The video was shot with a firefighter’s helmet cam on the Black Forest Forest Fire in 2013 near Colorado Springs. The fire was the most destructive in Colorado’s history, claiming two lives, 14,000 acres, and nearly 500 homes
Month: April 2014
Wildfire briefing, April 6, 2014
Firefighter hit by car, loses leg
From FirefighterCloseCalls:
On Thursday, a North Carolina Firefighter was struck at the scene of a wildland fire. Due to smoke conditions, there was zero visibility as the Candor Firefighters (Montgomery County) arrived on the scene at 1414 hours – and were walking to the rear of the truck – when a passenger vehicle struck FF Earl Harrington.
Initially, as Firefighters went to the rear of the truck – to put out traffic cones and get set up to fight the fire, a passing Jeep hit the rig, pinning FF Harrington between the vehicles. A second vehicle, also traveling eastbound on the two-lane rural road, then hit the Jeep.
FF Harrington was flown out and taken to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill. As a result of his injuries, his left leg had to be amputated. He is listed in stable condition with additional surgery anticipated.
The driver of the passenger vehicle was taken to Moore Regional Hospital for evaluation. We wish FF Harrington a very successful recovery.
Fire preparedness billboard
The Smokey Bear Twitter account sent out this photo yesterday:
Aerial firefighting training for National Guard pilots
From CAL FIRE:
CAL FIRE and the California National Guard are holding their annual fire aviation training at the CAL FIRE Academy in Ione and Lake Pardee in Amador County. CAL FIRE will be instructing National Guard helicopter pilots and crew members in basic incident management and firefighting operations so they can safely assist fire agencies in battling massive wildfires.
Tonight’s sunset picture
Sunset at Angostura Reservoir.
Convection column – from a volcano
Wildland fires that are burning intensely can have convection columns — so do very active volcanoes.
Tungurahua volcano blasts molten rock and ash in Ecuador http://t.co/xN8iD9LMAa pic.twitter.com/yBslG7FWwU
— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 5, 2014
Wildfire briefing, April 3, 2014
Three firefighters injured in South Carolina
Three firefighters were injured while fighting a 12-acre wildfire that spread to a structure in Florence County, South Carolina late Wednesday afternoon. One firefighter suffered second and third degree burns to his face and neck while suppressing fire in a mobile home.
wistv.com – Columbia, South Carolina |
Arizona Forestry Division outlines changes for 2014
According to an article at KNAU, Arizona State Forester Scott Hunt told reporters on Wednesday:
“Our first priority is firefighter and public safety. And it’s always going to be our first priority,” he said.
But, Hunt did say that he expects when there is an initial report of a fire that there will “heavier responses” than in the past.
On June 30, 2013, 19 firefighters were killed on the Yarnell Hill Fire which was being managed by the Arizona Forestry Division.
Los Alamos National Laboratory under pressure to move radioacitve waste before wildfire season
From TheState.com:
Los Alamos is under a tight deadline to get nuclear waste off its northern New Mexico campus before wildfire season peaks, and the New Mexico dump [temporarily closed due to a fire] is the federal government’s only permanent repository for waste from decades of nuclear-bomb building.
Aerial firefighting training for California National Guard
Helicopter units of the California National Guard are scheduled to conduct their annual aerial firefighting training Friday through Sunday at the CAL FIRE academny in Ione.
Colorado Senate passes funding bill for aerial firefighting
The Colorado state Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would provide $21 million for a portion of the aerial firefighting program recommended by the Colorado Firefighting Air Corp (CFAC) in a report the agency released on March 28. The funds would enable contracting for four helicopters, four Single Engine Air Tankers, and the purchase of two fixed wing aircraft for fire detection and remote sensing, but not for the two large air tankers called for in the report.
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, who has been quoted as saying farmers and ranchers should be the state’s first defense against wildfires, is opposed to spending the additional $11.9 million for contracting for two large air tankers.
Wildfire season begins early in Russia
From ITAR-TASS:
Forest fires have broken out early in a season dubbed “tense this year”, Minister of Natural Resources Sergei Donskoi told a conference chaired by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and addressing preparations for difficult days ahead.
“The situation is tense in Russia this year. Because of low precipitation, the season has begun almost 1.5 months ahead of the norm,” the minister said. Seventeen fires have already been registered across a territory of 2,000 hectares, the minister said.
Citing reasons for danger, the minister noted an early spring and a shallow layer of frozen soil. This was only 40-50% of normal levels and was leaving dry surface soil.
The Ministry of Natural Resources has adopted an inter-regional fire prevention plan employing an additional 3,000-strong contingent of firefighters, 800 units of firefighting equipment and 4,000 fire extinguishers, the minister said.
Hero complex
Structural firefighters occasionally find themselves in a position where a victim is in a dangerous situation and is need of rescue. This can involve an element of risk for the firefighters who have to evaluate the pros and cons of rescuing the victim versus the the risk they would take.
Firefighters on a wildland fire almost never encounter a situation that would REQUIRE them to take a serious risk in order to accomplish an important objective of managing the fire.
An article in the Texas Observer looks at what may motivate firefighters to take unnecessary risks, sometimes ending in fatalities. Below is an excerpt from the article.
…There’s a saying in the fire service: risk a lot to save a lot, risk a little to save a little, and risk nothing to save nothing. When Houston firefighters entered the abandoned crack house that February morning in 2005, they didn’t do so with the intention of saving lives; they knew the house was empty, so the objective was solely to extinguish the fire. Abandoned houses are particularly precarious, and firefighters described the building as “heavily involved” in flames. Therefore, the report concludes, fighting the fire from the outside—what the fire service calls a “defensive attack”—would have been more effective and could have spared Burke’s life.
The report highlights a little-known problem: In their desire to save lives and property, to be a hero, firefighters sometimes rush into buildings when restraint is called for. It’s a problem that some fire chiefs and the state fire marshal are trying to address following one of the deadliest years for firefighters in Texas history.
There’s an idea of heroism that often colors firefighters’ perceptions of the job. It’s the Hollywood image: the fearless firefighter diving into a burning building and emerging with a child slung over a shoulder. Soon after graduating from the academy, firefighters realize those incidents are actually unusual and that the job more often involves handling mundane assignments and smaller fires. The rare large blazes become their chance to be the heroes they believe they’re expected to be—and some take disproportionate risks to earn the reputation.
Fire departments favor aggressive candidates who aren’t afraid of the myriad hazards the job poses. The tendency to hire strong-willed alpha males—as most firefighters describe themselves and each other—into an aggressive and stubborn culture can be a deadly combination…
