Wildfire Today

News and opinion about wildland fire

Wildfire Today

Month: March 2015

North Dale Fire in an urban area near Rapid City

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags

(UPDATE at 7:09 p.m. MDT, March 20, 2015)

The latest information about the incidents northwest of Rapid City indicates that there were at least two fires about 1.5 miles apart — the 6-acre North Dale Fire along Interstate 90 from milepost 52 to 54, and the 16-acre Exit 55 fire, just west of Exit 55 on I 90 in Pennington County. As this is written, there was no serious damage in the Exit 55 fire, but there was damage to several power poles and other utility infrastructure in the North Dale Fire. Also in the North Dale Fire there were several cases of citizens with smoke inhalation and one with minor 1st degree burns. The Rapid City Fire Department medical staff handled the medical issues.

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(Originally published at 4:34 p.m. MDT, March 20, 2015)

This video of the North Dale Fire burning in an urban interface area near Interstate 90 northwest of Rapid City, South Dakota is impressive. At first firefighters thought it was multiple fires, but apparently it was one very long fire, stretching along the Interstate from milepost 52 to 54. As of about 4:45 p.m. MDT on Friday, the estimated size was eight acres. There are no reports of homes burning, but two outbuildings succumbed to the flames.

Post by Rapid City Fire Department.

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Another fire on Thursday–

And while we’re on the subject of fires in the Black Hills of South Dakota — another fire started on Thursday, the six-acre Deadman Fire off Vanocker and Glena Roads west of Rapid City in the Black Hills National Forest on the Meade/Lawrence county line. On Friday three hand crews and four engines improved fireline and mopped up.

The photos were supplied by the U.S. Forest Service.

Deadman Fire
Deadman Fire during the initial attack.

Deadman Fire

Ranger District in Arizona achieves goal of no human-caused fires

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized4 Comments on Ranger District in Arizona achieves goal of no human-caused fires

It is not often that a story about no fires makes the news, but when a ranger district in Arizona says they had no human-caused fires in 2014, that sounds like a noteworthy accomplishment.

In calendar year 2014, the Tusayan Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest achieved a longtime goal of zero human-caused wildfires. According to forest wildfire records, the last time the district had zero human fires was in 1965, exactly 50 years ago.
“Over the last three years, we have had a specific, written goal of reducing human-caused wildfires on the district to zero for the entire calendar year,” said Quentin Johnson, fire management officer for the Tusayan Ranger District. “Given that the district receives millions of visitors each year because it is located immediately adjacent to Grand Canyon National Park, we knew this would be an incredible challenge.”

Belknap Fire Kaibab NF 2014 USFS
The Belknap Fire on the Kaibab NF, Tusayan Ranger District was one of three lightning-caused fires on the District managed for resource benefits during the 2014 monsoon season. USFS photo.

Johnson added that while the district had been averaging about seven human-caused wildfires per year over the last 20 years, there were actually many summers during which 200 or more abandoned campfires had been found and extinguished by district fire personnel before they were declared wildfires.

The district’s success in 2014 was due largely to focused fire prevention efforts beginning almost 15 years ago that have chipped away at the leading cause of human fires on the district – abandoned campfires. Specifically, district fire prevention specialist Bob Blasi worked to gain compliance in dispersed camping areas and issued citations when necessary. With increased early-morning patrols, an extensive signing program, visits to local schools, Smokey Bear presence at local events, and a consistent prevention message for more than a decade, Blasi was able to systematically reduce the number of abandoned campfires and, therefore, the overall number of human-caused wildfires.
“This goal seemed almost impossible,” Blasi said. “Only one careless action by a single person can have a devastating outcome, as we see every year across this country somewhere in the wildlands of America. There were a couple years in the past decade when we only had two or three human-caused fires. It was then I realized that with a little extra effort focused on specific targets with increased fire prevention patrols, it might just be obtainable.”

Besides traditional fire prevention techniques such as patrols and signing, the Tusayan Ranger District has also been a leader in putting fire back on the landscape as frequently and broadly as conditions have allowed. Over the past 12 years, nearly 40 percent of the 327,250-acre Tusayan district has been treated with thinning and prescribed fire, which can slow the spread of new fires after they are ignited, making them easier for firefighters to put out, and reducing the number of acres burned.

New videos: long line extraction, spot fires, and battles lost

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , ,

The Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center has released a dozen videos in the last month. They can all be seen on their YouTube Channel, but here are three of them.

The first is a recording of a webinar, in which Brian Potter, a research meteorologist with the USDA Forest Service, presented a summary of the state of science behind spot fires. Spotting is one characteristic of “extreme fire behavior,” capable of short range acceleration of fires as well as producing long-distance spot fires that complicate management efforts. The presentation summarizes current knowledge and tools, as well as knowledge gaps

The next, below, was produced by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, and describes our wildland fire fatality history, and the hard lessons learned.

The third one shows an emergency longline extraction on the Freezeout Ridge Fire,
September 21, 2014. For more information about the incident, see the Freezeout Ridge Facilitated Learning Analysis.

Dog saves puppies from wildfire by digging shelter

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags

A mama dog in Chile saved her litter of nine puppies by digging a shelter for them. Witnesses saw the black lab lead the puppies behind a large shipping container and dig a shelter under the container while a large fire burned near them in Valparaiso, Chile. After saving her pups the mother dog, who has been nicknamed “Blackie” by rescue workers, found her own shelter. All of the dogs survived and several Valparaíso residents have stepped forward to adopt the entire family.

Somebody give this dog a Red Card!

puppies Chile wildfire

CAL FIRE Director addresses Legislature about scandals at Ione Academy

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , , ,

CAL FIRE logo

Ken Pimlott, Director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, recently felt the need to deal publicly with the scandal at the agency’s Ione firefighting academy. One of the instructors was charged with the murder of the instructor’s mistress, and 16 either resigned, were fired, or were disciplined. All of the disciplined employees are being replaced at the academy.

Below is the text of a briefing he gave to the first Legislative budget hearing of the year.

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“I want to address the recent problems that we have had at our Academy in Ione. As we have briefed your staff, as a result of the allegations made during a murder inquiry involving one of our former employees, I requested an investigation by [California Highway Patrol] CHP into activities at the Academy. I requested their assistance not only because of the serious nature of the allegation, but because I did not know whether the outcome would be administrative or criminal, and so the review would be independent and impartial.

The Investigation:

  • A total of 123 Administrative Interrogations and 40 Investigative Interviews were held throughout the State.
  • The bulk of the interviews were a sampling of students who attended the Academy over the last two years.
  • The investigation also included the forensic analysis of State owned cellular phones, computers, and email accounts.
  • The investigation took from May until December 2014.
  • I have addressed these issues in the following ways:
    • 16 employees were identified for adverse action.
      • One resigned
      • One retired
      • 2 were fired
      • The remainder all received a demotion and some also received suspensions or additional reductions in pay.
  • The State’s law enforcement agency did not find sufficient evidence during this investigation to support any criminal misconduct charges. All the necessary elements of a crime needed for prosecution were not present.
  • As the Director of this Department, you, and the public, expect me to thoroughly investigate allegations of this nature. You also expect me to take action, and to put in place the necessary measures to try to prevent this from happening again.
  • As I take this action, it is my responsibility to ensure that the process as set forth by the State is followed. This is important not only to ensure fair due process to the employees involved, but also (even more critically) to protect the confidentiality of innocent witnesses who have come forward during this process. Unfortunately, with the recent media releases which included the names of witnesses, there is a fear by these witnesses of retaliation, not only by those involved, but by members of their own community.
  • The disciplinary process for the employees is ongoing, and we are working to ensure the integrity of the outcomes is maintained.

However, employee discipline is just the beginning of the steps being taken.

  • There is new management in place at the Academy in Ione. The individuals who have been chosen to fill these positions reflect my values and the values that you and our other stakeholders expect from a public safety agency.
  • None of the disciplined employees remain at the Academy, and they are currently being replaced.
  • The policies and procedures at the Academy are being updated and overhauled.
  • The Academy Student Handbook, including the expected code of conduct, has been updated, and every student is required to review and acknowledge it.
  • I have held a statewide managers meeting, as well as attended regional leadership meetings to address my expectations of our staff.

I and my staff are grateful to you for your time and willingness to meet with us as these events have unfolded. As we move forward, I am happy to provide additional briefings on the steps we have taken to address the issues at our Academy.

CAL FIRE is an organization of over 7,000 men and women who are committed to public safety and the natural resources of this State. We ask these men and women to protect the people and resources of the State, often at great personal cost to them and their families. The actions of the small number of individuals at the Academy should not be allowed to detract from the overwhelming number of dedicated public servants in this Department. As you expect from me, I took action to quickly and thoroughly address the conduct of these individuals to allow CAL FIRE to move forward into the challenges that 2015 will present.”