Wildfire Today

News and opinion about wildland fire

Wildfire Today

Month: April 2014

Processing data to develop situational awareness

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized1 Comment on Processing data to develop situational awareness
Rick Bondar and Hal Mortier on the Red Top Fire
Rick Bondar and Hal Mortier, members of the El Cariso Hotshots, on the Red Top Fire, Mendocino National Forest, 1972. Photo by Bill Gabbert.

A website specializing in situational awareness for first responders, Situational Awareness Matters, has an interesting article about how the brain processes information from various senses to develop what it perceives to be the current environment. Below is an excerpt which follows a paragraph about what wildland firefighters call their “slide file”, memories of past experiences that can be called upon to understand what is going on currently, and used to predict what will occur in the near future:

…No one sets out to misunderstand what is happening while working in a high-risk, high consequence environment. Yet it happens… A lot! Can someone look at something and not understand what they’re seeing? Yes! Can someone hear something and not understand what they hearing? Yes! It doesn’t take a stressful environment for this to happen. But stress, coupled with the perception of consequence, compounded by the compression of time and a sense of urgency to act can accelerate your need to comprehend. This speeding up can lead the brain to take shortcuts.

These shortcuts, termed “Heuristics” are the brain’s way of trying to help you survive in a perceived hostile situation by taking limited amounts of information and, for lack of a better metaphor, jumping to conclusions. The good news is your brain is pretty good at this task. If it weren’t, we’d probably be extinct as a species. The more stress you’re under, the more heuristics may guide your assessment of the situation and influence your decision making. The problem is, while your brain is very good at making quick assessments and applying these “rules of thumb” to guide your decision making, it is not flawless. It compares current inputs to past experiences and, with lightening speed, guides you to comprehension. When it’s right, you accurately comprehend. When it’s wrong, you misunderstand. The problem is, you may not know whether you comprehend or not until after your decision is made and the outcome is revealed…

That excerpt is from Part Three of a three-part series. More information can be found in Parts One and Two.
Thanks and a hat tip go out to Barbara.

Firefighters: four recommendations for eating, drinking, and working out

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , 3 Comments on Firefighters: four recommendations for eating, drinking, and working out

wildfire

Dr. Brent Ruby is a professor at the University of Montana who studies extreme physiology, including how wildland firefighting impacts the body. In 2011 we wrote an article titled The myth of drinking water which included the results of some of Dr. Ruby’s research, as well as his thoughts about the firefighter hyperthemia fatality on the CR 337 fire in Texas.

Men’s Journal has an interesting article featuring Dr. Ruby and some of his recommendations for firefighters. Below is an excerpt:

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“Workouts should mirror job demands.

Rather than banging out a 10k in featherweight running sneakers every morning, crewmembers should go for long hikes on steep trails wearing a heavy backpack and clunky boots. “Hiking with a heavy load – that’s job-specific aerobic training.”

Eat constantly.

Ruby has found that to be safely working at peak condition, they should consume 4,500 calories a day with a number of “eating episodes.” If what’s supposed to be an eight-hour shift turns into a 12-hour shift, Hotshots should have easy access to quality calories. “They need an elaborate food plan that accommodates unpredictable shifts. We envision giving them ownership of the menu, where they can mix and match 12 items,” he says.

Aim for variety in calories.

Ruby suggests packing a high-quality red meat for protein; several types of fresh fruit; carbs in the form of oats and rice; carrots and broccoli for diversity; and loads of dried fruits and nuts. “They need foods that satisfies and doesn’t leave them focusing on how hungry they still are,” Ruby says. “Their job is fire suppression. As soon as they’re distracted from fire suppression, other risks crop up.”

Drink water – and lots of it.

The best way to think about hydration, according to Ruby, is in terms of “water turnover” over a 24 hour period, or how much water you take in and dump out through sweat and urine. On average, the water turnover for Hotshots is 7 to 9.5 liters a day. “You have to make sure you’re taking in somewhere in that range – probably a liter more than you’re putting out,” he says. Being sufficiently hydrated alone, however, isn’t going to stop you from overheating in a high-stress situation, warns Ruby.”

Red Flag Warnings, April 9, 2014

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags

wildfire Red Flag Warning, April 9, 2014

Much of the center of the United States is under a Red Flag Warning today. Ralph Moul of the Nebraska State Fire Marshal’s office said it is the first time in his 37 years as a firefighter that he has seen all 93 counties in the state under a Red Flag Warning.

In addition to Nebraska, the other states affected are New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas Missouri, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa.

The Red Flag Warning map was current as of 10:05 a.m. MDT on Wednesday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts. For the most current data, visit this NWS site.

Laguna Hotshots on NBC News

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags 3 Comments on Laguna Hotshots on NBC News


The Laguna Hot Shots and their Superintendent Jim Houston appear briefly in the video story above, which is Part 1 of an NBC News series about climate change. One of the main points in the first video is that soot from forest fires contributes to air pollution that settles on arctic ice, causing it to darken, absorb more solar heat, and melt more quickly.

In Part 2 below, Superintendent Houston talks briefly about the 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots that died last year, not long after the Laguna Hotshots worked with them on another fire.

I was a member of the Laguna Hotshots for two years, beginning the year it was created in 1974 at Mt. Laguna, California.

A tribute in song to the South Canyon firefighters

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 2 Comments on A tribute in song to the South Canyon firefighters

South Canyon fire song

(Revised at 2:31 p.m. MT April 7, 2014 with information about a commemorative program 20 years after the South Canyon fatalities.)

Last August we told you about a song that was written to honor the 19 firefighters that perished on the Yarnell Hill Fire south of Prescott, Arizona. Now another songwriter has recorded a musical tribute to the 14 firefighters that were killed 20 years ago on the South Canyon Fire near Glenwood Springs, Colorado which occurred on Storm King Mountain. Naming the fire “South Canyon”, a geographic feature that was south of the fire area, was the first mistake that was made on the incident.

Jim Hawkins, a former firefighter for the city of Denver, wrote the song and performed it with Sophia Clark and other musicians. Their video is below.

If you have not seen it already, be sure and watch the excellent lessons learned video about the South Canyon Fire, titled Everyone Goes Home. It includes numerous interviews of wildland firefighters who were involved with, or were on scene during the entrapment and deaths of 14 firefighters.

Event to commemorate the 20th anniversary of South Canyon

There will be a formal commemoration to mark the 20th anniversary of the South Canyon fatalities. As of today, April 7, 2014, it is scheduled for 5 p.m. to 6 p.m July 6, 2014, at Two Rivers Park in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Check the website that has been developed about the event for more details.