2022 - Page 40 of 73 - Wildfire Today

Six firefighters injured in Southern California

Bill GabbertJune 7, 2022June 8, 2022Uncategorizedburns, California, injury, inmates5 Comments

They were all transported to hospitals

Updated 11:39 a.m. PDT June 8, 2022

The inmate firefighters who suffered burn injuries June 7 in Southern California were all in stable condition when the LA County Fire Department posted an update on Twitter at 3:11 p.m. PDT June 7, 2022.

“A flash fire occurred in the back of an inmate camp crew vehicle,” the tweet said. “Six patients were transported to hospitals w/mild to moderate burns & all are currently in stable condition. Incident is under investigation.”

From NBC4, at 8:30 p.m. June 7, 2022:

One inmate was treated for critical injuries at a burn center with burns covering over 12% of his body, but officials say he is expected to be ok. The other five inmates suffered minor injuries.

The inmate firefighters were in the back of a transport vehicle leaving a training exercise when the fire started, authorities say. Authorities confirm that the fire was not related to the training exercises they were performing and was not apart of any escape plan.

Inmate firefighters are not allowed to have an flammable materials in the back of the trucks which include cigarettes, lighters, and liquids. It is unclear what started the fire and officials are still investigating it.

2:57 p.m. PDT June 7, 2022

Firefighters injured, June 7, 2022. Still image from ABC7 video.

Six firefighters were injured near Castaic, California Tuesday morning. Not all the details are known but initial reports, which can change, is that they were taking part in a training exercise and had burn injuries.

Four were transported to hospitals in two helicopters and two went by ground ambulance.

All six patients were inmate firefighters from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesperson Geovanni Sanchez. Emergency crews responded shortly after 11 a.m. following reports of burned patients on Templin Highway near Castaic, said Esteban Benitez, another spokesman for the county.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Tom.

After numerous arson fires, citizen group solved the case using 50 cameras

Bill GabbertJune 7, 2022June 7, 2022Wildfirearson, California10 Comments

A person is in a Northern California jail, charged with 10 counts of arson

Image of smoke from a fire in Sonoma County near Monte Rio as seen from the Alert Wildfire camera at Siri, at 9:37 a.m PT Feb. 11, 2022. The intersection of the lines from the two camera locations indicate the approximate location of the fire. More information about this fire.

Two women who were fed up with multiple arson fires set in the woods near Monte Rio in Northern California began an investigation that resulted in the arrest of Jack Stanley Seprish, a transient who was charged with 10 counts of arson in Sonoma County Superior Court. His bail was set by the judge at $920,000.

With the help of donations from the community of money and labor, they bought or borrowed and installed more than 50 motion-detecting cameras, with many of them mounted high up on trees in the forest around Monte Rio. Some of them could be monitored remotely and sent notifications to phones when motion was detected.

Below is an excerpt from the Press Democrat:

For [Kari] Morrissey, a criminal defense attorney, and her collaborator, Sara Paul, Seprish’s arrest marks the culmination of an intensive, three-month partnership with local fire officials — one undertaken on behalf of the community and with its support.

Funding for more than 50 cameras placed strategically near encampments and pathways that seemed likely to elicit hits, came largely from Friends of Villa Grande, as well as the private Bohemian Grove. Random citizens also dropped off money and cameras at the Monte Rio firehouse.

As a defense lawyer, Morrissey said she was not prepared to assume he was responsible for the fires “for quite along time,” however. Then May 6, a photo came across her phone of Seprish lying in the forest using some kind of torch that cast flames larger than a cigarette lighter.

It’s one of hundreds of photos she has turned over to Cal Fire, she said.

Person starting a fire. Kari Morrissey & Sara Paul.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Pat.

US Forest Service says Colorado’s East Troublesome Fire was human caused

Bill GabbertJune 6, 2022June 6, 2022WildfireColorado, East Troublesome Fire12 Comments

East Troublesome Fire October 21, 2020 as seen from Colorado’s Multi-Mission Aircraft.

The East Troublesome Fire, the second largest wildfire in Colorado’s recorded history, was human caused, investigators said on Friday.

The October, 2020 fire burned 193,812 acres in Grand County. It created spot fires across the Continental Divide then spread to within a few miles of the town of Estes Park.

“Based on evidence gathered at the fire’s origin, investigators have determined the fire to be human caused,” the U.S. Forest Service said in a news release.

The Steamboat Pilot reported that the Grand County Sheriff’s Office released similar information during a meeting in March 2021, but this is the first time the Forest Service has issued it.

Saying it was human caused eliminates two possibilities — lightning and a volcano, which can often be ruled in or out very quickly. The USFS news release said their investigators, along with the Grand County Sheriff’s Office, are continuing to investigate.

Map of the east side of the East Troublesome Fire near Estes Park — Map of the East Troublesome Fire near Estes Park.

“Given the location and time of year that the fire started, it may have been caused by a hunter or a backcountry camper, and possibly by accident,” investigators said in a news release on Friday.

More than 300 homes and between 100 and 200 other structures were destroyed in the blaze. Lyle and Marylin Hileman, 86 and 84, respectively, died in the fire when their home near Grand Lake burned.

The largest wildfire in Colorado in terms of acres burned was the Cameron Peak Fire. It burned 208,913 acres in 2020 in Larimer and Jackson counties, Arapahoe and Roosevelt National Forest, Rocky Mountain National Park, and surrounding communities.

Picture day for South Dakota Wildland Fire Division

Bill GabbertJune 6, 2022UncategorizedKristi Noem, South Dakota9 Comments

Kristi Noem South Dakota Wildland Fire Division personnel — South Dakota Wildland Fire Division

The Governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem (in camo pants), posed with personnel from the state’s Wildland Fire Division.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Jill.

Washington Post covers the failure of USFS and DOI to implement new pay structure for firefighters

Bill GabbertJune 3, 2022Uncategorizedpay55 Comments

Firefighter on the Cerro Paledo Fire in New Mexico, May, 2022 by Blake McHugh.

In today’s edition of the Washington Post Joe Davidson writes about the Administration’s foot dragging and failure to implement the pay raises that were signed into law by President Biden in November as part of his Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

One stumbling block the US Forest Service and Department of the Interior appear to be dithering over is the law stated that the new pay structure would only apply to firefighters in “a specified geographic area in which it is difficult to recruit or retain” them. However the conventional wisdom in the ranks is that all areas have serious recruitment and retention problems. In some locations, Forest Service Chief Randy Moore said May 4 in Congressional testimony, the staffing levels are at 50 percent.

Below are excerpts from the Post article:

“Congress appropriated this money months ago, and yet, federal wildland firefighters have still not seen a dime of it,” National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) President Randy Erwin complained in a letter Wednesday to top Biden administration officials. “Congress intended this money to move quickly into the hands of wildland firefighters, a very large percentage of whom experience significant difficulty making ends meet on their current salaries.”

Aana Kulaas and her husband, Chad Bresnahan, are Forest Service firefighters in Washington state. Although she has a bachelor’s degree in natural resource science and 23 years of experience, Kulaas, speaking as a union official, said she earned $23,023.52 last year. She had no overtime pay because she had to care for three children.

Her husband did earn overtime pay. Without it, “we would not be able to afford our mortgage or my medical bills,” she added. “Our financial well-being is directly tied to how severe the fire season is. The busier the season, the more money he makes … While the overtime keeps us afloat, the downside is all the family time and mental and physical health that must be sacrificed.”

To make matters worse, “we work in an unsupportive environment, so there is no rest and recovery even during the brief offseason,” Kulaas, 42, added. “There’s just this constant cycle of being chewed up and spit out and the expectation to perform at a high level.”

The Staging Area, June 3, 2022

Bill GabbertJune 3, 2022June 3, 2022UncategorizedThe Staging Area24 Comments

National Guard open trucks — California National Guard trucks at the fairgrounds staging area in Yreka, California, August 13, 2014 while the Beaver Fire was burning northwest of the town. Some of these hauled firefighters in the back. Photo by Bill Gabbert.

This weekend we are continuing something we started a few weeks ago. This post can serve as the beginning of an open thread where our readers can talk about issues that we have, or have not, gotten into yet. This is literally an off-topic thread.

The usual rules about commenting apply. And remember, no personal attacks, please.

So let’s enjoy a wide-ranging debate!

(Oh, and send us pics of staging areas — date, location, and photographer’s name would be nice.)