Wildfire Today

News and opinion about wildland fire

Wildfire Today

Year: 2022

Forest Service Burn Boss arrested after prescribed fire escapes in Oregon

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Prescribed Fire, WildfireTags , , , , 208 Comments on Forest Service Burn Boss arrested after prescribed fire escapes in Oregon

Malheur National Forest

Updated at 8 a.m. PDT Oct. 22, 2022

Late Friday afternoon Chief of the Forest Service Randy Moore sent an email to all Forest Service employees regarding the Wednesday October 19 arrest of a Burn Boss while conducting a prescribed fire that slopped over the Forest boundary, burning approximately 18 acres of private land.

“This week, there was an incident in the Pacific Northwest Region where a Forest Service Burn Boss was arrested while leading a prescribed fire that crossed over onto private lands,” the email read in part. “They were engaging in appropriate, coordinated, and vital prescribed fire work alongside state and other colleagues approved and supported by the Agency Administrator. In my opinion, this arrest was highly inappropriate under these circumstances, and I will not stand idly by without fully defending the Burn Boss and all employees carrying out their official duties as federal employees.  

“This employee should not have been singled out, and we are working to address these unfortunate circumstances on their behalf,” Chief Moore continued. “This also prompted me to want to reach out to all of you and remind you of how important you are to the success of the Forest Service. You will always have my support and the same from your regional and local leadership. I will aggressively engage to ensure our important work across the country is allowed to move forward unhampered as you carry out duties in your official capacity.”

The arrest of the Forest Service Burn Boss while conducting a prescribed fire has been picked up by numerous news organizations, including Washington Post, Guardian, NBC News, ABC news, and Reuters.

To our knowledge this is the first time a federal government firefighter has been arrested at a fire for conducting their assigned duties.

Updated at 12:20 p.m. PDT Oct. 21, 2022

Friday morning the Regional Forester of the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Region, Glenn Casamassa, sent the following email message to all USFS employees in the Region. (We removed the email addresses)

From: Casamassa, Glenn -FS
Sent: Friday, October 21, 2022 11:07 AM
To: FS-pdl R6 ALL EMPS All Regional Emps
Subject: Support for Malheur Starr Prescribed Burn Boss and crew

To all Region 6 employees,

Many of you have probably seen the news and social media coverage about one of our employees arrested for leading a prescribed fire that slopped over onto private lands. There’s a lot of context and additional information about this incident that would be inappropriate to share publicly at this time, but none of that information revolves around the work conducted during the prescribed burn, the professionalism of our employees, partners, and contractors, or how the burn sloped over onto private land.

While I can’t go into specifics around the arrest of the burn boss, I want each of you to know that all times he, and the entire team that engaged on the Starr prescribed fire, had, and continues to have, our full support.

Communication and coordination between all levels of the Forest Service and the department were effectively in place within hours of this incident. This included local, regional, and national level leadership, Fire and Aviation Management leaders, legal counsel, and law enforcement – which reflects our commitment to this important work and our promise to share in the accountability for any and all outcomes.

I spoke with the Burn Boss last night and expressed my support for him and the actions he took in leading the prescribed burn.  In addition, I let him know it’s my expectation that the Forest Service will continue to support him throughout any legal actions.

No one person or crew is in this work on their own. I need you to know that I am with you now and into the future, whatever that future may look like.

I trust and respect our firefighters and employees who carry out the complex and dynamic mission of applying fire treatments to the landscape. They are well-trained, well-informed, and well-equipped for the mission.

Prescribed fire is critical to our responsibility to improve the health of our natural landscapes and the safety of our communities, and we are committed to continuing this work together. Thank you all for staying the course.

Updated 11:50 a.m. PDT Oct. 21, 2022

Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter identified the US Forest Service Fire Boss arrested as Rick Snodgrass after the Star 6 prescribed fire burned an unintended 18 to 20 acres of private land near the Malheur National Forest in Oregon.

“This case will be evaluated once the investigation is complete, and if appropriate, Snodgrass will formally be charged,” said Mr. Carpenter in a written statement. “These cases rarely have a bright line and involve a number of variables to be considered. However, to be clear, the employer and/or position of Snodgrass will not protect him if it is determined that he acted recklessly. That the USFS was engaging in a prescribed burn may actually raise, rather than lower the standard to which Snodgrass will be held.”

Updated 8 p.m. PDT Oct. 20, 2022

Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley told Wildfire Today that when the Malheur National Forest’s Star 6 prescribed fire escaped control and spread onto the privately owned Holliday Ranch the ranch employees “were actually out helping them try to catch the fire and prevent it from doing more damage”, but at the same time some of them were “highly upset.”

Sheriff McKinley said the US Forest Service Burn Boss who was arrested and charged with Reckless Burning did not have to post bail, but met the criteria for “conditional release.” The Sheriff said Forest Supervisor Craig Trulock was at the Sheriff’s Office.

We asked the Sheriff about the report that the arrest was made to de-escalate a tense situation going on with armed private landowners.

“They may have been armed,” he said, “but we are not aware of that. There were definitely some landowners that were highly upset.”

“Determining the rest, honestly, Bill, is getting to the bottom of why they were even burning to begin with and why they chose to burn at that time,” the Sheriff said when we asked about the next step. “You know, there’s a lot more to this. Everybody knew it was a bad burn, should not be happening. Even the fire staff out there, there are fire personnel that were on scene that are afraid to say much because, you know, their jobs. It was not the right time to burn and there may have even been means taken to get that burn done that were outside the scope. That’s kind of where it’s at. You know, it’s a really tenuous situation and more details will come out.”

“The Forest Service employee referenced in the recent reporting  was conducting an approved prescribed fire operation on the Malheur National Forest,” the Public Affairs Officer for the Forest, Mary Hamisevicz, wrote in a text message. “It would be inappropriate for us to provide further comment as this is a legal matter.”

The weather recorded at the EW3547 Seneca weather station at 2 p.m. on October 19 was 73 degrees, 16 percent relative humidity, and mostly calm winds that occasionally gusted to 3 mph.

Originally published at 12:19 p.m. PDT October 20, 2022

Map, location of Star 6 escaped prescribed fire
Map, location of Star 6 prescribed fire.

A US Forest Service employee serving as the Burn Boss on a prescribed fire was arrested Wednesday October 19 after the fire escaped and burned approximately 18 acres of private land.

The project was on the Malheur National Forest at mile post two on the Izee Highway between John Day and Seneca, Oregon.

Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley issued a statement Thursday saying the escaped fire burned lands belonging to the Holliday Ranches on the “hot afternoon of October 19, 2022.”

The statement read in part:

The Grant County Sheriff’s Office arrested a 39-year-old Forest Service employee for Reckless Burning, and transported him to the Grant County Jail. The employee was assigned as the fire’s “burn boss.”

The Sheriff’s office said they are working with the Forest Service to determine the events that led to the escaped fire.

The Star 6 prescribed fire was intended to burn 362 acres. The US Forest Service said on Twitter the escape was caught within an hour at 18 acres, but failed to mention that the Burn Boss was arrested. The Sheriff said it burned approximately 20 acres.

Phone calls to Forest Supervisor Craig Trulock and Blue Mountain District Ranger Sally Christenson were not immediately returned.

This is the first time to this author’s knowledge that a Federal Burn Boss has been arrested for an escaped prescribed fire.

After the 2001 Thirtymile Fire, a Crew Boss was charged with 11 felonies related to the entrapment and burnover deaths of four firefighters who were on his hand crew. He was facing the possibility of decades in prison, but the Assistant U. S. Attorney, perhaps realizing he did not have a winnable case, allowed him to plead guilty to two misdemeanors of making a false statement in an Administrative hearing. Seven years after the fire, he was sentenced to three months of incarceration in a work-release program and three years of probation.

Wildfires degrade public health across the country

Author BillPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , 8 Comments on Wildfires degrade public health across the country
South Moccasin Fire in Montana, October, 2021
South Moccasin Fire in Montana, October, 2021. Photo by Lauren Kokinda, BLM.

By Matt Vasilogambros 

As wildfires continue to burn in parts of the United States, state public health officials and experts are increasingly concerned about residents’ chronic exposure to toxin-filled smoke.

This year has seen the most wildfires of the past decade, with more than 56,000 fires burning nearly 7 million acres nationwide, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. While the total area burned is less than in some recent years, heavy smoke has still blanketed countless communities throughout the country.

Climate change is causing more frequent and severe wildfires, harming Americans’ health, pointed out Dr. Lisa Patel, deputy executive director at the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, which raises awareness about the health effects of climate change.

“The data we have is very scary,” she said. “We are living through a natural experiment right now — we’ve never had fires this frequently.”

Patel sees the effects of wildfires in her work as a practicing pediatrician at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, treating more women and underweight and premature infants at the neonatal intensive care unit when wildfires rage in Northern California.

As researchers focus on the public health impact of wildfire smoke, state health and environmental officials across the country have had to issue more air quality notices and provide guidance and shelter for residents struggling during periods of heavy wildfire smoke. And as experts have found, this issue isn’t isolated to the West Coast — it hurts more residents in the Eastern U.S.

Studies show that chronic exposure to wildfire smoke can cause asthma and pneumonia, and increase the risk for lung cancer, stroke, heart failure and sudden death. The very old and very young are most vulnerable. Particulates in wildfire smoke are 10 times as harmful to children’s respiratory health as other air pollutants, according to a study in Pediatrics last year.

What concerns experts is particulate matter in the air smaller than 2.5 microns across; there are around 25,000 microns in an inch. People inhale these microscopic bits, which then can embed deep in their lungs, irritating the lining and inflaming tissue. The particles are small enough to get into a person’s bloodstream, which can lead to other short- and long-term health effects.

Forecast for wildfire smoke
Forecast for wildfire smoke at 12:01 a.m. PDT Sept. 1, 2021.

Particulates in wildfire smoke are even hindering national progress on reducing air pollution, after decades of improvement.

The federal Clean Air Act has substantially decreased the level of toxic particles from industrial and automotive pollution across the country since 1970, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes. But air pollution is expected to worsen in parts of the West because of wildfires, some researchers have found. A United Nations report earlier this year warned of a “global wildfire crisis,” saying the probability of catastrophic wildfires could increase 57% by the end of the century.

Researchers are trying to better understand how more frequent wildfires affect human biology.

Keith Bein, associate professional researcher at the University of California, Davis, created a rapid response mobile research unit in 2017 that he deploys when there are fires around the state. He’s like a storm chaser but for wildfires.

With his mobile unit, Bein can measure particulate matter in the air, take samples back to his lab and then determine their toxicology and chemical compositions. When near these fires, he said, the smoke is so bad that it feels like there’s no escaping it.

“The smoke rolls in, and you get that sinking feeling all over again,” he said.

Massive wildfires that tear through communities are becoming more common. The fires aren’t just burning trees but also synthetic materials in homes. And with repeated exposure to different particulates, health risks are more pronounced and can evolve into chronic conditions, Bein said.

Researchers are just beginning to understand how more frequent wildfires in residential areas impact human health, he added.

“It’s happening more frequently every summer,” he said. “The length of the fires is growing. The public exposure to the smoke is also growing. Once-in-a-lifetime events are happening every summer. This is a different kind of exposure.”

In 2020, a study in Environment International found that winter influenza seasons in Montana were four to five times worse after bad wildfire seasons, which typically last from July until September. The findings shocked study lead author Erin Landguth, an associate professor at the University of Montana.

“We know that hospitalizations for asthma and other respiratory conditions spike within days or weeks of wildfires,” she said. “The thought that this could potentially lead to effects later and how that can affect our immune system is really scary.”

Landguth is currently expanding her study to all Western states. She expects to find a similar trend throughout the Mountain West and Pacific Northwest. Monsoon season in Arizona and New Mexico may disrupt the trend there, she said, while air pollution is already so bad in California from smog and other pollutants that it might be difficult to pinpoint how wildfires are harming human health.

But wildfires are not just in the West, nor is their health impact geographically isolated. Some fires burn so intensely at such high temperatures that smoke rises into the atmosphere, where strong winds can carry the smoke long distances.

This was glaringly apparent in 2021 when the sun glowed red, and the sky hazed over New York City and throughout the Northeast, as smoke drifted from massive wildfires in California, Oregon and other Western states.

Pine Gulch Fire
Shot from Colorado National Monument August 7, 2020 about 15 miles Southwest of the Pine Gulch Fire. The view is looking towards the northeast and shows some of the explosive activity on the northern front Friday and the huge smoke plume extending to the east. Photo by Jennifer Deering.

That smoke is hurting the health of more people in the Eastern U.S. than it is in the West, said Katelyn O’Dell, a postdoctoral research scientist at George Washington University, who released that finding in a study in GeoHealth in 2021. Wildfire smoke contributed to more asthma-related deaths and hospital visits in Eastern communities than those in the West, she and other researchers found, in part because of higher population density.

The smoke hitting the Eastern U.S. doesn’t just come from the West; there are wildfires and prescribed burns throughout the country, said O’Dell.

“It’s sometimes easy to feel distant from fires and their impacts when you’re far from the flames of these large Western wildfires that are in the news,” she said. “But wildfires impact the health of the U.S.”

The next orange sunset people enjoy should be a moment to check an air quality mobile app, she said.

In Minnesota, the state has issued 46 air quality alerts since 2015, according to the state’s Pollution Control Agency. Of those, 34 were due to wildfire smoke, and 26 of those were issued last year.

That took state officials by surprise, said Kathy Norlien, a research scientist at the Minnesota Department of Health. The wildfire smoke risk is not just coming from the plumes that drift from the West Coast and Canada, but also from wildfires in the Boundary Waters — a lake-filled region in the northern stretches of the state. She expects the problem to worsen in the coming years.

“At this point, we’re planning for the worst-case scenario,” she said. “We have not had the extent that the Western states have had. But with climate change and concern over drought and the dry conditions, planning is of the utmost importance.”

She meets regularly with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and other state officials about how to get the message to state residents about the increasing wildfire risk to public health, encouraging residents to sign up for air quality alerts. State officials also have established larger community centers and buildings as safe air shelters.

The public plays an enormous role in both preventing (nearly 90% of wildfires are caused by humans, according to U.S. governmental data) and adapting to wildfires, many experts say.

For people living in fire-prone areas, there are nonflammable building materials for new homes and indoor air purifiers and upgraded HVAC systems. But these solutions may be too costly for some families, said Patel, of Stanford Medicine.

She counsels families about how to affordably stay safe during wildfire season, encouraging the use of N95 and KN95 masks, which were pivotal in combating the spread of the coronavirus. She also shares designs for do-it-yourself air filtration systems.

But she emphasized that wildfires will continue to rage across the country and cause adverse health effects unless climate change is reined in through serious public policy. Until then, climate change will continue to be the biggest threat to public health, she said.

“Summer used to be a time I’d look forward to,” she said, “but now I look at it with dread with the heat and wildfires.”

First published by Pew Charitable Trusts on Stateline. Used with permission.

More than 70 cars burn in grass parking lot near Temple, Texas

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags 5 Comments on More than 70 cars burn in grass parking lot near Temple, Texas
Robinson Family Farm Fire
Robinson Family Farm Fire. Lisa Adams.

The parking lot at the Robinson Family Farm in Temple, Texas turned into an inferno Saturday afternoon during their annual pumpkin patch event. According to the owner of the farm no injuries were reported but approximately 73 vehicles were destroyed when a wind-driven fire spread rapidly through the mowed pasture used as a parking lot.

Robinson Family Farm Fire
Robinson Family Farm. KCENN.

From KWTX:

The Temple Fire & Rescue Department responded to the blaze at around 1 p.m. Oct. 15. Multiple fire departments from Little River Academy, Troy, Rogers, Salado, Holland, Bartlett and Belton were called to assist.

The first units to arrive found approximately 10 cars on fire in the pasture area used for parking but due to the numbers of cars involved, the East Side Strike Team was called to bring in additional resources.

Fire crews were able to move some of the cars out of the way of the flames.

One attendee on Facebook wrote, “I have to say that is the most exciting and expensive pumpkin patch we’ve been to” after their family van “burned to a crisp.”

Robinson Family Farm Fire
Cars burn at Robinson Family Farm in Texas. KCENN.

On April 3, 2020 3,516 rental cars parked in a mowed field near the Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) near Fort Myers, Florida burned in a similar manner.

“The cars were stored in a location not ordinarily used for any specific purpose”, Victoria B. Moreland, Director of Communications and Marketing for the airport said at the time. “The large number was due to the car rental agencies serving RSW not renting inventory during the peak season due to the current COVID-19 crisis.”

rental cars burn fire Fort Myers Airport
More than 3,500 rental cars burn at Southwest Florida International Airport at Fort Myers, Florida April 3, 2020. Fort Myers Fire Department photo.

At one point firefighters in Florida used dozers to build fireline through the cars to stop the spread.

Strong winds spread fires in Western Washington

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags , , 10 Comments on Strong winds spread fires in Western Washington

4 p.m. PDT October 16, 2022

map Wildfires in western Washington, 3 p.m. PDT Oct. 16, 2022
Map of wildfires in western Washington, 3 p.m. PDT Oct. 16, 2022

Strong winds out of the east and southeast are increasing the spread of wildfires in Western Washington. Red Flag Warnings Sunday afternoon predicted 10 to 20 mph winds out of the southeast gusting at 25 to 30 with relative humidity in the low 20s.

Hilary Franz, the state’s Commissioner of Public Lands gave an update at about 2:20 p.m. Sunday:

Update Wash Fires

The Loch Katrine Fire on private land and the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest 30 miles east of Seattle had burned about 2,000 acres at the last estimate Sunday afternoon. Aviation resources are being used where they can be effective. A Type 2 Incident Management Team will assume command on Monday.

map Smoke from wildfires in western Washington, 326 p.m. PDT Oct. 16, 2022
Smoke from wildfires in western Washington, 3:26 p.m. PDT Oct. 16, 2022.

Evacuations for approximately 1,000 homes are in effect at the Nakia Creek Fire 9 miles north of Washougal, Washington 11 miles northeast of Portland, Oregon. At 2 p.m. Sunday it had burned about 400 acres.

Lookout damaged in Bovee Fire to be assessed by engineer

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags , 16 Comments on Lookout damaged in Bovee Fire to be assessed by engineer

Updated at 4:38 p.m. CDT October 16, 2022

Scott Lookout Tower, Nebraska National Forest
Scott Lookout Tower — Nebraska National Forest, Sept. 15, 2022. Photo by Rick.

We received photos taken by Rick of the Scott Lookout on the Nebraska National Forest that were taken September 15 about two weeks before the tower was damaged in the Bovee Fire on October 2. Rick is a Forest Service employee from another state and is knowledgeable about wildland fire.

Scott Lookout Tower, Nebraska National Forest. September 15, 2022.
Scott Lookout Tower — Nebraska National Forest, Sept. 15, 2022. Photo by Rick.

“The road up to the lookout was lined with big, old (well cured) hand piles and the tower was surrounded by ponderosa pines with an excellent needle cast duff layer,” Rick wrote.

Scott Lookout Tower, Nebraska National Forest
Scott Lookout Tower, Nebraska National Forest, Sept. 15, 2022. By Rick.

12:53 CDT October 15, 2022

Bovee Fire Scott lookout tower burning
Scott lookout tower burning during the Bovee Fire, October 2, 2022. USFS photo.

The Scott lookout tower that was damaged during the Bovee Fire in Nebraska on October 2 is going to be assessed next month by a structural engineer to determine the integrity of the structure that remains. The damage easily visible in photos includes wood steps and the cabin at the top. The steel framework still stands.

Bovee Fire Scott lookout tower
Scott lookout tower damaged during the Bovee Fire. USFS photo.

The fire burned nearly 19,000 acres of the Nebraska National Forest and private land on both sides of Highway 2 west of Halsey. When it started October 2 the relative humidity was in the 20s and the wind was gusting to 34 mph out of the south-southeast.

Bovee Fire Scott lookout tower
Scott lookout tower in the Bovee Fire. Photo by Nebraska State Patrol.

In addition to destroying most of the structures in a 4-H camp, several thousand acres of hand-planted forest burned. The forest was an experiment started in 1903 to provide timber for the railroad and early Sandhills residents. The first planting consisted of 35 acres of jack pine from Minnesota, 15 acres of yellow pine from the Black Hills, and 34 acres of mixed red cedar, blue spruce, jack, and yellow pine.

Bovee Fire grass
Grass sprouting after the Bovee Fire. USFS photo.

Washington Post article about six wildland firefighters

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags 17 Comments on Washington Post article about six wildland firefighters
Fairview Fire, Sept. 7, 2022
Fairview Fire southeast of Hemet, CA, Sept. 7, 2022. By Ryan Grothe.

The Washington Post has published an interesting article about wildland fire. It was written by Amanda Monthei who had several seasons experience on hotshot crews. In recent years she has been busy writing about wildfire and climate adaptation for national publications.

In this case Amanda tells us about six former and current wildland firefighters from federal, tribal and private crews.

The excerpt below from the long article is about Jordin Schramm, a former rappeller and now an assistant engine captain for the US Forest Service in Oregon. The full article is here (subscription).

…Schramm knows a lot of women who work in the field, including four others who worked with her on her helirappel crew before she left to take a position as an assistant engine captain for the 2022 fire season. But as she nears 11 years of working in fire, there is one experience that she has found very few people can relate to: wanting to have children and stay on the line as a woman.

“I want kids, but I really don’t want to get out of fire,” Schramm said, suggesting that in wildland fire, that decision can feel like one or the other. “But it’s not one of those things where I’m going to stay in fire and have kids and be like, ‘I’ll show everybody.’ I want to stay and keep my qualifications because this is what I really like to do. But I’m not so naive to think that plan won’t change.”

[…]

“There’s nothing to complain about, but at the same time, maybe your expectations of your life have to change a little. And it’s hard to talk about this kind of stuff because there are only a couple of women who I know that are trying to stay in fire and have been able to make it work [with a family], while all my other female friends are like, ‘I don’t want kids.’ So I’m, like, ‘Okay, I can’t talk to you about this.’ Nobody ever really talks about this, which is understandable, because a lot of women [in fire] don’t want kids or don’t have kids. But at the same time, there’s a very small percentage of us that would like to have kids. And not having anybody to talk to in that situation is really difficult.”

 

You can follow Amanda on Twitter.