Tag Archives: escaped prescribed fire

Fallout from the Devils Tower escaped prescribed fire

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Two newspapers, at least, are running a story following up on the May 7 prescribed fire in Devils Tower National Monument that escaped during mopup operations the following day and burned 56 acres outside the project boundary. All except one or two of those “bonus acres” were inside the Monument. The small amount that crossed over the boundary unfortunately burned land leased by Wyoming state Senator Ogden Driskill, but did not damage any structures.

The Billings Gazette and the Rapid City Journal published the same article written by Kevin Woster of the Rapid City Journal. Senator Driskill’s wife, Rosanne Driskill was quoted as saying:

Fire is a legitimate management tool. Farmers and ranchers use it themselves,” Rosanne Driskill said. “But you don’t do it in your front yard or on the face of a national monument.

However, the Monument’s Chief Ranger, Drew Gilmour, thankfully disagreed, saying that is exactly where you want to do it in order to control invasive plants and reduce fallen timber and other snags that can fuel future wildfires.

Meadow prescribed fire, Devils Tower NM

File photo of the Meadow prescribed fire, Devils Tower National Monument, May, 2000. NPS photo.

Devils Tower has conducted many prescribed fires without any escapes until this year. But a few of the locals have previously been vocal in their opposition. Around 1996 or 1997, one of the projects burned a little hotter than anticipated and took out a pretty good sized patch of Ponderosa Pine on the east side below the tower —  the most visible aspect that can easily be seen from the main highway and as visitors drive into the entrance road. One local citizen was quoted as saying, “The Monument is ruined for generations!”. Since then many of the trees killed in that fire have fallen, and much of the downed wood was probably consumed in the May 7 prescribed fire.

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Prescribed fire escapes at Devils Tower

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Devils Tower prescribed fire

File photo of the Meadow prescribed fire in Devils Tower National Monument, May, 2000. NPS photo by Bill Gabbert.

A few hours after the National Park Service posted a very nice photo on their Facebook page of a prescribed fire at Devils Tower (map) in Wyoming, (which we placed on Wildfire Today) the fire escaped and burned 56 acres outside the project boundary.

Firefighters from the Northern Great Plains unit of the National Park Service ignited the prescribed fire on Tuesday, May 7, but winds on Wednesday caused it to spot across the control line in the afternoon, burning 56 unplanned acres in the southwest part of the Monument. The original intent was to treat 300 acres with fire.

Named Belle Fourche, the fire damaged a power line, interrupting the electrical service for 15 to 20 residences. The power company restored the electricity later in the day.

Today, Thursday, the fire is 90 percent contained and firefighters are mopping up.

We don’t have the exact number of resources that were on the fire, but we found out that the fire organization ordered breakfast for 115 people on Thursday.

At the automatic weather station at Devils Tower on Tuesday and Wednesday the temperature was in the mid 70s. The relative humidity on Tuesday bottomed out at 17 percent, but was higher on Wednesday at 24 percent.

On Thursday, the day the fire escaped, the wind speed was 5 to 7 mph, with gusts at 13 to 22 mph. The previous day it was 2 to 6 mph, gusting at 10 to 12.

Below is a map showing the approximate location of the planned prescribed fire. The Tower is just outside the project boundary, shaped a little oddly in this Google Earth 3-D rendering.

Devils tower Belle Fourche prescribed fire

Approximate location of the planned Belle Fourche prescribed fire at Devils Tower. The green line is the Monument’s boundary. Wildfire Today map. (click to enlarge)

Thanks go out to Al

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Ranchers donate hay to victims of escaped prescribed fire

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Ranchers in western North Dakota will be donating hay to their fellow ranchers whose grazing lands burned April 3 after a prescribed fire escaped on the Grand River Ranger District of the Dakota Prairie National Grasslands in South Dakota. The prescribed fire conducted by the U.S. Forest Service was supposed to have been a 130-acre project, but it escaped control on a windy day and burned 10,800 acres southwest of Lemmon, South Dakota.

Some of the ranchers who will be donating hay received similar donations after a massive 1999 wildfire in McKenzie County and have not forgotten that kindness. They are also making arrangements to help rebuild some of the 64 miles of fence that was damaged in the fire.

Here is an excerpt from an article at FarmAndRanchGuide:

…There were 11 ranchers affected by the fire, some more than others and one who lost all his grass.

Frank Carroll, a retired Forest Service employee who specializes in filing damage claims, met with them this week to get the process started. The Forest Service has said it’s up to ranchers to pay their own damages and then file claims, a process that will take up to two years.

Carroll said one rancher lost 26 calves because cows had to be pushed from a burned hay yard out on to stubble, though other losses were less dramatic. He said fence damages alone tallies around $1.4 million and replacement hay and feed will be another cost.

The Grand River Grazing Association paid Carroll to spend Thursday and Friday with affected ranchers as a group and one on one, said secretary Cathy Evans.

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Summary of reviews of escaped prescribed fires in 2012

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WICA Headquarters West Rx

Headquarters West prescribed fire in Wind Cave National Park (that did NOT escape), September 3, 2009. Photo by Bill Gabbert

The Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center conducted a review of prescribed fires that escaped in 2012. Here is an excerpt:

During the course of the 2012 season, the National Interagency Fire Center reports that 16,626 prescribed fires treated 1,971,834 acres. At the end of 2012, the Lessons Learned Center (LLC) received reviews on seven escaped prescribed fires (housed in the LLC Incident Review Database [IRDB]). In addition, other agency notifications and media reports indicated seven additional escaped prescribed fires occurred in 2012. (Reviews from these seven events were not submitted to the LLC. Factors associated with these seven escapes are not considered in the detailed analysis that follows.)

When viewed as a whole, 14 escapes out of more than 16,600 prescribed fires represent a very small percentage: 0.08 %. While this might seem to be an insignificant number, it’s only part of the story.

2012 Escaped Rx fire list

The Lessons Learned Center looked for common themes. They are listed below, but are not necessarily the causes of the escapes.

  • Are you ready for an escape on Day 1? Are you still vigilant two weeks later?
  • How do you deal with issues related to unburned fuels inside your project area?
  • Are your Mop-up Plans adaptable to burn results and forecasted weather?
  • How familiar are you and your burn organization with your fuels and your unit?
  • Can you pay for your contingency resources?
  • Be careful what you ask your prescribed fire organizations to do. They’ll find a way to do it, even if conditions are less than ideal.

 

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South Dakota: USFS prescribed fire escapes, burns 14,000 acres

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Pautre Fire. US Forest Service photo.

Pautre Fire. US Forest Service photo.

UPDATED at 11:25 a.m. MT, April 6, 2013:

Map Pautre Fire

Map of the Pautre Fire at 0000 on 4-4-2013, provided by USFS.

The US Forest Service has announced that their escaped prescribed fire is 90 percent contained and is now estimated to have burned 10,800 acres southeast of Hettinger, North Dakota and southwest of Lemmon, South Dakota. One outbuilding has burned, along with fences, hay, and pastures.

On Friday there were 16 engines and 2 water tenders assigned. Firefighters have been engaged in mopup, including trying to put out a burning dump site close to the fire perimeter.

There will be a public meeting at the North Dakota State University Research Center in Hettinger, ND on Saturday April 6 at 4:00 p.m. Information about the Pautre Fire and the claims process will be presented by the USFS.

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UPDATED at 10:23 a.m. MT, April 5, 2013:

An article in The Rapid City Journal has more information about the impacts of the fire on the ranchers. Privately owned grazing, hay stacks, and miles of fencing were damaged or destroyed during the ranchers’ calving season. Here is an excerpt:

Laurie Casper, 36, said the fire destroyed 95 percent of her family’s farmland, which is more than 1,000 acres.

“We lost all of our calving pasture, we lost our summer grazing, we lost our fall grazing, we lost 100 percent of our alfalfa— which we cut for hay bales in order to feed the cattle this oncoming winter— all that’s completely gone,” she said. “And there’s just just miles and miles of fences that are completely gone.”

Casper’s family didn’t sleep on Wednesday night. The fire came at the worst time for them and other ranchers: the middle of calving season. While Casper’s family found refuge for their cattle in a neighbor’s cornfield, her family is now worried about their herd’s health. On Thursday morning, their cattle wouldn’t clean their calves because they smelled like smoke. They also fear their livestock may suffer respiratory issues after inhaling dust and smoke.

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UPDATED at 10:21 p.m. MT, April 4, 2013:

The Pautre Fire is 75 percent contained and is still estimated to have burned 14,000 acres.

Eighteen fire engines and two water tenders are assigned to the fire and continue to work on strengthening the perimeter and providing structure protection. Full containment of the fire is expected by Friday evening.

Paul Hancock, Grand River District Ranger said, “As suppression operations are ending, the Forest Service will be conducting an assessment to determine property damage and working on short and long term strategies to pay for the damage we caused.”

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(Originally published at 12:34 p.m. MT, April 4, 2013)

A prescribed fire on the Grand River Ranger District of the Dakota Prairie National Grasslands escaped on Wednesday and burned 14,000 to 16,000 acres of grassland near Lemmon in northwest South Dakota (map). The fire was being conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, the agency that administers the National Grassland.

Babete Anderson, a spokesperson for the National Grassland, told Wildfire Today Thursday morning that the spread of the wildfire now named the Pautre Fire, has been stopped and no structures were destroyed. A little snow Thursday morning assisted firefighters with mopup

The original plan for the prescribed fire called for treating 130 acres with fire. At about 2 p.m. on Wednesday winds gusting up to 30 mph pushed the fire across control lines. Approximately 50 to 60 percent of the acres that burned were on private land. Firefighters are calling it 50 percent contained on Thursday and expect strong winds again late in the afternoon on Thursday.

“The Forest Service regrets that the prescribed burn escaped the containment lines and affected so many people. I appreciate the support and efforts from the firefighters, their families and the communities affected by this fire.” stated Paul Hancock, Grand River District Ranger.

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Montana DNRC prescribed fire escapes, burns 560 acres

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Montana DNRCA prescribed fire being conducted by the Montana Department of Resources and Conservation north of Great Falls on Wednesday escaped and burned 560 acres of state and private land. The goal of the project was to treat 160 acres of DNRC trust land with prescribed fire.

The fire got away at about 12:30 p.m. when the fire activity increased and the five engines on scene ran out of water and could not contain it. After receiving assistance from firefighters in Cascade and Teton counties they controlled the fire by 3:30 p.m. No structures or crops were damaged.

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