News9.com – Oklahoma City, OK – News, Weather, Video and Sports |
News9 has some excellent footage of fire engines attacking grass fires in Craig County, Oklahoma on Thursday. Firefighters are appreciating some wet weather today, but yesterday a fire burned 800 acres and destroyed a barn. Wind gusting up to 35 mph challenged firefighters from more than 20 departments to contain the fire that was three miles long and a half mile wide. According to reports the fire jumped two county roads and a state highway.
Like I said these guys can come to my fire any day. I like the idea of the nozzle person on the rig with me. No hose trailing out or wrapping around the tires. Loosing sight of the person in the smoke. Ability to move quickly if a wind change occurs. Mobiling a grass fire in the front country of the Sierra Nevada’s, there was an engine ahead of us (tandem attack) the nozzleman just disappeared? The hose reel drum was empty? Air shaft for a gold mine, 600 feet deep. First ledge was about 100 feet down. Fire fighter survived but this incident ended his fire career. Most Cal Fire fatalities have occurred on grass fires. KEEP THE WIND AT YOUR BACK AND THE FIRE IN FRONT OF YOU.
A death wish? I really don’t think so. Many of the grass rigs, I know 1st hand, have SABA systems integrated into the cab and for the standing firefighter. They also have an attachment system in the exterior cage for the firefighter. Much like a ladder belt. This isn’t their first rodeo. Many paid departments also employ this same practice, in regards to grass fires. It’s not just Podunk FD running around out there. Also, before you judge get all the info and make a decent observation. Look at the wind direction when they are in the “green.” Also, the fire won’t build must steam in the 5′ between the flame and the truck. Feel free to let me know if you need any answers.
“It’s only grass”, probably not a good thing to say at a cattle ranchers convention.
These fire fighters can come to a grass fire at my place anytime.
I’m ” mobiling” in the black. Can’t see crap, eyes are burning, lungs feel like I just smoked a pack of Camel cigs. What hot ashes that I’m not inhaling, are being ingested by my apparatus (do we have a screen over the intake?) where are those other rigs? Fire fighter on the hose walking in hot ash, he/she seems to be getting shorter, when I can see him/her, feet are burning off? The A/C in the cab is working great, why isn’t the fire fighter walking keeping up with the apparatus? Black or green, don’t leave any fire behind you. If a grass fire “sheets out” stop it will calm down, attack the fire on your terms. BE FLEXIBLE.
Looks like some of these guys have a death wish. Good way to get yourself killed by riding on the back of the engine spraying water, and not to mention not fighting the fire in the black. It’s only grass, it will grow back really soon.
Jimmy – without trying to sound too critical of your comments: none of these guys and girls on Volunteer departments in OK, TX and similar communities have “death wishes”. They’re just trying to do the best that they know how, the job of protecting the lands, properties and residents of their communities.
You’ve got to apreciate that these are usually unpaid, and likely under-trained, volunteers: they work 40 hour weeks on real jobs, giving their time for FREE to help out. Most times, they are under funded for training and equipment, but still carry on doing their best. If these communities could afford 24/7 with paid folks, getting portal-to-portal pay, with dedicated air tankers on-call and overhead as needed, I’m sure they would have them. But, welcome to reality in much of the US: it ain’t gonna ever happen, and these folks are our best hope – and they really don’t want to die, any more than you do on a wildfire.
The first thing that came to mind on seeing this picture is the fact they aren’t working this fire from the black!!!!! As a former trustee of a large urban/rural fire district we consistently trained our employees and volunteers in fighting grass fires from the black. That was after we nearly lost an engine and two firefighters who were working from unburned fuels.
This issue is not about large or small paid or unpaid fire districts/companies/departments or whatever. All should know about having one foot in the black in these situations prior to assignment on these types of fires. It is time for departments to step up to the plate and provide training in aggressive but safe grass fire tactics. Failure not to provide appropriate training will result in negligence lawsuits, OHSA citations, heart-broken families and divided communities.
Back – it really is about small, unpaid volunteer departments that don’t have the time and resources to be well trained in all aspects of their fire jobs while still working to support their families in “real jobs” and still have other lives other than fire. The attached article from up the Bitterroot here in Montana really brings the point home, even in January. http://ravallirepublic.com/news/local/article_08226dde-cba6-5792-8df1-494f4095edd1.html
Lots of rural department have hand-me-down engines, and scrape to get structural gear, let alone wildland PPE; many still don’t know what the letters NWCG stand for, yet are committed to help their neighbors in spite of poor/no equipment and training. Not good, but I don’t see buckets of $$ heading their way in the coming days & years, so what is the answer?