Wildfire Today

News and opinion about wildland fire

Wildfire Today

Month: July 2014

Plans for the opening of “Planes: Fire & Rescue”

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags 7 Comments on Plans for the opening of “Planes: Fire & Rescue”

Planes Fire and Rescue

Some of the fire agencies in Boise are making special plans around the July 18 opening of the new Disney animated movie, Planes: Fire & Rescue. (Release dates in other countries can be found HERE.) I am not sure where I will be on the 18th, but it may be in southwest Colorado — I will have to find a theater in the area that will be showing it.

If you are aware of any other special activities planned by fire agencies for the opening in your area, please leave the information in a comment below, including the specifics about time and place. It might be fun to have a meet-up before or after the film, say — at a restaurant or bar.

Disney has released a ton of trailers which can be found HERE. Below is one released three weeks ago.

The National Park Service had this on their Fire and Aviation Management Facebook page February 2, 2014:

Our very own Shad Sitz, Regional Aviation Manager for Pacific West Region and Director Jon Jarvis helped tweak some details on Disney’s new animated movie – Courage – Planes: Fire & Rescue.

Shad stated “Even the folks from Fire Boss and many other were involved, everyone from smokejumpers to I.C, and the cool thing is that it will be dedicated to the wild land fire fighters.”

Now, you fire aviation afficionados might notice this – Shad added -”If you notice when they convert Dusty into a SEAT/Fire Boss thy never added the ventral fin or finlets on the tail. Not a big deal but I mentioned it…”

Yay for Shad and all the others who assisted in the coming movie.

 
Continue reading “Plans for the opening of “Planes: Fire & Rescue””

Camp stove that charges cell phones

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized5 Comments on Camp stove that charges cell phones

Biolite camp stove

This camp stove could be useful for wildland firefighters that overnight in spike camps rather than traveling back to an incident command post at the end of every shift. Not only will it boil a liter of water in as little as 4.5 minutes, but at the same time it can charge your cell phone or any other device that charges via a USB cable.

The two-pound unit folds up to about the size of a 1 liter Nalgene water bottle and uses small twigs as fuel.  An electric fan enhances combustion, allowing it to power a small thermoelectric generator that keeps the fan going; a small battery starts things off. The generator puts out enough power to run a USB charge-port that you can use to keep your phone and LED lights charged.

Or if your power goes out at home, here’s a way to provide a little heat, make a cup of coffee, heat some beans, and keep your devices charged.

The manufacturer, BioLite, claims that with a strong fire going, 20 minutes of charging time can can provide an Apple iPhone 4S with 60 minutes of talk time.

Amazon sells it for $129.95.

Revised guidance for safety zones is released

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , ,
Safety Zone Calculation
Safety Zone Calculation, released July, 2014. Bret Butler.

In his continuing efforts to improve the recommended standards for wildland firefighters’ safety zones, researcher Bret Butler has released a revised version based on additional research. Dr. Butler developed the guidelines that had been used for years which were based on the height of the flames, but in May, 2014 released a new recommendation that was based on height of the vegetation, wind speed, slope, fire intensity, and a constant number. This new July, 2014 version replaces the one that was released in May.

A safety zone is an area where wildland firefighters may be forced to take refuge from an approaching wildfire. There, a firefighter should be able to survive without being injured from exposure to the radiant and convective heat from the fire, and would not have to deploy and enter a fire shelter.

The latest version of the guidelines released a few days ago is based on height of the vegetation, wind speed, slope, and the same constant number (8). It removes a factor that could be a little subjective or difficult to quantify accurately in the field, fire intensity.

The new system, like the one unveiled in May, calculates the Safe Separation Distance (SSD) between the fire and the firefighters. To determine the SSD, using the table above multiply the constant number (8) times the number from the table (Slope-Wind Factor) times the height of the vegetation.

Example for 15 mph wind, 24% slope, 6-foot vegetation:

The Safe Separation Distance is   8 x 3 x 6 = 144 feet

Dr. Butlers’ Additional Considerations:

  1. For a 20-person crew, add 10 feet of radius and for a vehicle add another 5 feet of radius.
  2. The area in red requires large natural openings or construction by mechanized equipment.
  3. The proposed rule is to be used for flat ground rather than the existing flame height rule.
  4. Also consider additional lookouts on the ground and in the air to monitor fire activity with early egress to escape routes and safety zones.
  5. At 30% or greater slopes, hot gases tend to stay close to the ground.

Dr. Butler’s disclaimer: This proposed safety zone rule should be considered preliminary because it is based on limited data and analysis and subject to increase or decrease based on additional data. It is presented for release this fire season with the intent of increasing firefighter safety and reducing risk of injury. It is likely that an updated rule will be released in the next year.

For more information see the article in the International Journal of Wildland Fire titled: Wildland Firefighter Safety Zones: A Review of Past Science and Summary of Future Needs

We will let you know if another revised version of the guidelines is released in two months.

(NOTE: if you want a copy of the table above, click on it to open it in a window of its own, then click on Print in your internet browser.

Thanks and a hat tip go out to Ryan.

Report released on dozer operator fatality in Idaho

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags 6 Comments on Report released on dozer operator fatality in Idaho
Dennis Long
Dennis James Long. The photo in the report was provided by the Long family.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) have released their factual report on the fatality of Dennis James Long, 65, the dozer operator who died while working on the Pardee Fire northwest of Kamiah, Idaho July 8, 2013. The fire was on BLM land under fire protection of the IDL.

Mr. Long was constructing fireline with a privately owned dozer on the fire. After noticing from a distance a period of inactivity by the dozer, his supervisor checked on him and found him unresponsive. Resuscitation efforts were not successful.

The report concluded the following:

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“No findings were directly attributable to the cause of death.

Cause of Death: The Idaho County Coroner identified the cause of this fatality as severe coronary artery disease.

Non Attributable Findings: (Non-Causal)

Finding 1: The dozer and transport were not inspected prior to use for the Pardee fire. Visible hazards would have found the dozer unserviceable (See Appendix C: Photographs). An agreement for the contracted dozer and transport was not in place prior to use on the fireline (See Appendix B: No Contract Agreement in Place). This factor is determined to be non-finding to the accident.

Finding 2: The Contract Dozer Operator was operating on the fireline without wearing his PPE. This factor is determined to be non-finding to the accident.

Finding 3: Command of the fire was not transferred to a more qualified and available person when the complexity exceeded Type 5 Incident Commander qualification levels. This factor is determined to be non-finding to the accident.

Finding 4: Not all resources on the fire had the appropriate Emergency Medical Services (EMS) frequencies. This factor is determined to be non-finding to the accident.

Finding 5: The local IDL fire protection district does not have a consistent approach to a medical plan. This factor is determined to be non-finding to the accident.”

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The incident was originally covered by Wildfire Today July 10, 2013.

Followup on dozer rollover in California

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , ,

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has released a preliminary report on the July 6 dozer rollover on the Monticello Fire southeast of Lake Berryessa in Yolo County.

The summary:

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“On July 6, 2014, at approximately 1320 hours, a CAL FIRE dozer was operating on Division M of the Monticello Incident. The dozer was working sidehill, constructing fire line in steep terrain. The dozer became unstable and rolled at least two times coming to rest on its tracks in a small drainage below. The operator sustained a head injury and a possible loss of consciousness.

Fire line personnel immediately responded to assist and treat the operator. A CAL FIRE helicopter performed a hoist rescue. The operator was transferred to a waiting medevac helicopter and was transported to a trauma center for evaluation. The operator was released from the hospital later that evening.”

“Wake up and smell the smoke”

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags 2 Comments on “Wake up and smell the smoke”

Representative Peter DeFazio made an impassioned appeal in the House of Representatives to “wake up and smell the smoke”, urging his fellow members to hold hearings and pass the legislation to provide funding for wildfires so that the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service will not have to rob money from unrelated accounts in order to pay firefighting bills. The Forest Service will run out of money to fight fire by the end of this month.

He is probably talking about H.R. 3992, the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act of 2014, introduced February 5, 2014, rather than President Obama’s recent legislative proposal to appropriate $615 million to fund wildfire along with another $3 billion to manage the influx of child migrants crossing the Southwest border from Central America.

The video was uploaded to YouTube on July 10, 2014 with no description.