely suppressing, the Galahad Fire in Grand Canyon National Park. But one thing in their favor is a mile deep gorge, the Canyon itself, that provides a pretty good barrier on the south side. Below is the most current 3-D map — more details are in our main article about the fire.

map of the Galahad Fire
3-D map of the Galahad Fire, looking south at 8:20 p.m. June 4, 2014. Incident Management Team, and Google Earth.

Richard Rothermel receives award

Dick Rothermel receives Ember Award
Dick Rothermel receives Ember Award May 21, 2014 at the Large Fire Conference in Missoula, MT. Photo by Bill Gabbert.

At the Large Fire Conference in Missoula Dick Rothermel received the International Association of Wildland Fire’s Ember Award for Excellence in Wildland Fire Science. It was presented by Dr. Domingos Viegas, who said in part:

…Dick Rothermel started his activity in the field of forest fires in the sixties and was a leading member of a research team working on fire retardants and fire behavior research at the World famous Missoula Fire Research Laboratory for almost thirty years. Dick brought his engineering approach to develop a very innovative and comprehensive research program on fire spread. Based on the past work from his team and from others that preceded him, Dick used his skills and intuition to identify the most relevant factors of fire spread, to formulate quantitative relationships among them in a quite general form and develop the Mathematical Model on Fire Behavior Prediction. The famous report presenting the Rothermel’s Model as it is universally known was published in 1972 as we all know, is possibly one of the most cited documents in forest fire literature. The Rothermel model was incorporated in a consistent system designated Behave that was released in another historical report in 1983.

IAWF scholarships

The International Association of Wildland fire recently announced the award of two scholarships to students studying wildland fire. The recipients were Miltiadis Athanasiou, a PhD student at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, and Trisha Gabbert, a MSc student at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, USA. (As far as I know, the author of this artcle is not a relative of Ms. Gabbert.) More information.

Aussies produce 1-hour special program on large fires

Posted on Categories UncategorizedTags

The Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) produced this one-hour special video program, above, about large wildfires around the world. Here is they way they describe it:

Over the past decade, there has been an alarming surge in large, uncontrollable fires across the world. We live in a time when mega-fires are reshaping landscapes in ways unprecedented in human history. Even iconic forests especially adapted to burning are being wiped out. In a climate of rising temperatures and shifting rainfall, amid debate about whether fire disasters are natural or man-made, what does the rise of mega-fires mean for life as we know it? In this Catalyst special, reporters Anja Taylor and Mark Horstman travel to opposite sides of the planet to find out. In the ‘sky islands’ of New Mexico, which have experienced frequent fire for millennia, pine forest ecosystems are suddenly being decimated by huge, tree-killing fires. In the ‘mountain islands’ of the Australian Alps, 90 percent of this 500 kilometre long bioregion has been burnt this century, as changing fire intervals over the last ten years destroy large areas of mature eucalypt forests. Ultimately this is a story about climate change, told through the prism of fire.

Gary, who first notified us about the program, said:

It features some big names from the Southwest and New Mexico. Dr. Craig Allen is internationally know as a Fire Ecologist and climate change expert, Tom Swetnam is the Tree-ring expert from U of Arizona, Bill Armstrong is the fuels expert for the Santa Fe National Forest.

If you are not sure about viewing the one hour program, here is a link to a 30-second preview. You can watch the main program here, above, or view it on YouTube.

 
Thanks and a hat tip go out to Martin and Gary.

Fire balloons suspected of starting 300 fires in Russia

Fire Balloon, Mercedes
Fire Balloon — a screen grab from a Mercedes commercial on CBS, November 4, 2012.

Fire balloons, sometimes called sky lanterns, are suspected of causing 300 vegetation fires in the Sverdlovsk oblast in Russia.

Below is an excerpt from an article in the Yekaterinburg News:

…“It is especially dangerous when a torch with open flame inside gets into the crown of a coniferous tree: rich in essential oils needles erupts like a match,” the Sverdlovsk region’s Department of Forestry in a statement, according to Oblastnaya Gazeta. “And if that happens in windy weather, the fire spread[s] with lightning speed.”

As of Feb. 27, sky lanterns have been banned in residential and urban areas situated close to forests in the Sverdlovsk region. Individuals seen using sky lanterns will be fined between $30 and $5,700, depending on whether or not a fire is caused as a result.

Currently, firefighters are working to contain a 20-acre blaze in the Sverdlovsk region’s Bilimbaevskom Sukholozhsky woodland area, according to Oblastnaya Gazeta.

These incendiary devices use burning material such as rubbing alcohol or a candle to heat the air in a bag made of tissue paper or very thin plastic. The heat makes the device lighter than air causing it to rise into the sky, staying aloft for 10 minutes to 2 hours. They can be very pretty to watch especially when they are released dozens or hundreds at a time such as at a wedding or some other celebration.

The devices are known to start wildfires and structure fires. In the United States they are illegal in at least 25 states. Entire countries have banned the devices, including Austria, Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Spain, Germany and parts of Canada. The National Association of State Fire Marshals adopted a resolution in 2013 urging states to ban the sale and use of the devices.

Below is an excerpt from their position on the issue:

…Therefore, be it resolved that the National Association of State Fire Marshals strongly encourages states to ban the sale and use of sky lanterns through whichever means is most expedient for them. Banning the use of sky lanterns is important to help control homemade devices as well as those purchased from various sources.

The best case scenario for these dangerous devices is that they scatter trash around the countryside. The worst case is when they start fires that do serious damage, such as when one was suspected of destroying 15 houses in the Philippines on January 1, 2013.

A company called Rise Lantern Festival is planning fire balloon events around the world, hoping to make money by selling tickets to the participants. They have one planned on October 18, 2014 about 20 miles south of Las Vegas, Nevada, and another for Bali, Indonesia on November 15, 2014. Their web site does not specify how the trash will be collected, or how they plan to deal with fires that may result.

An organization that until recently only campaigned against releasing hundreds or thousands of lighter than air balloons at events, has now taken on fire balloons or sky lanterns.

Thanks and a hat tip go out to Chuck

California Hotshot wins $1.3 million in lottery

Steven Woodlief
Steven Woodlief. Photo by California Lottery.

A U.S. Forest Service firefighter in California won $1,000 a week for the next 25 years of his life in the state lottery. Steven Woodlief, a member of the Shasta Lake Hotshots based in Lakehead. California 20 miles north of Redding, has not said if he is going to retire, or continue to fight fire. But he did mention buying a new truck.

Below is an article from the lottery commission:

****

U.S. Forest Service Firefighter’s Blazing Hot Luck Leads to $1.3 Million Win in Shasta County!

It’s grueling and dangerous – yet it’s an exceptionally rewarding line of work. But talk about exhausting! That’s why nobody can blame Steven Woodlief for “lying in bed all day” during his time off from the fire house on Wednesday.

Little did the 24-year-old U.S. Forest Service firefighter from Shasta County know he would wake up and become a millionaire. Not a dream this time! “First I went to my nephew’s Tee Ball game, and then I went to the gas station to cash in $15 worth of Scratchers® I had in my pocket.”

Woodlief (who is a member of the elite Shasta Lake Hotshots firefighter crew based out of Redding) decided he would take his $15 in “found money” and invest it in a few more $2 California Lucky Life tickets. After his purchase, he said he drove over to his parents’ house and started scratching away. “I saw ‘LIFE’ in the square and told my dad that I thought I won. He took it from me and started reading back and forth making sure it was ‘legit!’ From there I was nervous and in shock!” the Anderson resident remembered with a laugh.

Who can blame him? By uncovering the “LIFE” logo, Woodlief won $1,000 every single week for the next 25 years of his life! That’s a grand total of $1.3 million before Uncle Sam gets his cut. This young firefighter actually thought it might be his lucky day after he started scratching his small stash of tickets and immediately won a free $2 game. From there it got better. Much, much better!

“I took it (the $1.3 million winner) back to the gas station where I bought it to make sure it was ‘legit.’ We scanned it into their little scanner and it came out ‘give funds: one million, three hundred thousand dollars.’ He (the clerk) was jumping up and down for me. We know him. He’s a high school student and he was just jumping for joy!” Woodlief recalled.

Speaking of the retailer – Gas Point Market, which is located at 19980 Gas Point Road in Cottonwood – gets to cash in on the big win as well. As a bonus for selling the $1.3 million ticket, Gas Point Market receives a very sweet $6,500 in cash.

Woodlief has already decided he’ll be buying a new truck with his winnings, while possibly investing the rest. “I don’t have a for sure plan at all. I’m still in shock. I’m just staring at the (jumbo) check right now. It’s amazing.” “

Wildfire briefing, June 2, 2014

Rescued wolf pups to find home

Wolf pup at Alaska Zoo

The five abandoned wolf pups that were rescued by firefighters on the Funny River Fire on March 27 are doing well and will be adopted by the Minnesota Zoo, located south of Minneapolis-St. Paul in Apple Valley, Minnesota. The pups will remain at the Alaska Zoo until veterinarians are certain the animals are old and healthy enough for transport. When found last week, they weighed about 2.5 pounds apiece and suffered from dehydration and punctures from porcupine quills.

Thirty five applicants awarded funding for their fire research projects

The Joint Fire Science Program announced that 35 applicants have received funding for their proposed fire-related research. The topics include smoke, fuels treatment effectiveness, fire behavior and effects, bats and fire, people and fire, and more.

Fire Training in Pennsylvania

New York Times obituary for Robert Sallee

typical smokejumpers Mann Gulch Fire Ford Trimotor aircaft
Typical smokejumpers and their equipment around the time of the Mann Gulch Fire, with their Ford Trimotor aircaft.

On May 29 we wrote about the death of Robert Sallee, the last survivor of the 1949 Mann Gulch Fire, and later we linked to some rare photos of the incident.

Surprisingly, the New York Times on May 31 published an obituary of Mr. Sallee. John N. Maclean pointed it out to us, saying that he learned some things from the article. After the death of his father, Norman Maclean, John helped to edit the almost finished Young Men and Fire, the book his father wrote about the fire. John later wrote several books of his own about wildland fires, the latest being The Esperanza Fire.

Below is another photo related to the fire. It was taken in Mann Gulch by Alan Thomas, who was the editor at the University of Chicago Press who worked on Young Men and Fire with the Macleans.

Mann Gulch,
Mann Gulch. Photo by Alan Thomas of the University of Chicago Press.

Colorado Fire Chief talks about how climate change has affected his job — and his life

The video below features Elk Creek, Colorado fire chief Bill McLaughlin, whose department fought the Lower North Fork Fire in 2012 that killed three residents and burned 4,140 acres. “Climate change is very real,” says McLaughlin. “It’s changed my entire life.”