Wildfire highlights from the USDA blog

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a very active blog where they frequently post articles about activities within the department. The U.S. Forest Service, of course, is in the USDA and we found quite a few stories on the site about wildfire. Here are four examples that have appeared on the blog over the last six months, with excerpts from the articles:

January 19, 2012: US Forest Service Trains Fire Brigades in the Brazilian Amazon

Brazil Bombeiros

“…Recently, representatives from the Payette National Forest trained over 80 community and fire brigade members [in Brazil]. As a result, the landholders and tribes in Mato Grosso are better prepared to control, manage and prevent fires from destroying farms, ranches, and the remaining tropical Amazon forests in the region. The work preserves livelihoods and conserves biodiversity and tropical forests.”

December 5, 2011: French firefighters learn from California visit

French firefighters

“…The U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Region recently welcomed French fire officials Captain Philippe DelQuie and Major Pierre Bisone. The visit was part of a very successful seven year educational collaboration between France and the U.S. through the Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management’s International Fire office.

They hail from the Bouches-du-Rhone (Aix-En-Provence) Fire Department, a provincial fire agency in the south of France.

At home, their duties include wildland fire management in a Mediterranean climate similar to that found on national forestlands in southern California.

Their 12-day tour included stops at several national forests, national parks and local fire agencies.”
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Robert Stack in an arson prevention video

Remember Robert Stack from The Untouchables, Airplane, Unsolved Mysteries, and, uh, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America? And do you remember when CALFIRE used to be called California Department of Forestry, or CDF?  CALFIRETV recently posted a video of a public service announcement that Mr. Stack made in 1982 about turning in arsonists.

South Dakota state Fire Chief retires

2000 Jasper fire
The Jasper fire, about 2 hours after it started on August 25, 2000. Photo by Bill Gabbert

Joe Lowe, the Director (or Fire Chief) of the South Dakota Division of Wildland Fire Suppression retired on Monday. Joe was the first and so far the only Director of the agency that was formed in 2001. Before accepting that position, he worked in wildland fire suppression in southern California.

During most of the decade of the 1990s, there were few large fires in South Dakota. That began changing in August of 2000 when the Flagpole and Jasper fires burned 7,000 and 83,000 acres respectively in the Black Hills. Then-Governor Bill Janklow, who died of brain cancer on January 12, became extremely interested in wildfire suppression at that time.

I was the Incident Commander on the Flagpole fire for the first two days and received two late night phone calls from the Governor telling me he was sending resources to the fire, including 17 dozers and dozens of fire engines from across the state that later just showed up on the fireline. This was outside of the ordering system and the Incident Command System, and created havoc and safety issues on the fire. The Governor also directed that National Guard dozers take independent action on the Jasper fire, and threatened to start backfires without coordinating with the Type 1 Incident Management Team running the fire. The Incident Commander placed a resource order for U.S. Marshals who stood by at the Incident Command Post ready to put a halt to any actions that put firefighters in danger.

The next year, the Governor created the Division of Wildland Fire Suppression and put Joe in charge. Joe’s experience, management skills, and the fact that the Governor trusted him established a buffer between the Governor and the other wildfire organizations in the state — and we heard a collective sigh of relief. Joe brought additional professionalism and the concept of initially attacking fires with “overwhelming force” to the Division.

During his 10 years as the state Fire Chief, Joe, working with his interagency partners, helped establish the Northern Great Plains Interagency Dispatch Center, the Great Plains Interstate Compact, the State Handcrew Program, the State Aerial Firefighting Program, and the Rocky Mountain Type 2 Incident Management Team C.

Steve Hasenohrl, Assistant Chief for Administration, is the Acting Director until Joe’s replacement is named.

I tried to get in touch with Joe today, calling his gallery, Reflections of South Dakota, but he was out doing a television interview and setting up the gallery’s booth at the Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo which begins January 27. Joe has been an avid photographer for years, and opened the gallery with his wife Wendy in May of 2007.

His plans are to remain in the Rapid City area and to be available for assignments on large fires.

Joe Lowe at gallery
Joe Lowe at the opening of his Gallery in Rapid City, May 4, 2007. Photo by Bill Gabbert

Neptune gears up for early deployment of their air tankers

Neptune Aviation and Minden Air Corp have been asked by the U.S. Forest Service to have their air tankers available three to four weeks earlier than last year. We first reported on this here and here.

Below is an excerpt from a news release about how it affects Neptune.

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Neptune Aviation Accelerates Air Tanker Readiness For Predicted Early 2012 Wildland Fire Season

Neptune Aviation, the largest US private operator of fixed wing aerial tankers, is gearing up for the 2012 fire season through an accelerated maintenance and training program, given predictions of earlier than normal wildland fire out-breaks–particularly in portions of the US Southwest.

Washington, DC (PRWEB) January 26, 2012

“The US Forest Service approached us last fall, and asked that we have our aircraft available early,” said Dan Snyder, President of the Missoula-based company. “To meet our customer’s requirement, we commenced our fleet maintenance about a month early in preparation for the fire season. To do that, we leased additional hangar space at Missoula International Airport, and increased our contract maintenance staff to 30–up from the 10-15 we have employed in prior years. The contract staff supplements the 70 mechanics we employ full-time.”

Snyder noted that in a typical year, the contract maintenance staff, which includes airframe mechanics, electricians and sheet metal technicians, is on site from November through March, with the total cadre in place by January. “But, this year, we ramped up to a full staff of 30 in October, and we expect that they will be here through April, so we’re taking on more people for a longer time period,” he said.

The contract maintenance staff will focus exclusively on the company’s nine active P2V Neptune tankers. As Snyder explained, Neptune Aviation is also deploying a single BAE 146 regional jet, modified for aerial tanker duty. The aircraft has operated since October 2011, under Interagency Airtanker Board interim approval. Given the capacity constraints generated by the accelerated preparation schedule, maintenance on the BAE 146 has being outsourced to Tronos, the company which partnered with Neptune on the tanker modification.

Pilot recurrent training has also been moved up by a month, starting January 1st. Neptune currently has 25 pilots, of which five are qualified on the BAE 146.

The earlier resumption of maintenance activity, and pilot training, reported Snyder, will enable Neptune Aviation to make the first aircraft mission-ready by February 26, with the last ones available no later than May 25.

“In 2011, availability of the first aircraft, by contract with the Forest Service, was March 18, with the last one ready for dispatch by June 25,” he pointed out, adding that the longer availability time-frame will mean more time in the field for pilots, mechanics, and support vehicle drivers. Because of this, the company plans to hire additional staff in order to assure those on the line their regular periods of time off.

“Neptune Aviation was well-prepared to meet the Forest Service’s request for early aircraft availability because of changes made in our operations over the past three years,” Snyder said. “We were positioned to respond to our customers’ requests in a timely fashion, and we are on track to do that.”
Thanks go out to Dick

Northern Great Plains Dispatch moves

NGP Dispatch
The new Northern Great Plains Interagency Dispatch Center. Photo by Bill Gabbert

The Northern Great Plains Interagency Dispatch Dispatch Center was evicted from their facility at the Rapid City Regional Airport. On January 9 they became operational in a brand new building located south of Rapid City adjacent to the new Black Hills National Forest Mystic Ranger District office at 8123 South Highway 16, Rapid City, SD 57702.

During most of the decade of the 1990s, there were few large fires in the Northern Great Plains area, which includes western South Dakota, northeast Wyoming, and northwest Nebraska. Then there were several large fires in 2000 and 2001 which demonstrated the need for a coordinated dispatch center in an area where previously each land management agency handled their own dispatching. Then-Governor Bill Jankow, who died January 12 of brain cancer, was instrumental in finding the location and funding for what became the Northern Great Plains Interagency Dispatch Center (NGPIDC). Most of the $1.8 million in funds to retrofit the old unused passenger terminal at the airport came from the State of South Dakota. The first 3-year lease for the building was signed in 2001 and after gutting the interior, building new walls and offices, and installing communications systems and a backup generator, it was put into service in 2003.

The FAA, which has a great deal of control over how land and facilities are used at airports, began complaining soon after the NGPIDC moved in, saying they were not aware until then that there was a new tenant at the airport. The lease was extended for another 3 years in 2004, but in 2006 the FAA sent an eviction letter claiming that the space was needed for hangars and other aeronautical uses. The airport and the NGPIDC argued the case that the dispatch center needed to remain, but the writing was on the wall and fire managers and government officials began looking around for alternatives.

In 2009 the U.S. Congress earmarked approximately $2 million for a new facility, thanks to support from Senators John Thune and Tim Johnson, and Representative Stephanie Herseth as well as some elected officials in Wyoming. Groundbreaking occurred in October of 2010, the building was complete in December of 2011, and the move-in process began. The new building has space for several offices, consoles for approximately a half-dozen dispatchers, and a large room which can be used for expanded dispatch during major emergency incidents, or for training during the off-season.

NGPIDC logosThe agencies that are served by the NGPIDC include: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, South Dakota State Wildland Fire Suppression Division, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Wyoming Forestry Division, and the Nebraska Forest Service.

The new phone numbers at the NGPIDC are 605-716-2738, 800-275-4955, and Fax 605-343-5075.

The South Dakota State Wildland Fire Suppression Division has offices for several of their employees in the dispatch center at the airport which will have to be moved before the airport bulldozes the building. The last I heard they were still uncertain about their new location.

I stopped by to check out the new facility on Wednesday, and Sheri Fox, Center Manager, was kind enough to let me take some photos. It turned out that a Fire Science class from Western Dakota Tech was just beginning a tour, so I tagged along.

Here are some photos I took of the new facility:
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