Firefighter burned in Oklahoma
A firefighter working on a grass fire in Rogers County, Oklahoma was burned Saturday. A spokesman for the Tri District Fire Department in Claremore, OK (map) said the firefighter suffered second and third degree burns on his hands, but “is doing fine now”, according to Emergency Management Director Bob Anderson.
Firefighters in Rogers County were very busy on Saturday as strong winds pushed numerous grass fires through fuels that had been “freeze-dried” by snow over a week ago. One of the fires started when a bush hog hit a rock that sparked, and another fire burned over 2,000 acres.
The fire on which the firefighter got burned was started by a resident burning brush. That fire endangered 15 houses, and “probably the only thing that saved them was they were brick”, said Anderson.
Black Hills pine beetle epidemic compared to 10,000-acre fire
On Monday newly elected U.S. Representative Kristi Noem held a roundtable meeting at the Black Hills National Forest Mystic Ranger District office in Rapid City, South Dakota (map). One of the primary topics was the impact of the mountain pine beetle on the forests and the economy. Tom Troxel, director of the Black Hills Forest Resource Association, compared the beetles to a large wildfire:
If there was a 10,000-acre fire in the Black Hills, the Forest Service would have all the people and money they needed. And I think this pine beetle epidemic is every bit as catastrophic as a 10,000-acre fire.
Rapid City Mayor, Alan Hanks said big fires chase tourists away and damage the economy. And the Black Hills is just one big fire away from the kind of economic and social impacts those who care about the area hate to imagine, he said. He advocated increased timber harvesting in order to slow the spread of the beetles.
Noem said she would work on making the administrative process to thin the forests less cumbersome, and would seek to eliminate “job-killing regulations”. She reminded those attending the meeting that her membership on the House Natural Resources Committee and its Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands will provide opportunities to streamline regulations on forest management.
