Month: March 2009

Calif. Legislative Analyst’s Office proposes cuts for CalFire

The California Legislative Analyst’s Office says that the CalFire expenditures have more than tripled in ten years, rising from $307 million to $967. Considering the budget crisis that the state is facing, the office proposes some reductions in the CalFire budget:

• Eliminate funding for the DC-10 air tanker conctract. $6.8 million savings.
• Delay vehicle replacements. $17 million savings.
• Close low-priority fire stations and other facilities. $10 million savings.
• Cancel replacement of the Hemet-Ryan Air Attack Base. $23 million savings.

“Superfog” being studied in Florida

The deadly combination of smoke and fog that has caused massive pileups in Florida, including the one covered by Wildfire Today last year that killed five people and involved 70 vehicles, has a name: “superfog”.

It usually forms at night when high humidity combines with dense smoke and condenses into a ground-level cloud, reducing visibiilty. Meteorologists in Florida are studying this unusual weather anomaly because of its threat to motorists, given the state’s frequent prescribed fires and high humidity.

From the Orlando Sentinel:

Gary L. Achtemeier, the meteorologist who coined the word superfog in 2002, has developed a computer program that predicts superfog, and efforts are under way to link his program with those used by the National Weather Service.

“We are very intrigued by Achtemeier’s program because it’s a breaking and exciting new area,” said Bart Hagemeyer, a meteorologist with NWS in Melbourne. “There is a lot of movement in that area right now. We are learning more about it to see how we can use it locally.”

But superfog has not entranced all meteorologists.

State Division of Forestry meteorologist Deborah Hanley said fire officials do not like to use the word superfog to describe the weather phenomenon.

“There’s no question that smoke combining with fog can increase the density of fog, but the term implies smoke. Dense fog can happen on its own,” Hanley said. “We tend to prefer the term ‘whiteout.'”

Hanley thinks superfog will remain an academic term and not make its way into weather forecasts.

The superfog that shrouded I-4 on Jan. 9, 2008, began as smoke from a smoldering prescribed burn near I-4 and County Road 557.

That smoke combined with developing dense fog between C.R. 557 and State Road 559 to form superfog. Calm winds pushed the superfog onto I-4. Two hills on either side of the interstate trapped the superfog over the roadway — blinding motorists.

Hazardous-weather outlooks said patchy dense fog was expected overnight Jan. 8 and early Jan. 9, especially along the I-4 corridor. But the reports didn’t mention smoke — a key ingredient of superfog.

Closing statements today in sentencing for Esperanza fire

Both the defense and the prosecution rested on Monday and closing statements are scheduled for Tuesday.  Raymond Oyler was convicted of five counts of first degree murder for the deaths of five firefighters on Engine 57 from the San Bernardino National Forest when they were overrun by the 2006 Esperanza fire set by Oyler.

DuPont introduces advanced form of Nomex

A new version of a fire-resistant Nomex fiber introduced on March 17 by DuPont reportedly gives firefighters up to 20 percent more thermal performance during emergency conditions.  The company calls it “smart-fiber technology” and refers to the ability of the new material–initially for use in thermal liners in turnout gear–to detect emergency conditions and automatically expand to trap more air for greater thermal insulation.  This expansion occurs when temperatures reach 250 degrees Fahrenheit, but in routine conditions the material remain thin and felxible.

The new material is currently available in the U.S. and Canada and will be introduced globally in late 2009.

“I love to walk the gray line. It’s all interpretation. You do what’s right and not necessarily someone’s interpretation or impression of what the rules are. I’m kind of a renegade. I always have been.”

Rocky Oplinger, Incident Commander, Zaca Fire, 2007, being interviewed in “Behind the Lines: Fighting a Wildland Fire”.

Today I watched the documentary, “Behind the Lines: Fighting a Wildland Fire” that Wildfire Today first told you about on March 12. This 48-minute film covers not so much the flames, smoke, and air tankers that you see in news reports, but instead zooms in on the human side… the background players… the people that are largely ignored by the media.

The film was produced and directed by Jennifer A. Reinish whose previous work includes co-directing “Aphordite Project” (2004), a documentary about eight patients who collaborate with Santa Barbara artists to illuminate their cancer experiences. She has also made other documentaries, music videos, and commercials.

In “Behind the Lines”, Reinish illuminates the work that Incident Base, or “fire camp”, personnel do, out of the range of most cameras, that makes it possible for the Operations section, the actual on-the-ground firefighters, to suppress a fire.

This is done through dozens of interviews with members of the Incident Management Team and contractors, with each one describing their job at the incident base and usually what their “real job” is when they are not assigned to a fire. Many of the subjects give examples of similar work they have done on “all hazard” incidents, such as Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, and other non-fire assignments.

Several members of Hot Shot crews are interviewed as well.  Quite a few firefighters contributed still photographs and video footage which was used in the film.

The documentary was made at the 2007 Zaca fire on the Los Padres National Forest. This huge fire which burned 240,000 acres started on July 4 and was contained on September 2. It was divided into two zones, the Live Oak and Richardson zones, with each having their own Incident Management Team. Quite a few different Type 1 Teams rotated in and out, but the film includes an interview with Incident Commander Rocky Oplinger of California Team 4.

Bill Molumby, also the IC of a California Type 1 Team which spent a lot of time on the Zaca fire, can be briefly seen in a couple of shots. In fact in one scene, Molumby and Oplinger are talking to each other while standing in front of map displays, while the person being interviewed describes them as being “like two 4-star Generals”.

After watching the first few minutes of the film, realizing it mostly consisted of fire camp workers explaining their jobs, I thought I was going to be bored, having spent a lot of my life in fire camps. But it soon sucked me in. Everybody had a slightly different story, bringing the human side of fire camp to the light of day…. probably for the first time.

If I was going to nit pick, I could point out that some of the sound editing was a little distracting. In many of the scenes, the ambient noise in the background was virtually the same, sounding like a lot of people talking at the same time, even when it appeared that the person being interviewed was in a remote location with no one else visible in the shot.

For emergency management personnel, the film could be useful in training courses where the students are not very familiar with the roles and responsibilites of all incident personnel, or to introduce them to what it would be like to work at a large incident.

As we mentioned in our earlier post about the film, we learned this in an email from Reinish:

The film has been submitted to three film festivals to start with – the LA Film Festival, Mountainfilm in Telluride, and SilverDocs. I am waiting to hear on those, and will be submitting to a few more.

I am planning to do a local premiere in Santa Barbara sometime in the next few months. Proceeds of the event will be donated to a charity that Santa Barbara firefighters will choose for me.

If you want your own copy of the film, her web site has more information.

We are seeing more and more stories about firefighters being laid off, departments cancelling or delaying orders for new apparatus, and state agencies having difficulty funding thier wildfire organizations. The San Diego Union has a lengthy article about some of the challenges facing CalFire; here is an excerpt:

Meanwhile, (Govenor Arnold) Schwarzenegger has already pared emergency services.

In San Diego County, the governor ordered $1.6 million in cuts, resulting in idling an unspecified number of seasonal firefighters. Local agencies jumped in to ensure that stations stayed open, but about 10 Cal Fire engines in the county were mothballed. On April 15, staffing will be back to full strength, according to Cal Fire.

In Butte County, a region ravaged during six weeks of lightning-ignited blazes last summer, supervisors warn they may not be able to afford to maintain the number of positions contracted with Cal Fire. Supervisors will consider cutting 23 Cal Fire positions and rotate station closings later this month.

Riverside County is also pondering cuts.

At the state level, the Emergency Management Agency, formerly the Office of Emergency Services, has issued potential layoff notices to 10 deputy and assistant chiefs, including a regional officer based in Riverside who coordinates mutual-aid fire responses in the San Diego region.

Those notices could be rescinded, depending on whether spending can be trimmed elsewhere or attrition creates more vacancies.

“They remain in effect until further notice,” said agency spokeswoman Kelly Huston.

Bill Bondshu, president of the union representing some firefighters attached to the Emergency Management Agency, fears the uncertainty will force valuable officers to look for new jobs.

“I hate to lose good people. Right now, they’re kind of scared,” Bondshu said.

Del Walters, the Cal Fire director, said his agency and the governor will battle to maintain funding for the department. The governor’s 2009-10 proposed budget sets aside $538 million in general-fund money for Cal Fire – an increase of about $7 million from the current year.