Staging area at CAL FIRE Wildfire Preparedness Week event in Monterey, May 2022. CAL FIRE photo. (One of these is not like the others.)
This weekend we are continuing something we began last week. Borrowing an idea from The War Zone, 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 in light of some recent articles, remember, no personal attacks.
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.)
Deputy Chief Jaelith Hall-Rivera, State and Private Forestry, U.S. Forest Service. USFS photo.
In a May 5 post published on the U.S. Forest Service’s “Leadership Corner”, the person who oversees Fire and Aviation Management in the agency, Deputy Chief of State and Private Forestry Jaeligh Hall-Rivera, laid out a list of improvements she wants to see for Forest Service firefighters. Here is a summary:
“Ensure our firefighters are paid equally for the difficult job they do”
“Increase our firefighting capacity, this year and beyond”
“We must do something about the critical affordable housing shortages”
“We must also build sustainable career paths for wildland firefighters”
“A permanent pay increase, a job series that recognizes the unique and hazardous work firefighters do, upward career mobility, a safe, harassment-free work environment and a resilient work-life balance”
“Bringing more women into the wildland fire workforce and removing obstacles to help them thrive there”
“A sustainable, long-term solution for increased pay”
“I am personally committed to making these changes”
“I will be hosting a ‘FAM to boots’ session where I can share our most recent information and progress on these efforts”
Near the end of the essay Ms. Hall-Rivera wrote, “Please be assured, we are fully backing all these changes to continue improving our wildland fire system.”
She linked to an update that was posted February 2 about the efforts toward addressing firefighter pay and classification, initiatives that are required by an act of Congress passed in 2021. The Office of Personnel Management ordered that the work on a new Wildland Firefighter occupational series be completed “by May.” The February update stated that concerning pay, the “Goal is to have increased payments into paychecks by this summer, either by implementing this provision or using the awards payments model employed last year if we can’t fully implement this provision in FY 22.”
Before a Congressional committee on April 5, Ms. Hall-Rivera testified that a firefighter hiring event “went very well” and that they were “on pace” to meet the hiring targets. It turns out that the event had not started yet.
Before a different Committee on May 5 her boss, Forest Service Chief Randy Moore, testified that their goal is to hire 11,300 firefighters nationwide and the current level is at 10,200, or 90 percent. He said in some areas the agency has only reached 50 percent of their staffing goal.
In her May 5 post, Ms. Hall-Rivera addressed, to a degree, the conflicting testimonies:
The information on the status of our fire hiring events I used at that time left some wondering if we are up to speed here in Washington, DC. Let me update the record on the emerging picture from those hiring events. As of mid-April, we are at 90% of our planned 11,300 wildland firefighters (including those currently onboarding and offers pending).
Our Take
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry from his book "The Little Prince"
Few details were offered about how, when, and by whom this long list of initiatives would be accomplished, other than the efforts toward a new Occupational Series and firefighter pay. Using phrases like, “We must do something about…” can lead the reader to presume that very little thought has gone toward that particular goal. Although “goal” may be too lofty a description. “Wish” might be more appropriate.
Having been involved in many meetings and planning sessions where objectives were clearly articulated, I know that little gets done unless:
A person is appointed to lead the effort, and they are given the resources needed to get it done.
A completion date is specified, to which they are held.
Winds gusting at more than 40 mph will test firelines on the east and northeast sides of the fire
Updated 5:32 p.m. MDT May 6, 2022
Map of the south side of the Calf Canyon / Hermits Peak Fire. The red line was the perimeter at 10:15 p.m. May 5. The white line was the perimeter two days before. The brown dots represent heat detected by satellites during the 24-hour period ending at 3:11 a.m. MDT May 6, 2022.
Most of the growth of the Calf Canyon / Hermits Peak Fire on Wednesday and Thursday was in three areas, on the north side west of Mora, on the southwest side near Bear Mountain, and the southeast side west of Las Vegas. Most of the additional acres near Las Vegas were a result of large burning operations conducted by firefighters to secure the fire edge. A mapping flight Thursday night determined that the fire had burned 168,009 acres, an increase of about 8,000 acres over the previous two days.
An area that is of concern to many residents in the area, the portion of the fire near Las Vegas, is “looking awesome”, said Operations Section Chief Todd Abel in a Friday morning briefing, implying there was not much active fire and the control lines are in place and holding.
Mr. Able said the weather and fire conditions have allowed firefighters to build direct fireline on the north side just west of the community of Cleveland, which is good news with strong winds in the forecast (see below for more weather information).
Map of the Calf Canyon / Hermits Peak Fire. The red line was the perimeter at 10:15 p.m. May 5. The white line was the perimeter two days before. The red and brown dots represent heat detected by satellites as late as 3:11 a.m. MDT May 6, 2022.
The weather is going to be a challenge again this weekend due to what firefighters call a “wind event”. According to the forecast Saturday will bring strong winds gusting to 39 mph, becoming even stronger on Sunday and Monday gusting to 45 mph. The direction will be generally out of the southwest and west while the minimum relative humidity each day hovers around 10 percent. These conditions will test the firelines on the east and northeast sides of the blaze. Firefighters, of course, are aware of the prediction and have been prepping structures, constructing and improving firelines, and building contingency lines further out.
A multi-day critical fire weather event will impact mainly New Mexico through the next few days, and also much of SE Colorado, eastern Arizona and the Texas panhandle/west TX. A combination of strong winds, low humidity, & warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior pic.twitter.com/u2mhxpK5FU
Over the last few days fire crews have been working north of the fire to be prepared if the fire makes a big run in that direction toward Chacon and Guadalupita South along the 519, 121, and 434 roads. Northeast and southeast of Mora they have used dozers to build firelines behind homes.
The Southwest Team #2 is bringing in a second team, a Type 2 team, Southwest Team #3. As explained by Operations Section Chief Todd Abel Friday morning, “They will integrate with our team. This means there’s still just one team, but we brought those people in to help us have a little bit more capacity so that if we have the potential to move further north that we have those folks available.”
Most of New Mexico is in extreme or exceptional drought. The vegetation, or fuels, are atypically dry due to the drought, exacerbated by strong winds and high temperatures. Extremely dry fuels is one of the factors that can contribute to the rapid spread of a fire, especially when combined with very low humidity, high temperatures, and very strong winds.
The spread of the Calf Canyon / Hermits Peak Fire has been primarily through Ponderosa pine with a significant amount of dead and downed fuels in the understory. As the fire progresses downslope to the east, the dominant fuels transition through pinyon/juniper, Gambel oak, and brush to short grass.
CL-415 scooping air tanker supports a firing operation on the Calf Canyon & Hermits Peak Fire, New Mexico. May, 2022. IMT photo.
Chief Randy Moore testified Wednesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee
Forest Service Chief Randy Moore testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee, May 5, 2022.
In testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, Forest Service Chief Randy Moore was asked by Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley about the status of hiring wildland firefighters. Chief Moore said their goal is to hire 11,300 nationwide and the current level is at 10,200, or 90 percent. He said in some areas the agency has only reached 50 percent of their staffing goal.
“Fifty percent sounds a little scary,” said Senator Merkley, ” when you’re thinking about the fires that we’ll be facing in our various states.”
Chief Moore said many of the Forest Service’s firefighting positions are in Washington, Oregon, and California.
“We are making offers, and there’s a lot of declinations in those offers,” Chief Moore said. “There’s a lot of competition in the labor market for these skills. Because when you have county, state, and private firefighters often sometimes [making] double the salaries the Forest Service firefighters are making it’s very hard to compete with that.”
Chief Moore said they have a plan in place to make up for the shortfall that they are currently seeing. They will be hiring through July to try to fill the remaining jobs and will count on contracted firefighters and the use of Administratively Determined, or AD, temporary personnel. The ADs, if they are qualified, can be hired for days or weeks to staff fire engines and hand crews, and can also fill certain overhead positions at fires.
The Chief’s words were different from those spoken by another very high-ranking person in the Forest Service. In Congressional testimony on April 5, the US Forest Service Deputy Chief of State and Private Forestry testified before members of Congress that a firefighter hiring event “went very well”. It turns out that the event had not started yet.
“We just completed an additional fire hire event in California at the end of March and those numbers are still coming in,” Ms. Jaelith Hall-Rivera said. “I do think we are on pace. By all accounts that hiring event went very well. Importantly what we are seeing is a very high acceptance rate in our permanent and seasonal permanent firefighting positions, which is what we want.”
In recent years the federal agencies with wildland firefighting responsibilities have had difficulties hiring and retaining firefighters, resulting in engines and hotshot crews that can’t respond to fires because there are not enough employees to staff them to minimum standards. The reasons cited for resignations, early retirements, and declinations of job offers include very low pay, extensive time away from home, failure of the government to financially support personnel injured on the job, and stress on family life.
On Monday National Public Radio’s flagship station in Southern California, KCRW, interviewed Brianna Sacks, a Buzzfeed News reporter who has been covering the hiring and retention issues faced by the U.S. Forest Service and other federal agencies that have wildland fire responsibilities.
“The burnout is really real for these firefighters who are making no money. They make their living doing thousands of hours of overtime and they still can’t afford to make ends meet,” Sacks told KCRW. “They’ve been leaving en masse, hemorrhaging firefighters to go to CAL FIRE, PG&E, or private sector jobs. And they’ve also been part of the great resignation with the pandemic.”
Map, Calf Canyon & Hermits Peak Fires at 4:38 a.m. MDT May 4, 2022.
Air tankers and helicopters assisting firefighters Tuesday provided an opportunity to engage aggressively on the ground. Structure protection, line construction and firing operations continued Wednesday.
The fire has grown to 160,104 acres and has destroyed 170 residences and 117 other structures.
To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak Fires, including the most recent, click HERE.
Six Structure Protection Groups across the fire have been focusing on removing fuels, constructing line, and deploying other protection measures around homes and communities.
Map south side of Calf Canyon & Hermits Peak Fires at 4:38 a.m. MDT May 4, 2022.
Crews continue to conduct firing operations to remove fuel between containment lines and the uncontrolled fire edge to control portions of fire. One of the largest is on the south end of the fire west of Las Vegas. It began near the Bradner Reservoir and worked south past Luna Community College down to Highway 283, a distance of 5.3 miles.
Firefighters are removing fuel along the north side of Highway 283 in case the fire comes down that far. This will also facilitate using the highway to anchor a firing operation if needed to keep the fire north of the highway.
Map north side of Calf Canyon & Hermits Peak Fires at 4:38 a.m. MDT May 4, 2022.
On the north side of the fire a dozer line was constructed south of Cleveland and Mora from which crews burned out to help protect the communities.
The weather forecast for Thursday indicates that the wind speeds will be lower than they have been for several days, 17 mph out of the west-northwest with relative humidity in the low teens. Friday will be similar, with slightly stronger winds from the west. The strong winds will return Saturday through Tuesday, out of the west and southwest. The speeds will be in the high 20s gusting close to 40 mph with single digit humidity.
Aviation resources include large and very large air tankers, 14 helicopters, and six water-scooping air tankers. The scooper planes are obtaining water at Lake Isabel which is on private property.
Other resources on the fire include 104 engines and 23 hand crews for a total of 1,208 personnel.
In the video below a firefighter ignites a burning operation near Highway 283.
Mobile attack on a fire near the Modesto Airport in California. KCRA.
KCRA has good video footage of engines using mobile attack tactics, or pump and roll, on a grass fire near the Modesto, California airport. It appears to have been conducted safely and effectively, but this is a good opportunity to initiate a discussion.
In the video below the best footage begins at 3:48.
FIRE AERIALS | LiveCopter 3 has a look of a wind-driven fire near the Modesto Airport that officials say left a person with serious burns. https://t.co/y6VeRDJZs6
When I was an engine captain we conducted mobile attacks on grass fires similar to what is seen in the video. If we were the only engine at that location, we operated two nozzles. The one in front was on a short section of 1.5″ hose, and behind the truck a second crewman used a hard line to pick up anything that was still burning. When possible, like seen in the video, the engine was in the black, reducing the chance of a flareup endangering the crew or truck. If there was a second engine we might have just used the front 1.5″ hose and like in the video, count on the second engine to be sure the edge is all cold.
It is important to have a second nozzle, because it is common, unless you progress very slowly, for the fire to creep through the wet line after the first nozzle, and then you can have significant fire behind the engine crew, and you’ve lost what you just gained. It is also important to use a 1.5″ hose in front of the truck. You need the safety factor of that knockdown power and volume of water when you’re suppressing a fire close to the engine. Too often a hard line with 3/4″ inside diameter is woefully insufficient.
