Australian program comes to the U.S.
A program used in Australia called Recognition of Prior Learning is being introduced in the U.S., sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, and the International Association of Fire Chiefs. The process assesses the competencies of structural firefighters to determine whether they are qualified, or the degree to which they are qualified, for wildland fire fighting positions.
More details are HERE.
Oklahoma town evacuates in front of fire
As of late Monday afternoon, March 9, the 1,000 residents in the town of Laverne in Harper County, Oklohoma are being evacuated due to a large wildfire. At 5:10 p.m. local time the fire was less than a mile west of Laverne and moving northeast toward the town. Updates can probably be found at KOCO.com.
Aussie firefighter demoted for cussin’ on the radio
John Willis had 40 years of experience with the Country Fire Authority (CFA) in Australia when he was demoted for swearing during the Black Saturday bushfires in February. He had worked his way up to Captain of the Carrajung brigade, south of Traralgon when he was demoted to the rank of firefighter by local operations manager Greg Flynn.
Mr. Willis said he was criticized for using the f-word when his crew attacked a fire against orders.
But CFA executive manager of public affairs Robert Hogan said there had been three complaints in four days about “bullying language” by Mr. Willis. One was from a strike team leader and the other was from a sector controller.
Mr. Hogan said that Mr. Willis had been counselled during the previous two years over his behavior.
“He wasn’t a suitable person to represent his brigade, let alone CFA in a senior role,” Mr Hogan said. “He’s got a history of that sort of behavior.”
Interestingly, this followed a slip by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd who raised eyebrows by describing on TV the economic crisis as a “political shitstorm”.
Pueblo air tanker base opens earlier than usual
The U.S. Forest Service has opened the Pueblo, Colorado air tanker base a month earlier than usual due to unusually dry conditions and recent large fires. This is the earliest the base, which can refill tankers up to 3,000-gallon capacity, has opened since 1994.
Fires in Louisiana close school
Officials closed the Monteleone Junior High School in Madeville, Louisiana because of a threat from two fires burning near Mandevill and Slidell. The one near Mandeville has burned about 300 acres while the fire near Slidell has covered at least 1,200 acres. The students were moved off campus “out of an abundance of caution” school system spokeswoman Meredeth Mendez said.
From nola.com:
The first fire broke out near the Slidell Airport and the Bellaire subdivision. Firefighters started fighting that blaze Saturday around 11 a.m. and stayed until about midnight, when it appeared to be under control, according to department spokesman Sam Irwin.
They left the Slidell site to focus on the Mandeville fire, north of Fontainbleau State Park off U.S. 190 and west of Louisiana 1088, Irwin said.
But the winds blew hard and the fire near Slidell jumped the fire-break and continued to spread before it was again contained, he said.
Oklahoma firefighters have been busy
Last week a fire burned down about two-thirds of a city block in Weleeta, including a cafe, a flower shop, and several other buildings.
In Dewey County, a fire on March 5 forced evacuations in the towns of Taloga and Putnam. About 500 firefighters fought the blaza along with county employees and a Blackhawk helicopter from the National Guard. The fire was pushed by winds of 10 to 20 mph with higher gusts, and was complicated by dry conditions and temperatures up to 25 degrees above normal. At least one mobile home was destroyed by the flames and numerous ranchers reported significant livestock losses, said ODEM spokeswoman Michelann Ooten. The ODEM estimated the damage to be $570,000. The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved the governor’s request for federal assistance suppressing the fire.
Over the weekend more than 400 Oklahoma firefighters from 90 fire departments found the time to attend the Ninth Bob Smith Wildland Roundup for classroom instruction and hands-on training on wildland and other types of fires.
From newsok.com:
“Most of these rural fire departments in Oklahoma were specifically set up to fight wildland fires,” said Paddy Metcalf, OSU’s fire programs coordinator. “They may fight 50 wildland fires in a year, but only one structure fire.”
About 90 percent of those taking the weekend classes were volunteer firefighters from rural departments.
Metcalf praised their commitment, noting they attended the instruction on “their own nickel,” paying their own transportation, food and lodging for the three-day event.
Some departments brought along their own brushfire trucks, while OSU and the Army Ammunition Plants had their own rigs to help in the demonstrations.
U.S. Forest Service releases stimulus funds
The USFS has released almost $100 million of the $1.15 billion which was designated in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for USFS projects. The funds will be used for hazardous fuels reduction, forest health protection, rehabilitation and hazard mitigation activities on federal, state and private lands. According to the USFS, the funds released this week will create over 1,500 jobs for individuals involved in urban forestry, restoration projects, fire prevention, roads, bridges, buildings and recreation facilities.
200 tourists rescued from fire in India.
From The Hindu:
Udhagamandalam (PTI): About 200 tourists, who were caught in a forest fire near Coonoor, have been rescued, official sources said on Monday. (map)
The forest department has suspended tourism activities, following the incident, the sources said.
The fire, which was noticed in the early hours of Monday, had spread from Lampsrock on one side and Dolphin Nose (both tourist spots) on the other, around noon, as tourists in buses arrived for sight-seeing in the Coonoor forest range.
Seeing the fire spreading, the tourists became panicky and forest department officials assisted by fire force personnel and local people brought them out of the forest.
While a tourtist’s motorcycle was gutted in the fire, several tourists developed nausea and itching in the eyes, due to the smoke emanating from the fire.
Some 500 acres of forest area were damaged in the fire, the sources said.
Forest fires have been destroying the green cover in the Nilgiris district over the past two months.
