Wildfire Today

News and opinion about wildland fire

Wildfire Today

Month: March 2009

SDG&E encounters resistance to pre-emptive power shutoff plan

Author BillPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,

San Diego Gas and Electric is seeking approval from the Public Utilities Commission to turn off the power to large sections of San Diego County during periods of high fire danger.

From 10news:

A plan to shut off power to prevent power lines from sparking a wildfire has SDG&E at odds with some water districts around the county.  It may force the water districts to buy generators to keep the water running.

“The power demand of the station is the equivalent of a small city,” said Gary Arant.

The Bettsworth station is the Valley Center Municipal Water District’s main pumping station.  It takes around 5 megawatts to power the facility.

“I can’t have my water system without power for 12, 18, 24 , 36 hours,” said Arant, the district’s general manager.

He is referring to SDG&E’s emergency power shut off plan.  The plan calls for power lines to be shut off during high wind and dry conditions to avoid sparking a fire.

“Our concern is, with the SDG&E plan, we’re going to need about 8 to 12 of these units just maintain the critical service,” Arant said.

If the power is shut off, Arant says he would need auxiliary generators at a cost of $2.8 million to keep water running for customers and firefighters.  But, Arant said negotiations with SDG&E have come to a halt.

“To have them unilaterally pull the information and pull the offers off the table was very disappointing,” Arant said.

He said the utility company had been willing to work with them on offsetting the costs of the generators among other agreements, but now they will have to go before the Public Utility Commission for arbitration.

“We’re assuming they’re going to seek permission through the PUC and they’re going to try to not compensate us for the extra cost,” said Arant.

Morale problems in the U.S. Forest Service

Author BillPosted on Categories Uncategorized

From the Federal Times:

Reorganizations and cutbacks in support positions since 2004 have worsened already-poor morale at the Forest Service, a union leader told lawmakers Thursday.

Ron Thatcher, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees’ Forest Service Council, said support operations that once were maintained by field units now operate through a “stovepipe” organization that reports directly to Washington.

“Field employees no longer have local staff to consult, but call an 800 number for support,” Thatcher told the House Natural Resources subcommittee on national parks, forests and public lands.

Information technology, human resources and budgetary support functions were cut in the centralization process, Thatcher said, and field employees often find themselves doing those jobs.

Also, limited budgets, unfilled vacancies and the diversion of funds from some projects to pay for wildfire suppression all help damage morale, Thatcher said.

“Too many employees have lost the hope and belief that things can get better,” Thatcher said. “Some even hang it up by retiring earlier than they had planned, ending their careers because they are no longer able to tolerate the frustration of trying to do their jobs with their hands tied behind their backs.”

Survey results appear to confirm that morale is plummeting at the Forest Service, said Kevin Simpson, general counsel for the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service. The Partnership rated the Forest Service 143rd out of 222 agency subcomponents in its 2007 “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government” report, and a preliminary review of the results of the Office of Personnel Management’s 2008 Federal Human Capital Survey indicates the 2009 ranking will likely fall. Responses to key questions show growing dissatisfaction:

• 56 percent of Forest Service employees said they would recommend their organization as a good place to work, down from 61 percent two years earlier.
• 62 percent of employees were satisfied with their job, down from 70 percent.
• 44 percent of employees are satisfied with their organization, down from 51 percent.

Also, a low 37 percent believe they receive enough information from their managers regarding what’s going on in the agency. Simpson said that compares with a private-sector average of 66 percent.

The Esperanza fire is not out yet

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags

The trial of the moron who started the fire that resulted in the deaths of the crew of Engine 57 is virtually over except for the judge’s decison about accepting or not accepting the recommendation of the jury to execute Raymond Oyler.  But even more investigations will occur now, which could have significant implications for firefighters.

Here is an excerpt from the Press-Enterprise:

More than two years after flames trapped and killed five U.S. Forest Service firefighters on a Riverside County hillside, federal officials are preparing to release the findings of an investigation into what led to the deaths.

Their report, which could lead to criminal charges against firefighters or command officials who battled the Esperanza Fire, comes on the heels of the conviction of Raymond Lee Oyler, the arsonist now facing the death penalty for setting the blaze.

In congressional testimony last week, U.S. Agriculture Department Inspector General Phyllis Fong, whose office conducted the investigation, said she expects to issue the report by the end of the month.

The investigation has focused on the actions and decisions made by fire personnel as they attacked the swirling 43,000-acre blaze near Cabazon in October of 2006. The crew of Forest Service Engine 57 arrived at the fire in support of Cal Fire, the lead agency on the fire. Ninety-foot flames overran the crew as they fought to save a lone, unoccupied home in the small community of Twin Pines.

Forest Service and Cal Fire officials declined to comment on the report before its release. Two previous federal investigations — one conducted jointly by the Forest Service and Cal Fire, the other by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration — questioned firefighters’ decision to stay and fight the flames.

Firefighter union officials said they hoped the new findings would focus on preventing a repeat of the tragedy rather than placing blame.

“There’s still that concern that someone is going to get drug through the dirt,” said Casey Judd, manager for the Federal Wildland Fire Service Association. “If we’re going to learn something, that’s great. If we’re going to try to find someone to blame, it’s not so great.”

The probe was required by a 2002 law (editor: PL 107-203) mandating the office investigate deaths of federal firefighters who are killed in burnovers or entrapments. Similar investigations led to charges against two fire commanders in the deaths of federal firefighters in Washington State and Idaho.

The law was created after the 2001 Thirtymile Fire, which killed four firefighters in Washington. U.S. Forest Service supervisor Ellreese N. Daniels was indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter and lying to investigators.

Thanks Dick

Watch Out Situation #9

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags

 

On February 26 Wildfire Today posted some of the history of the “18 Watch Out Situations”. As we explained then, they began with the “13 Situations that Shout Watch Out” in the 1960s, and evolved in 1987 into the “18 Watch Out Situations”.

Each day from March 19 through March 30 we will be posting images depicting each of the original 13 Situations that were in the “Basic 32” wildland firefighter training program that was developed by the El Cariso Hot Shots 1972-1973.

The image above is the 4th one we have posted. It is similar to Situation #9 on the present day list of 18.

To see all of the “13 Watch Out Situation” images that have been posted to date, click on the “13/18 Situations” tag below.

New faces in the NPS national office

Author BillPosted on Categories Uncategorized

The National Park Service has recently filled quite a few postions assigned to the Fire and Aviation Managment national office.  Most of them will work out of Boise.

  • Bill Kaage will be the Branch Chief for Wildland Fire and the National Fire Management Officer beginning in April.
  • Dan Buckley, Wildland Fire Operations Program Leader.
  • Chad Fisher, Safety and Prevention Program Manager.
  • Miranda Stuart, Operations Specialist at “PFTC” in Tallahassee, FL. We are guessing that “PFTC” stands for Prescribed Fire Training Center.
  • Mark Fitch, Smoke Management Specialist.
  • Brian Johnson, Structural Fire Prevention Officer.

Research studies timber harvesting post-fire

Author BillPosted on Categories Uncategorized

A new publication, Effects of Timber Harvesting Following Wildfire in Western North America, seems to conclude something we assumed was true, and some other facts that we already knew.

The publication’s lead author, David Peterson, found, in the first category:

  • If postfire logging is conducted, the sooner it can be done after the fire, the fewer the negative effects and the higher the value of the wood.

And in the second category:

  • Each wildfire and management situation is different, and should be evaluated with respect to local soils, vegetation, hydrology, and wildlife—there is no standard formula.
  • It’s critical to consider postfire logging in the context of the entire landscape of the wildfire to minimize the potential effects of logging.
  • Logging can kill naturally regenerating trees if the soil is disturbed after the trees have been established.
  • Crown fire reduces the probability of future fire for years to decades.
  • Fire and logging—separately or combined—affect soil properties.
  • Severe, large, fires reduce water uptakes by vegetation, causing streamflow to increase and water quality to decrease.
  • Short-term effects of removing trees near aquatic systems are mostly negative.
  • Most cavity-nesting birds and other animals that live in cavities are impacted by the harvesting of large standing dead trees.

The entire publication can be found HERE.