We just looked at some of the visitor statistics for Wildfire Today and noticed that 3.83% used an iPhone or an Android-based smart phone to access our web site over the last five weeks. That breaks down to 2.29% using an iPhone, and 1.54% using an Android device. And 0.65% used an iPad.
We will be curious to see if those numbers change with Thursday’s introduction of the iPhone on the Verizon network. The iPhone, until then, was only available on the AT&T network. We have a theory, that many of the people that are interested in wildfire live in areas that are not well served by AT&T and that Verizon may better suit their needs. There may be a pent-up demand for the iPhone so it will be interesting to see if that percentage increases. Of course the cost of the iPhone and early termination fees for switching carriers may slow down the acquisition of new phones.
Let us know, in the poll below, where you stand on the subject of smart phones and iPads. You can select a maximum of two items. If you are a new Verizon iPhone owner, leave a comment (or response) — what do you think of it so far?
The Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation Operations, commonly known as the Red Book, “states, references, or supplements policy for Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service fire and fire aviation program management”. The January, 2011 edition has a very significant change in Chapter 11, Incident Management and Response. It appears to prohibit wildland firefighters from taking direct action on vehicle fires. Here is a quote from page 21 in Chapter 11:
Structure, Vehicle, Dumpster, Trash, and Landfill Fires
Firefighters will not take direct suppression action on structure, vehicle, dumpster, trash, or landfill fires. Structure, vehicle, and landfill fire suppression is not a functional responsibility of wildland fire resources. These fires have the potential to emit high levels of toxic gases. This policy will be reflected in suppression response plans.
Firefighters who encounter structure, vehicle, or landfill fires during normal wildland fire suppression duties, or who are dispatched to such fires due to significant threat to adjacent agency protected lands/resources, will not engage in direct suppression action. Structure protection (not suppression) activities will be limited to exterior efforts, and only when such actions can be accomplished safely and in accordance with established wildland fire operations standards.
• NPS– For structural fire (including vehicle, trash and dumpster fires) response, training, medical examination, and physical fitness requirements, and hazardous material response or control guidance, refer to chapter 3.
For the National Park Service, the referenced wording in Chapter 3, page 12, is a little confusing, perhaps intentionally, but my interpretation is that NPS firefighters can STILL suppress vehicle and structure fires if they have been “provided with the required personnel protective equipment, firefighting equipment and training”.
We were not able to find language prohibiting suppression of vehicle fires in the 2010 edition of the Red Book.
Our view
When I worked for the U.S. Forest Service I responded to and suppressed dozens of vehicle fires, usually as the first engine in. We regularly trained for this and the engine was well-equipped to suppress vehicle fires. We attacked the fires with foam through two, 1.5-inch lines attached to a 500-gallon engine with a high-capacity pump. However at that time we were not supplied with breathing apparatus (which we now know to be absolutely necessary) and we wore our Nomex brush coats over our Nomex shirts and pants for these types of fires.
Today many federal wildland engine crews, especially in the far west, are properly trained, equipped, and have the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE), including breathing apparatus, to safely suppress vehicle fires. No firefighters should take direct action on a vehicle fire unless they have the appropriate training, firefighting equipment, and PPE.
It is absurd to prohibit a properly trained and equipped Federal engine crew from putting out a vehicle fire. Under the new policy, they are still allowed to respond in order to protect the adjacent property, but if they are the first in and the fire is confined to the vehicle, they are required to just sit there and watch the vehicle burn, while their water tank remains full.
That is irrational.
With additional budget cuts every year, there are fewer and fewer federal, state, and local firefighters. The general public is not going to understand why on-scene, full-time professional firefighters are not allowed to put out a fire in a burning vehicle. They don’t see the nuances that the writers of the Red Book saw of jurisdiction, mandates, or responsibility. This is illustrated in the video we posted earlier about the “Role of the fire SUV”. They simply expect firefighters to put water on a fire.
Picture this:
A family is driving up Interstate 8 east of San Diego and and they have a small fire in the engine compartment of their Ford Taurus. U.S. Forest Service Engine 41, just a couple of miles away at Descanso Station, responds, because the fire is a threat to the nearby National Forest vegetation, and gets there within five minutes. The fire is still small and confined to the engine compartment. The family “knows”, because they’ve seen it hundreds of times in movies, that the car will explode any second in a huge fireball, so they are far away from the vehicle, leaving all of their vacation gear in the car.
Engine 41 arrives and the crew pulls hoses, charges the lines, and staffs the nozzles. The fire is still confined to the car’s engine compartment, and could be put out with a 2.5-pound fire extinguisher, but the firefighters follow procedure, just standing there holding charged lines, watching the fire slowly spread to totally involve the entire car. The family yells at the professional firefighters holding the nozzles, “Why don’t you put out the fire!?” As the fires burns, the family tries to explain to the engine captain that they pay taxes which help support the USFS and their engine.
The Ford Taurus does not explode, and the Descanso Volunteer Fire Department arrives and mops up the smoldering remains of the family’s car and vacation gear. USFS Engine 41, having successfully protected the nearby vegetation without pumping any water except to fill the hoses, drives away to their station with their water tank full. The family is still yelling profanely at them and the U.S. Forest Service, while they compose in their heads letters to their Senators and Congressman.
The above photo is another in the series of winners that we are highlighting from the 2010 National Park Service’s Fire and Aviation Photo Contest. This image was taken by Jim Jensen of Golden Gate National Recreation Area and took first place in the Fire Staff In Action category. It was shot in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Click on the photo to see a larger version.
A firefighter from Bakersfield Fire Department extinguishes a small fire ignited by Villa's vehicle. Photo: Cathy Perfect/Kern Valley Sun
From the Kern Valley Sun in California:
Published on Friday, February 11, 2011 5:05 PM PST
A Forest Service truck plunged over the side of Highway 178 near the mouth of the canyon at 10:30 a.m. Friday.
The westbound vehicle, driven by Forest Service employee Kyle Villa, 23, fell about 300 feet and crashed onto the large boulders below near the Kern River. The truck’s engine compartment caught fire and ignited a small brush fire.
Villa escaped the burning vehicle and crawled parallel to the river for about 100 yards. Units from Kern County Fire Department, Bakersfield Fire Department, Kern County Sheriff, California Highway Patrol and the Forest Service responded to the scene.
A fire crew extinguished the fire while another crew repelled down the mountainside and treated Villa. “He was reported to be confused, and complaining of neck and back pain,” said Cody Norris, Forest Service PIO for Lake Isabella.
Sheriff’s helicopter Air 5 was dispatched and hoisted Villa from the scene. Villa’s injuries were described as ‘moderate’ by Kern County Fire Engineer Dustin Allegranza as Air 5 lifted off.
Villa, who was on duty at the time of the crash, was transported to Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield.
Highway 178 through the canyon reopened at 4:26 p.m.
The above photo is another in the series of winners that we are highlighting from the 2010 National Park Service Fire and Aviation Photo Contest. This photo was taken by Greg Bartin of Zion National Park and took third place in the Wildland and Prescribed Fire category. The photo was submitted by David Eaker of Zion, and was shot in Zion (obviously). Click on the photo to see a larger version.
The federal lawmakers in the United States have not passed a budget for this fiscal year (FY) and it appears that they have given up on doing so. They are making plans to add to the “continuing resolutions” (CR) that have already been passed which are effective through February, and will introduce a final 7-month CR to take us until the FY ends in September.
Funding the government by passing a budget is arguably one of the most important duties of our Senators and Congressmen, and they can’t even get this done.
House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers yesterday announced a partial list of 70 spending cuts that will be included in an upcoming CR bill. Here is a list of proposed cuts for some of the land management agencies, compared to the President’s budget request for this fiscal year.
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