We welcome MPC FIRE, producers of Ultra High Pressure foam systems

Richmond UHP system
Richmond (IL) Fire Department's MPC FIRE Ultra High Pressure foam system mounted on a Kubota ATV

Wildfire Today would like to welcome a new supporter, MPC FIRE, a division of Michigan Power Cleaning, which produces a line of Ultra High Pressure (UHP) foam fire suppression systems. The units can be installed in an all-terrain vehicle, pickup truck, utility vehicle or as an auxiliary system on a larger apparatus. The company builds units from 3.5 to 10 GPM creating 1,500 psi. Using up to 300 feet of light weight 3/8-inch hose, the system draws air through holes in the side of the nozzle as the water containing the foam concentrate is pumped through the nozzle. There is no need for an air compressor.

Ultra high-pressure breaks water droplets down to less than 5% of a standard low-pressure system droplet, increasing the surface area covered, while extinguishing a fire more efficiently with 60% to 90% less water..

The UHP system can be used on wildfires, flammable liquids, or structure fires. The foam cell can hold 2.5 gallons of either Class A or B foam concentrate. Units feature a CAT pump driven by a Honda or Kohler engine.

MPC FIRE uses most of their annual advertising budget to donate a UHP system to a needy fire department. The application is HERE. The 2012 drawing to select the lucky fire department will be held on July 4.

Here is a video that shows the Ultra High Pressure system in action. For the first 3-4 minutes it is being used in a wildland situation. At the 5-minute mark it is demonstrated on a structure, and then at 8:30 it’s used again on vegetation.

Prescribed fire photos

We ran across some interesting photos on InciWeb, and thought we’d share them with you. The first two are from projects on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in northern California. The last three are from the Flying J prescribed fire on the Kaibab National Forest in Arizona. All of them are U.S. Forest Service photos.

Shasta-Trinity NF Smokey T.S. Underburn, 10-27, Steve Clark USFS photo
Shasta-Trinity NF, Smokey T.S. Underburn, Steve Clark USFS photo
Shasta-Trinity NF Trinity River Management Unit, burning piles, Chris Prindiville USFS photo
Shasta-Trinity NF, Trinity River Management Unit, burning piles, Chris Prindiville USFS photo

Continue reading “Prescribed fire photos”

A 4D wildfire adventure

4D wildfire movie
Science North

Science North in Sudbury, Ontario north of Toronto is featuring a 25-minute “4D” film about fighting wildfires in Canada. Apparently the movie is in 3D, and the 4th dimension comes from the shaking of the seats, smoke, and water that hits the viewers. It looks like a lot of fun.

Science North’s description of the film:

Adrenaline rushes through your body as you witness the unfolding drama of Wildfires! A Firefighting Adventure in 4D. Feel the excitement as a ground crew, transported by helicopter into the remote wilderness, tries to contain the rapidly spreading fire Ride along with the Air Attack Officer as operations are directed from a seat high above the blaze. Be the co-pilot in a CL 415 water bomber as it undertakes the difficult and sometimes dangerous mission of controlling a major forest fire from the air, swooping down to pick up a load of water and dropping it at the centre of the action. Experience Wildfires! in the Science North Vale Cavern.

Below is a trailer:

Science North is an agency of the Government of Ontario, that “…creates and markets high quality science education and entertainment experiences which involve people in the relationship between science and everyday life.”

Everglades National Park’s excellent film about prescribed fire

Above: Prescribed Fire Burn Boss, Jon Wallace

The National Park Service and Everglades National Park have produced a wonderful film about prescribed fire in what is frequently called the “river of grass”, but this is titled “River of Fire”. (Thankfully they stayed away from the over-used terms “burning issue” and “trial by fire”.) The footage was shot during a 31,000-acre prescribed fire November 29th and 30th, 2011

While we appreciate the video projects about fire management that are produced by local land management units using not much more than an inexpensive videocam, this film takes it to the next level … or more. The technical aspects, the production values, and the editing make this project stand out among all others and in my opinion makes it suitable for network television.

When you watch it, I suggest you expand it to full screen and increase the quality to 720p or 1080p.

At the 5:00 minute mark of the 13-minute film I saw something completely unexpected — the air boat drives through flames. Watch for the ash that accumulates on the camera lens.

Congratulations to the NPS, and producer/director/editor Jennifer Brown, who has a field biology background as well as a Master of Fine Arts degree from the film program at Montana State University. In addition, Burn Boss Jon Wallace from the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge did a great job providing excellent on-camera narration.

I talked with Rick Anderson, the Fire Management Officer of Everglades National Park, who told me that Ms. Brown is a GS-9 employee working for the Environmental Education section of the Interpretation Division under a term appointment which will end soon. She has been working for the NPS for about three years, has a Red Card, her own high-definition video equipment, and has produced a number of films for the park. If you disregard her salary, the cost of making the film was very, very low. The Southeast Region of the NPS recently paid a contractor about $25,000 to make a similar film.

Mr. Anderson said they don’t use an air boat on every prescribed fire because some projects are in wilderness areas which prohibit mechanized equipment, or the water levels may not be high enough. He said a skilled air boat operator can perform some interesting maneuvers, such as spinning donuts to mash down the grass or cattails in order to create a safety zone. An operator can also make a sharp turn to create a wake, and then turn the air boat so that the fan blows air across the wave picking up water in the form of a spray or fog knocking down the fire on the other side — a unique form of fire suppression.

Here is a description of the film provided by the National Park Service:

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River of Fire is now complete and posted to YouTube. We wanted to depict both the complexity and the beauty of fire in the Everglades Ecosystem. For the narration we used the two burn bosses on this Type 1 burn. Gary Carnall from the Everglades Fire Management was the trainee and Jon Wallace from Arthur R Marshall Loxahatchee NWR was the trainer. This was intentional. These are among the best in south Florida and their collaboration is an example of Interagency cooperation here. They also demonstrate the vast amount of knowledge that fire managers must possess to gain trust in this highly complicated ecosystem. Many themes in which responsible burn bosses must possess a high level of fluency are emphasized, fire ecology, wildlife, fire behavior, exotics, water quality and concern for the community. Jon Wallace’s command of the subject matter serves as an excellent example of a burn boss representing the craft of fire management.

The quality of this short film is a testament to skilled fire managers working with a expert video producer. In this case our video producer, Jennifer Brown who has a field biology background as well as a MFA from the film program at Montana State University. She also has completed 130/190 and the arduous WCT. Her background and talent was instrumental in creating this compelling short film. All the firefighters with helmet cams in the world could not give us a production of this quality. The experience of Jon on the airboat was critical in placing Jennifer in many locations that enabled her to get this beautiful footage. She also produced the beautiful “Pine Rocklands Composition” centered upon the highly imperiled Pine Rocklands of South Florida and features Everglades prescribed fire.”

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For more information about the film or fire management at Everglades National Park contact: Rick Anderson, Fire Management Officer, at 305.242.7853.

UPDATE: April 12, 2013: The park has produced another video about their prescribed fire program about a prescribed fire at a Boy Scout camp.

Wildfire morning briefing, May 9, 2012

It is dry in much of the southwestern and eastern United States

Average precipitation, January through April, 2012:

map percent of average precipitation

Drought conditions as of May 1, 2012:

Map drought conditions

Escaped prescribed fires complicate future projects in Australia

Last year we first wrote about the prescribed fire in Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park that escaped on November 23, 2011 and pushed by strong winds, destroyed 40 structures and burned over 8,400 acres in western Australia. Residents who had refused to evacuate later had to take refuge from the fire at the ocean on a beach. They were rescued by jet ski and ferried to a search and rescue boat offshore. The report on the incident was very critical of the government’s prescribed fire program, saying some employees of the Department of Environment and Conservation were overworked and performing above their skill levels.

A recent article in The Independent examines further the prescribed fire program in Australia in light of the recent failures. Here is an excerpt:

…A lobby group called the Bush Fire Front, which was set up by a group of retired foresters in western Australia, is also predicting dire consequences unless the burning programme is “greatly expanded”. The Front’s chairman, Roger Underwood, deplores a backlash against DEC’s staff, who have stopped wearing uniforms after being hissed at and abused in the Margaret River shops.

“DEC has been looking after their fire safety for years, doing all the dirty work,” says Mr Underwood. “They make one mistake and are crucified for it.”

However, as locals point out, it was not just one mistake. On the day of the fire, another controlled burn escaped near Nannup, east of Margaret River, incinerating 125,000 acres of national park and state forest, and damaging a farm part-owned by Stewart and Alison Scott. Mr Scott was about to start the afternoon’s milking when he saw flames sweeping towards his property. He dashed over to warn his family, but the smoke was so thick that one of his farmhands – who had leapt on a quad bike – collided with a car. The man suffered head injuries and spent months in Royal Perth Hospital.

California wildfire burns structures

A wildfire near Acton, California in southern California yesterday burned 126 acres and several structures. Inspector Quvondo Johnson of Los Angeles County Fire Department said an aggressive air attack, which included five helicopters and fixed wing air tankers, helped the crews on the ground contain the fire.

CAL FIRE sent S-2 air tankers from Porterville and Hemet, 120 miles and 90 miles from the fire, respectively. There were no federal air tankers at the air tanker base at Landcaster, 18 miles from the fire. The DC-10 very large air tankers are based at Victorville, 60 miles east of Acton.

Is fire suppression causing water shortages?

An opinion piece in the LA Times claims the 100-year old policy of wildfire suppression in the United States has caused water shortages. The theory is that over-stocked forests that have become that way due to successful suppression of fires, have locked up moisture in the trees and reduced runoff. Here is an excerpt from the article:

Today, the hottest and thirstiest parts of the United States are best described as over-forested. Vigorous federal protection has stocked semiarid regions of public land with several billion trees too many. And day after day these excess trees deplete a natural resource that has become far more precious than toilet paper or 2-by-4’s: water.

I will have to go on record as being skeptical of this trees-causing-water-shortage theory.

2011 summary of incident reviews

The Wildfire Lessons Learned Center has released a report summarizing the information gleaned from the seventy-eight 2011 incident review reports—from various agencies—submitted to and gathered by the LLC.

New Mexico establishes fire notification system

The state of New Mexico has established a system by which residents can be notified about wildfires. Emails will contain information including when the fire started, the cause, and a description of threatened homes and communities. For now, the system will send people who sign up for the service information about all fires within the state. Later it will be refined so that notifications can be filtered to more specific locations, such as counties. Anyone can sign up HERE.

 

Thanks go out to Johnny and Dick.

CAL FIRE seeks agreement to use Channel Island National Guard base to reload air tankers

Channel Island MAFFS C-130 2012
A C-130J MAFFS from the 146th Airlift Wing during recertification, March 7, 2012. Photo by Senior Airman Nic Carzis.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) is negotiating an agreement with the California Air National Guard to enable Channel Island National Guard base (map) in Ventura County near Oxnard to be used as a reload base for air tankers working on wildfires. For years the base, the home of the 146th Airlift Wing, has been capable of reloading two C-130s stationed at the base outfitted with Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems (MAFFS) which can be slipped into the cargo hold enabling them to drop 3,000 gallons of fire retardant on fires, but other state or federal air tankers have not been allowed to use the base. John Winder, the CAL FIRE Assistant Deputy Director of Fire Protection Operations, told Wildfire Today that the goal of the agreement is for any military, state, or federal air tanker to be able to use the base for reloading. The U.S. Forest Service would also have to approve the use of the base before their contracted air tankers could use it since the federal agency has different requirements for reload bases than CAL FIRE.

The reload facility would be call-when-needed, most likely operated by CAL FIRE personnel who could have it up and running a few hours after being notified.

According to Mr. Winder, the Channel Islands base is one of only six locations in California where MAFFS air tankers can reload, with the others being Chico, Fresno, San Bernardino, Victorville, and Paso Robles. Not every base has runways, taxiways, and ramps that are capable of handling an aircraft the size and weight of a C-130.

The California Air National Guard C-130s can be activated for use on wildfires within the state fairly easily with approval from the Governor. To be used outside the state requires a more complex federal-level approval governed by an agreement specifying that the aircraft be able to respond within 48 hours, but they usually are mobilized within 36 hours. Both the state and federal approvals require some level of previous commitment of standard non-military air tankers on going fires.
Thanks go out to Johnny