Louisiana firefighter seriously injured by falling tree

tree fell on firefighter
The tree that fell on firefighter Ezernack. From KTBS video.

A firefighter in Desoto Parish in Louisiana was seriously injured during a tree felling operation on a 100-acre wildfire Wednesday afternoon. Haden Ezernack, 21, suffered a head injury when a large hardwood tree, estimated to be 50 to 75 feet tall, fell on him. Firefighters decided to cut the tree down because it was burning and they were worried that embers from it would jump a river and spread the fire into Texas, which had happened before on another fire. The tree, which fell in an expected direction, also fell onto the Fire Chief’s car, according to one report.

Mr. Ezernack was unconscious for a while after the accident, and was airlifted to Louisiana State University Hospital where he was admitted to intensive care. He is expected to recover.  He has worked for the DeSoto Fire District since Sept. 1, 2009.

 

Wildfire briefing, September 12, 2013

Live streaming of memorial service for Token Adams

The memorial service for Token Adams, the firefighter who was killed in an apparent ATV accident while scouting a fire in New Mexico, will begin at 10 a.m. MDT today, Thursday, at KRQE and also KOBT.

Inmate firefighter truck rolls over in Arizona

An Arizona Department of Corrections crew carrier transporting a wildland fire crew rolled over Wednesday afternoon on State Route 79 near Florence, Arizona. Several inmates and one corrections officer were injured, but none of the injuries were considered life-threatening. It is unclear what caused the accident but authorities are looking for a newer white Chevrolet Tahoe or Suburban that may have been involved. The older male driver of the SUV is believed to have left the scene traveling south.

Deceased person found in Clover Fire in Northern California

On September 10, 2013 during the late evening hours, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office located a deceased person inside the Clover Fire perimeter on Coal Pit Road in the community of Igo, California while conducting a welfare check. Next of kin was notified and the person has been identified as Brian Stanley Henry, 56. We send out our sincere condolences to the family of Mr. Henry.

Survey says voters have strong connection to national forests

A recent survey of voters commissioned by the National Forest Foundation concluded that they have a strong personal connection to National Forests. These connections are so strong that four in five voters polled said despite federal budget problems, funding to safeguard National Forests should not be cut. Seventy-two percent of voters surveyed would support additional funding to maintain and restore National Forest lands even if it meant a small tax increase.

Such supporters include groups that are traditionally more tax sensitive: 63 percent of seniors and 56 percent of conservatives said they would support additional funding even if it meant a small tax increase.
wildfire serious problem
Forty-four percent (44%) of voters see uncontrollable wildfires as a serious problem. Just under half (44%) of U.S. voters say “uncontrollable wildfires that destroy property and forests” “is a serious problem, facing the nation” – with one-in-four calling it an “extremely” or “very” serious problem. This is the highest proportion to register this view since 2007. Concerns about this issue are drastically different by region, with 67% of voters in the West saying wildfires are an extremely or very serious problem and two-thirds deeming them to be at least somewhat serious.

Distribution of federal disaster aid to states

Elected representatives of some of the states that received the most federal disaster aid for wildfires, crop insurance, and storm damage, voted against federal aid for victims of superstorm Sandy.

Thief hit fire stations while firefighters fought wildfire

While crews in Walnut Creek were out fighting the Morgan Fire east of Berkeley, California Sunday night, a thief broke into Fire Station No. 7 and rummaged through lockers, desks and gym bags making off with money, an iPad, two firefighters’ wedding bands, and a watch. A second firehouse was also targeted, but a sleeping firefighter scared away the thief.

Since then, firefighters say they’ve received endless food donations, hundreds of dollars in gift cards, and offers from multiple jewelry stores to replace the stolen rings.

Tanker 131 certified

T 131 taxiing
T 131 taxiing. Photo by Dan Megna.

Coulson’s Air Tanker 131, a converted C-130Q, has been fully certified by the FAA, the Interagency AirTanker Board, and the U.S. Forest Service. The 3,500-gallon aircraft was carded on Tuesday and the pilot check rides occurred Wednesday. It should be ready to drop retardant on fires today, Thursday.

Conair begins flight testing their BAe Avro RJ85 air tanker 

Conair RJ85 first flight
Conair’s BAe Avro RJ85 first flight. BAE Systems photo.

Conair Group of Abbotsford, British Columbia has started flight testing their BAe Avro RJ85, identified as Tanker 160, which is being converted from a jet-powered airliner into an air tanker. The RJ85 is a derivative of the BAe-146, but with improved engines. The 146 first flew in 1981 while the RJ85 was first delivered in 1993. Conair is the largest air tanker operator in the world with a fleet of around 50 fixed-wing special mission aircraft, including Convair 580s, Conair Firecats, Douglas DC-6s, and Lockheed Electra air tankers.

Tanker 160 first flight
Conair’s Tanker 160, a BAe Avro RJ85 after first flight, August 21, 2013. Photo by Coastal Pacific Aviation.

The aircraft still has to be certified by the FAA, the Interagency AirTanker Board, and the U.S. Forest Service before it can be used on federal fires in the United States, a process which could take days, weeks, or months.

More information about the BAe conversion projects going on at four different companies.

Fire department packs up Granite Mountain Hotshots memorial fence

From The Daily Courier:

The chain-link fence in front of Prescott’s Fire Station 7 stood bare Tuesday morning for the first time since soon after 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots died in the line of duty more than two months ago.

In an effort to move forward from the June 30 Yarnell Hill wildfire tragedy, the Prescott Fire Department called for the removal this week of the thousands of items that materialized on the fence in the days and weeks after the Hotshots’ deaths.

Several dozen firefighters from around the area were on hand at the Sixth Street station to work with about 30 volunteers in taking down and packing up the curtain of interwoven flags, T-shirts, signs, and photos that had shrouded the fire station.

Looking at a recently burned area in Oregon through Google Glass

Video journalist Andrew Satter visited a recently burned area in southwest Oregon with Brian Ballou, a Fire Prevention Specialist with the Oregon Department of Forestry. Mr. Ballou explained how heat and drought are leading to larger and more expensive wildfires. The video was shot with Google Glass, the eyeglasses-like wearable computer. Some of the audio is not great, but it is a novel way to capture video.

ABC News investigates air tanker shortage and how it may have affected the 19 fatalities on Yarnell Hill Fire

Yarnell Hill Fire fatality site, Arizona
Yarnell Hill Fire fatality site. The site was just beyond the road, which was put in by a dozer after the accident to facilitate removal of the bodies.  Prescott FD photo by Wade Ward.

ABC News ran an 8-minute piece on Nightline yesterday about the shortage of air tankers and how it may have affected the deaths of 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots on the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30. Investigative reporter Brian Ross interviewed U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell, asking him several hard-hitting questions about why the agency has failed to rebuild the large air tanker fleet which has withered away over the last 11 years from 44 in 2002 to 11 this year. Chief Tidwell told ABC 54 different times that the Forest Service is “moving forward” to add more air tankers. Mr. Ross asked him, “How much time do you need? Is 11 years not enough?”

ABC also interviewed Division Chief Darrell Willis of the Prescott Fire Department which employed the Granite Mountain Hotshots. It was pointed out that six air tankers were requested for the Yarnell Hill Fire but five of the requests were not able to be filled, and the sixth was filled with a P2V from California which had engine problems while en route and had to return. The way the video was edited makes it appear that Chief Willis said that if the request for the six air tankers had been filled it may have saved the lives of the 19 hotshots.

The facts are that the request for six air tankers was placed 44 minutes before Air Attack reported at 4:47 p.m. that shelters had been deployed on the fire. With several other fires going at the same time, if the request had been filled, it is unlikely that any of the additional air tankers would have been close enough to drop retardant on the fire within 44 minutes after the request was placed by Air Attack.

If the request had been ordered and filled on the first day of the fire, or the second day of the fire, or the morning of the third day, it may have made a difference. On the second day, 24 hours after it was reported, it had burned six acres and was being fought by 13 firefighters. About 23 hours after that, on day three, 19 firefighters were dead.

Chief Willis has been very visible since the accident, including as recently as yesterday in an article at the Phoenix New Times, and has been quite willing to express his opinion about the causes of the deaths of 19 members of his fire department. He stated at a press conference, “It was just one of those things that happened. You can call it an accident. I just say that God had a different plan for that crew at this time.”

The Arizona State Forestry Division was responsible for suppressing the fire. Their Deputy Director Jerry Payne has also chimed in saying the hotshots violated procedures which led to their entrapment and death. After his remarks were reported by John Dougherty of Investigative Media, Mr. Payne and Jim Paxon, a spokesman for the State of Arizona who you saw in the ABC video, vigorous denied that Mr. Payne made those statements. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer later had to do damage control, admitting that Mr. Payne’s comments were in fact correctly reported, and the state issued an apology for Payne’s statements.

Our thoughts

Chief Willis and Deputy Director Payne appear to be attempting to deflect blame away from their own organizations. We suggest that both of them shut the hell up and let the official investigation run its course, which, we hope will produce a complete, honest, thorough, and fact-filled report.

ABC News, Nightline, Brian Ross, and the producers of the video deserve praise for their report. I did not detect any factual errors, which is very unusual for a lengthy mainstream media piece about wildland fire. They obviously conducted thorough research and went into the Chief Tidwell interview well prepared, asking excellent, hard-hitting questions.

Below is the transcript of the ABC News piece provided by ABC. It is extremely rough, and must have been created by a computer voice recognition program.
Continue reading “ABC News investigates air tanker shortage and how it may have affected the 19 fatalities on Yarnell Hill Fire”

Wisconsin logging company to be billed $600,000 for fire

Germann Road Fire
Germann Road Fire, May 14, 2013. Wisc. DNR photo by Phil Miller (click to enlarge)

A Wisconsin logging company will be billed $600,000 for starting the Germann Road Fire that burned 7,442 acres and 17 homes in Douglas County in May. The Department of Natural Resources said Ray Duerr Logging of Rib Lake was negligent in starting the fire with the cutting head on the harvesting equipment and allowing it to spread into adjacent vegetation.

When the DNR and insurance company investigators tested the company’s firefighting equipment water just dribbled out because it had not been maintained.

Our original article about the fire has even more excellent photos taken by the DNR.