Prescribed fire escapes at Devils Tower

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.

In the interest of full disclosure, Devils Tower was one of the seven National Parks for which I was the Area Fire Management Officer, from 1998 until 2003.

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

Devils Tower, snow then smoke

Devils Tower snow
Snow at at Devils Tower National Monument, April 9, 2013. NPS photo.

These photos of Devils Tower National Monument were taken a month apart.

smoke at Devils Tower
Smoke from a prescribed fire at Devils Tower National Monument, May 7, 2013. NPS photo

And from a historical perspective, the photo below was taken on the other side, the west side, of the Monument in May, 2000 a few weeks after a prescribed fire. The fire was in the foreground — the area beyond the road in the background was not part of the project.

Devils Tower, after fire in 2000
Devils Tower, in 2000, a few weeks after the West Side prescribed fire. NPS photo by Bill Gabbert.

Everglades National Park’s Boy Scout prescribed fire

Everglades National Park has produced another excellent video about their prescribed fire program. You may have seen one of their others, River of Grass, by then National Park Service employee Jennifer Brown, who now has her own video production company, Into Nature Films. Ms. Brown made this video as well, working with Fire Management Officer/Executive Producer Rick Anderson.

Boy Scout Camp Prescribed Fire from Into Nature Films on Vimeo.

Here is the description of this video:

“National Park Service managers conduct a prescribed fire in cooperation with Boy Scouts of America. Camp Everglades is in the Pine Rocklands of Everglades National Park. This active Boy Scout Camp is in a fire dependent pine forest. Plants and animals that live in this rare and imperiled forest have adapted to frequent fires that are ignited by the abundant lightning that visits the land during summer storms. Humans may have used fire in this area to stimulate the growth of fresh green shoots in this otherwise nutrient poor forest. Coontie, a primitive plant who’s roots were processed to make a starch-rich bread by Native peoples and Florida pioneers, responds well to frequent fire. Everglades fire managers work with the Boy Scouts to reduce accumulations of brush and other flammable vegetation to reduce the threat of severe unplanned wildfires.”

 

Thanks go out to Tristan

Summary of reviews of escaped prescribed fires in 2012

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.

 

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

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.