Another use for a fire engine in Spain

Fire engine plowing snow in the East of SpainWhen we wrote about a fire engine near Jaen, Spain being used for purposes other than suppressing wildland fires, we asked for other photos of engines multi-tasking. Jesús Morcillo i Julià sent us the photo above with this description:

I’m a wildland firefighter in Valencian Community, in the East of Spain.

The service where I work is “Unitat de Brigades d’Emergència de la Generalitat Valenciana” or simply UBE.

The UBE is the essencial emergency service where valencian wildland firefighters are assigned and our mission is wildland firefighting and other emergency actions, mainly in the administrative area of the Valencian Country.

As you can see, during the off-season we and our vehicles are destinated to restore normalcy after the frequent snowstorms.

I hope you like the pic. It was taken in the Penyagolosa’s Natural Park, a really beautiful spot.

That’s all. Congrats for your very interesting website.

Thanks Jesús.

Investigators determine exploding targets caused 7,300-acre Goat Fire

U.S. Forest Service investigators have determined that target shooters using exploding targets caused the Goat Fire which burned 7,378 acres three miles southwest of Pateros, Washington (map) in September. Investigators had previously said that two other fires in the state may have been started by exploding targets — a 120-acre blaze in Mud Creek Entiat and another on Deadman Hill near Cashmere.

Here is an excerpt from the Wenatchee World:

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is reviewing the U.S. Forest Service investigation into the Goat Fire near Pateros, said Forest Service spokesman Tom Knappenberger.

He said criminal charges could be filed later.

Anyone convicted of igniting the blaze could also be required to pay for suppression costs and other damages.

The Goat Fire burned mostly on Forest Service land, but also charred some private property and Bureau of Land Management land.

Emergency service towers, cellular phone towers, local television broadcast equipment, and buried power lines were threatened in the fire that burned from Sept. 15 until Nov. 9.

These devices have become more popular in the last year. When we wrote about this dangerous trend last October, with a quick Google search we found 22 fires during a 5-month period that were started by the use of exploding targets.

Goat Fire
Goat Fire. Photo by Kurt Ranta.

 

Thanks go out to Carl

Obama nominates petroleum engineer/REI CEO to lead Interior Department

Updated at 12:09 p.m. MT, February 6, 2013

Sally Jewel
Sally Jewel, after being introduced by President Obama in the White House, Feb. 6, 2013

President Obama nominated Sally Jewell today to be the next Secretary of Interior. If confirmed by the Senate, she will oversee 500,000,000 acres of public land, including the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and many other agencies within the department. She will replace Ken Salazar, a former senator from Colorado, who has led the department since the beginning of the Obama administration.

Presently Ms. Jewell, 56, is the chief executive officer of Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), a company that sells outdoor clothing and equipment. Born in England as Sally Roffey, Ms. Jewell moved to the United States in 1959 when her father, an anesthesiologist, took up a fellowship at the University of Washington. After she graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in mechanical engineering she worked for Mobile Oil in the oil fields of Oklahoma for three years. After that she became a petroleum engineer for Rainier Bank during a time when banks began to hire engineers to understand the value of collateral under the ground so that they could make intelligent loans. Rainier Bank was acquired by Security Pacific, and Ms. Jewell ran their business banking activities.

After 20 years in the banking industry she became a board member of REI, and in 2000 was hired as their chief operating officer. If confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of Interior, she will leave REI as their president and chief executive officer. In 2010 the company had 118 stores and $1.7 billion in sales. She represents a break from the past Secretaries of Interior, who have primarily been career politicians from the western United States.

Ms. Jewell sits on the board of the National Park Conservation Association, an organization that is not officially connected with the government or the National Park Service.

According to the Washington Post:

Jewell has pushed for land conservation in Washington state, where she lives, as well as nationally. She is a founding board member of the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, which focuses on a stretch of land from Puget Sound across the Cascades, and helped lay out a plan for the National Park Service as a commissioner on the “National Parks Second Century Commission.”

A mother’s reaction to the criminal charges against the former Carson Helicopters employees

The mother of one of the firefighters killed in the crash of the Carson-owned helicopter has been following very closely the NTSB and criminal investigations into the crash that killed her son, Scott Charlson, six other firefighters, and two air crew members. Both investigations agreed that Carson Helicopters intentionally falsified documents about the performance of their helicopters which led the U.S. Forest Service and the flight crew to erroneously believe the Sikorsky S-61N could carry the load of firefighters when it attempted to lift off from a helispot on the Iron 44 Fire in northern California in 2008. The helicopter crashed and burned as it struggled to become airborne, killing nine people.

Last week a federal grand jury in Medford, Oregon indicted Steven Metheny, 42, former Vice President of Carson Helicopters, and Levi Phillips, 45, the former maintenance chief of the company, for charges which could earn them 20 or more years in federal prison if convicted.

Below is the reaction of Scott’s mother, Nina Charlson, to the indictments:

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“I am very thankful the criminal investigation was pursued. While it does not bring our loved ones back or change the heartache and emotional torture surviving firefighters and families have had to endure the past 4 ½ years it does confirm some of the things we have been told since the crash.

Besides the sentences the Federal Government will hand out I would like for these two men, Steve Methany and Levi Phillips to sit before the family and friends (one family at a time) of Shawn Blazer, Scott Charlson, Matt Hammer, David Steele, Caleb Renno, Edrick Gomez, Bryan Rich, Roark Schwanenberg and Jim Ramage and hear how their lives have changed since 7:45 p.m. August 5, 2008. I would like for them to sit before Bill Coultas, Mike Brown, Jon Frohreich and Rick Schroeder and their families and hear how their lives changed that night. I would like them to sit before the firefighters that were on the mountain at the time of the crash and listen how their lives changed that night. I would like for them to sit before Grayback Forestry, US Forest Service, Cal-Fire and the entire firefighter brotherhood and hear what they have to say about that fateful night.

We were told this crash was preventable and predictable on many levels and sadly we have found that to be true. Initially when I was told about the crash – foul play was not what came to my mind. Accidents happen. But this was no accident and it complicates the grief we are experiencing.

Nothing that takes place in the future can bring our loved ones back to us or stop the emotional torment that is present in so many minds at this very moment because of the criminal acts these two men committed over and over again – even after the crash. No remorse – it was all about them, their greed and their life.

Several families of the fallen firefighters have determined to take as many steps as necessary to send a message to anyone in the future who may be driven by greed or glory. We will remind them of the bottom line – Our sons, fathers and husbands lives. We will do whatever it takes to help protect lives and families in the future. In Dec. of 2011 several families of the fallen traveled back to Washington DC to attend a Public Aircraft Forum hosted by the NTSB. There were very powerful worldwide leaders in the Public Aircraft world that were present. We were thanked by many of them for being there because we gave them a visual of what their good or poor decisions can do. It is not easy for us to make these trips financially or emotionally but if we can influence decisions to save future lives we will continue in the honor of our loved ones who paid the ultimate price.”

Former employees of Carson Helicopters indicted over fatal Iron 44 Fire crash

Sikorsky S-61N helicopter operated by Carson
Sikorsky S-61N helicopter operated by Carson

Two former employees of Carson Helicopters are facing 20 years or more in prison for charges related to the crash of a helicopter August 5, 2008 that killed nine people (seven firefighters and two crew members) as it attempted to take off from a remote helispot on the Iron Complex or Iron 44 Fire in northern California.

Last week a federal grand jury in Medford, Oregon indicted Steven Metheny, 42, former Vice President of Carson, and Levi Phillips, 45, the former maintenance chief of the company, for charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States which could earn them up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Metheny was also indicted in 22 other counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, making false statements to the Forest Service, endangering the safety of aircraft in flight, and theft from an interstate shipment. In addition to the 20 years for conspiracy to defraud charges, he could get a maximum sentence of 20 years for every mail and wire fraud count, 20 years for each endangering the safety of aircraft in flight count, 10 years for the interstate theft count, and up to five years for each false statement count.

According to the findings of  the National Transportation Safety Board in 2010, there was “intentional wrong-doing” by Carson Helicopters that under-stated the weight of the Sikorsky S-61N helicopter and over-stated its performance in the documents they provided to the USFS when bidding on $20 million in firefighting contracts for seven helicopters. As a result, when the helicopter attempted to take off from the helispot on the Iron 44 Fire with firefighters and a flight crew of three, it was over the allowable weight even before the firefighters boarded the ship. The helicopter crashed into some trees and caught fire, just after lifting off.

Killed in the crash were pilot Roark Schwanenberg, 54; USFS check pilot Jim Ramage, 63; and firefighters Shawn Blazer, 30; Scott Charlson, 25; Matthew Hammer, 23; Edrik Gomez, 19; Bryan Rich, 29; David Steele, 19; and Steven “Caleb” Renno, 21. The copilot and three other firefighters were seriously injured.

In March of 2012, a jury ordered the manufacturer of the helicopter’s engines, General Electric, to pay $69.7 million to William Coultas (the surviving pilot), his wife, and the estate of Roark Schwanenberg (the pilot who was killed).

After the crash, between September 26 and October 3, 2008, the USFS suspended the contract for some of Carson’s helicopters. On February 18, 2009, the USFS canceled their contract (copy of the contract) with Carson (copy of the termination letter) based on inaccurate claimed weights of the helicopters. The company then surrendered their FAA Certificate which is equivalent to an operating license. After that they received a contract for seven S-61s to fly for the military in Afghanistan as a subcontractor for the company formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, which was renamed “Xe”. In February 2010, Sikorsky announced a joint venture with Carson to supply up to 110 modernized S-61T helicopters to the U.S. government, primarily for the State Department.

The U.S. Attorney’s office in Oregon is working with the Offices of Inspector General for both the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Transportation in Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington, and the FBI and the IRS in Medford, Oregon in the investigation and prosecution of this case.

Thanks go out to Joseph and Kelly.

Oklahoma: Prescribed fire at Chickasaw NRA

Prescribed fire at Chickasaw National Recreation Area

These five excellent photos were taken by M. Fidler during a prescribed fire project in Chickasaw National Recreation Area in Oklahoma at the end of January and the beginning of February, 2013. The name of the prescribed fire was Cedar Reduction 2013. Many more pictures are on the National Park Service Fire and Aviation Management Facebook page.

Prescribed fire at Chickasaw National Recreation Area
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