Sen. John McCain, Thomas Tidwell (Chief of the Forest Service), and Tom Harbour (Director of Fire and Aviation, USFS) at the Wallow fire, June 18, 2011. Photo by USFS.

On June 18 Senator John McCain flew with Tom Harbour, Director of Fire and Aviation for the USFS, and Thomas Tidwell, Chief of the Forest Service, to Arizona to be briefed on the Wallow fire. He met with reporters that day and started his own firestorm when he was quoted as saying:

There is substantial evidence that some of these fires have been caused by people who have crossed our border illegally. The answer to that part of the problem is to get a secure border.

McCain received a great deal of criticism for his rather vague statement, some of which accused him of unfairly pointing the finger at “vulnerable populations”. It was not clear to which fires McCain was referring, but two cousins from southern Arizona were charged with starting the Wallow fire by leaving a campfire unattended. McCain may have been thinking of the Monument fire which started June 12 near the Arizona/Mexico border and, according to a well-publicized theory by Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever, may have been caused by illegal border crossers. We checked today and the cause of the Monument fire is officially still “under investigation”, according to the Coronado National Forest.

It turns out that in 2010 McCain and three other senators, Lisa Murkokwski, John Barrasso, and Jon Kyl requested that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conduct a study about wildfires in the Arizona border area. The 55-page report which was released today, covers:

• The number, cause, size, and location of wildland fires from 2006 through 2010;
• Economic and environmental effects of human-caused wildland fires burning 10 or more acres;
• Extent to which illegal border crossers were the ignition source of wildland fires on federal lands; and
• Ways in which the presence of illegal border crossers has affected fire suppression activities.

From the report, here are some numbers relating to Arizona border area fires. The GAO looked at data for fires that occurred from 2006 through 2010:

• 2,467 fires were examined in the report
• 2,126 or 86% of the fires were caused by humans
• 1,364 fires burned less than one acre
• 1,553 or 63% of the 2,467 fires started on federally managed or tribal land
• $35 million, the suppression costs for the fires that burned more than 10 acres
• ?… the number of fires ignited by illegal border crossers on federal lands is not known because not all fires were investigated
• 422 human-caused wildland fires occurred on Forest Service, Interior, or tribal lands and burned at least 1 acre
• 77 of the above 422 fires were investigated.
• 30 (or 39%) of the above 77 investigated fires were identified as being caused by illegal border crossers
• 57 additional fires were not formally investigated but were suspected (by individuals who completed fire reports) of being caused by illegal border crossers
• 4% of the 2,216 human caused fires were identified by investigators or by individuals who completed fire reports as being caused by illegal border crossers

Below are three graphics from the GAO report, followed by Conclusions and Recommendations:

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Helicopter's hard landing on Blackburn Canyon fire. Photo credit Jeff Zimmerman, Zimmerman Media LLC

Jeff Zimmernan took this amazing photo of helicopter 205ww after it make a hard landing on the Blackburn Canyon fire near Tehachapi, California September 4, 2011. Jeff said the pilot was making water drops and had to release the bucket, then auto rotated to a hard landing. You can see that the skids flattened out as designed. Paramedics took the pilot to a hospital.

We wish the best for the pilot. And thanks, Jeff, for the photo.

"Big Dawg", a Sikorsky S58T

On August 11 I happened to be passing by the airport at Chester, in northeast California. It was 6 p.m., quitting time, and the U. S. Forest Service helitack crew was walking over to their cars, but one of them was nice enough to give me and my motorcycle riding partner a brief tour of the three Type 1 and Type 2 “restricted use” helicopters they were managing. The term “restricted” means they are not approved for transporting passengers.

UH1 (Bell 205) operated by Archer Aviation

UH1 (Bell 205) operated by Trans Aero Helicopters

The hydraulic-powered submersible pump that can fill the 330-gallon belly tank in a little over a minute.

It has been just over two years since we visited the wildfire helitack base at the Custer, South Dakota airport during their open house which commemorated 50 years of service. Unfortunateley when I stopped by the other day, there was no barbecue grill stocked with hot dogs and hamburgers like last time. Poor planning on my part.

This year Custer helitack has the same combination of helicopters they have had for the last four years, one Type 3 and a Type 1.

Boeing-Vertol 107 Type 1 helicopter at the Custer, SD helibase

The Vertol crew told me that the helicopter has been used for approximately 160 flight hours so far this fire season.

Astar Type 3 helicopter at the Custer, SD helibase

The ground response vehicles at the Custer, SD helibase. L to R: the contractor's helicopter service truck, the NPS-supplied crew vehicle, and the USFS-supplied helitack truck.

Note the two decals, U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service, on the door of the white 4-door pickup. The helicopter operation is interagency. In addition to the obvious USFS funding, the NPS contributes that truck and a crewperson or two.