The Oct. 14 edition of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric had a segment about the controversy over day number two of the Station fire near Los Angeles and the fact that the number of firefighters and helicopters were reduced from the day before. Wildfire Today first reported on this October 1 HERE. The fire eventually burned over 160,000 acres and is the largest fire in recorded history in Los Angeles County. Which is saying something, considering the fire history in that area.
Adding fuel to the issue is a memo from the USFS regional office to the forest supervisors in California three weeks before the fire which ordered them to minimize the use of state and local firefighting resources as a cost reduction measure and that “fire resources be managed to ensure no deficits”.
An investigation is underway by the USFS, so we’ll wait to see what that uncovers.
When I learned how to fight fire in California we were taught to attack a fire aggressively and with overwhelming force. It’s hard to do that while minimizing costs and reducing assistance from your cooperators. But in the long run it can actually keep the fire smaller and reduce the overall costs. Bean counters sitting at desks in regional offices don’t always realize this.
Thanks Kelly
Folks need to remember, that at current times,….. wildland firefighters are supervised by "Line Officers" and "land managers" that (in most cases) do not have the experience, training, or education that wildland firefighters have gained from 20+ years of experience, education, and training.To ask non-firefighters to lead (or allow them to lead) such a program is reckless, and a dangerous proposition that has resulted in repetitive failures over the last 30 years. We can be safer…. more efficient… and more cost effective. Often, we are just told to shut up as firefighters (both current and retired)….. and follow the ologists lead. Nope. Policy and direction for the wildland fire program; community and public safety; as well as firefighter safety tells EVERYONE that things could be managed better if wildland firefighters were allowed to actually lead and foster their profession as PEERS. This streamlining (centralization) needs to happen.The LA Times, CBS, Reuters, and other press sources are getting at the root problems….. and the problems needing correction are currently upwards…………JMHO… Another Biologist…. Hydrologist… Soil Scientist….. or Botanist……. isn’t going to be able to address fire issues better than a wildland firefighter (fire manager).
Many of the houses that were lost were in the Big Tujunga Canyon area, where, prior to the fire, Forest Service Crews were denied access when trying to do fuels reduction directly from the property owners. And I can say with most certainty that all of the residents were told to evacuate.These are just a couple of facts that might have been overlooked.