Berry Point Fire engine accident. Photo from the report.
A Facilitated Learning Analysis has been released for a non-injury accident that occurred in northern California, August 11, 2012. An engine from the Klamath National Forest ended up partially off of a dirt road after a soft shoulder gave way under the rear tires.
Berry Point Fire engine accident. Photo from the report.
No one was injured and the engine only had very minor damage. Here is an excerpt from the report, picking up after the engine stabilized:
…The captain assessed the scene for safety and ordered the crew to exit the vehicle with most of the crew leaving the vehicle on the uphill side. I then dumped the water out of my tank to prevent possibility of continued rollover due to the soft pack. After the certified mechanic and I did a damage assessment investigation, we found the only damage was the petcock on the bottom of the pump was broken off. We had spares on board since this may happen occasionally on backwoods roads.
Red Flag Warnings are in effect for some areas in southwest Texas until 6 p.m. CT today for strong winds and low humidites.
It as has been 1 year, 2 months, and 21 days since the U.S. Forest Service issued a solicitation for next-generation large air tankers, but no contracts have been awarded.
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The map above was current as of 10:20 a.m. MT on Thursday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts. For the most current data, visit this NWS site.
The U.S. Forest Service’s Deputy Director of Fire and Aviation Management spoke about pyroterrorism in a keynote address at the Firehouse World conference in San Diego this week.
After serving in the Marine Corps for 25 years, mostly as a planner, Mr. Baird was appointed to his position in the Forest Service in November of 2011. While attending Marine Corps University he wrote a paper titled Pyroterrorism: The Threat of Arson Induced Forest Fires as a Terrorist Weapon, and an article on the same subject, Profiles in Pyroterrorism: Convergence of crime, terrorism and wildfire unleash as a weapon on population.
At the conference this week, according to Firehouse, Mr. Baird mentioned several incidents that could be classified as pyroterrorism, including the Japanese fire balloons during the second World War, the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, and the arson fires set by Raymond Lee Oyler, one of them being the Esperanza Fire that killed a 5-person USFS engine crew. He also referred to an article in an al Qaeda magazine that called for Western Muslims to wage war within the United States, urging them to engage in lone wolf attacks, including setting forest fires.
Below is an excerpt from the Firehouse article:
In 2004, the FBI came upon intelligence and issued an alert to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) suggesting that Al Queda had plans to start wildland fires in Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado, Baird said, noting that all the material he was presenting was unclassified information and his interpretations and analysis were his own.
“I am not going to be some suit out of Washington, D.C., coming out here and telling you how to fight wildland fires,” said Baird, who added that his family in California was evacuated during the Camp Pendleton fire.
The National Park Service has been consistently posting photos from prescribed fire activities at Chickasaw National Recreation Area over the last year. We have featured some of them here and here. The photo above is one of 18 that were posted Wednesday on their Facebook page, which were taken February 16-19 by Michelle Fidler and Dan Winings.
Firefighter Peter Demontreux receives Medal of Valor from Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder.
Today in the White House there was a ceremony honoring firefighters and law enforcement officers who put themselves in harms way to protect the public and their fellow officers. Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder presented the Medal of Valor to 18 public safety officers for exhibiting exceptional courage. The Medal is the highest national award for valor by a public safety officer, and it is bestowed on those whose heroic actions were above and beyond the call of duty.
The Vice President, a former Chairperson of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus, made some very meaningful remarks, some of which appeared to be unscripted. Here are a few examples of what he said during his 12-minute talk, but it is more impressive when you watch it in the video below.
…And as many of these things that I do, I still grapple with what makes you do what you do? I’m just thankful that you do.
You can’t explain it, but you know it when you see it. I see it in the shield over someone’s heart. I see it in the men and women who are sitting here before us today…Thank God for you. You’re from different backgrounds, but you’re the glue that literally binds communities together at times of stress. You’re that face that shows up for a woman on the second floor of a burning building just when she thinks it’s all over for her… The amazing thing about all of you is that the very things you do when you’re on duty to save people’s lives, you do when you’re off duty. There’s no separation.
In addition, he said:
There’s something special about firefighters and cops……. You all share — you’re all crazy, God love you — you all share a selflessness that is not easily explained, a commitment to your fellow man that’s rare, bravery that inspires, literally inspires almost everyone that hears about it……. Being a firefighter or police officer is not what you do, it’s who you are….. There’s something about ya’ll. You can smell it when you’re 10, you’re 12, you’re 15. And God we’re lucky for it man. I marvel at what makes them tick. I marvel at what makes them tick.
Below is a video of the ceremony. Vice President Biden’s remarks begin at 9:34.
Below is an example of one of the Medal of Valor recipients today:
Firefighter Peter Demontreux, New York City Fire Department, New York
On August 30, 2010, Firefighter Peter Demontreux’s unit responded to a fire in a 4 story brownstone. On arrival they encountered heavy fire at the front door and up the stairway to the third floor preventing entry until a hoseline was put in place. Instead of waiting for a hoseline, Firefighter Demontreux climbed an aerial ladder to a third floor window. There he encountered a civilian who stated that his friend was still trapped inside the burning apartment. After assisting the civilian onto the ladder, Firefighter Demontreux immediately entered the apartment to conduct a search. He located the victim deep within the apartment.
In the ensuing minutes, Firefighter Demontreux executed one of the most remarkable rescues ever witnessed. As he assisted the victim through the apartment, the entire third floor suddenly exploded into flames setting both rescuer and victim ablaze. According to the on-scene Battalion Chief’s report, Firefighter Demontreux, now on fire, made the split second decision that he would not leave victim behind. After reaching the window, Firefighter Demontreux insured the victim was safely on the aerial ladder before diving out himself. Both men were extinguished by a hoseline and though badly burned- the civilian victim received burns over 50% of his body, both survived. Firefighter Demontreux’s protective equipment was subsequently tested and found to have been subjected to temperatures in excess of 1,000 degrees.
A Facilitated Learning Analysis has been released for the engine burnovers and entrapments that occurred on the North Pass Fire on the Mendocino National Forest in northern California, August 25, 2012.
You can read the entire report (large 3.8MB file), but here is a very brief summary. On August 18,2012, five Type 3 Engines from municipal fire departments in southern California were working as a Type 3 Engine Strike Team with the assignment that day of securing a dozer line. Due to dense vegetation along the dozer line, and a lack of information about their situation, they were surprised when a spot fire caused by a burning tree resulted in a fire that overran their position.
E-2 at the burnover site, before the accident and before turning around. Photo from the report.
The crew from E-2 dismounted to assist with the spot fire, leaving the engine operator to button it up, disconnect hoses, and move it to assist with the spot fire at another location along the dozer line. The fire approached the engine before the operator was able to relocate the engine. He decided to run down the dozer line to escape, telling a hand crew after he reached safety, “F*** my engine burned up…. F*** my engine burned up!” Hand-crew members responded, “It’s fine, it’s fine. You’re alive so it’s fine.”
A second engine was also burned over, according to the report:
At the same time fire is engulfing E-2, E-5 finds their egress cut off by the flames now lying over the dozer line. E-5 was then forced to withdraw to a safe area. Capt. E-5 notifies ST-1C STEN they are remaining at their current location and requests permission to fire out the area around them. ST-1C STEN tells them, “Do what you need to do.” The crew of E-5 pre-treats the area around them using Class A foam, depleting their water supply. E-5 then deploys thermal curtains, and they seek shelter in the apparatus as the fire burns around them.
After the burnovers the strike team was sent to a USFS work station. The Strike Team Leader reported to a Ground Support Unit Leader who escorted them to the Incident Base. After receiving medical evaluations, all personnel were cleared by the Medical Unit and received no injuries.
Below are excerpts from the lessons learned, as shared by the facilitated learning analysis participants:
“Try to think more three-dimensionally. I really didn’t see/perceive the layout of the road, the green, or the fire. It would of helped to realize the danger there.”
“Maybe a picture from the air.”
”I wish I’d known I had a qualified faller. Don’t know that I would of used them.” [to cut down the tree throwing out burning embers that caused the spot fire.]
“Had I perceived the danger, I wish I’d thought twice about the assignment for E-2.”
“I will definitely request more 800 MHz radios.”
From the Division Supervisor: “It would have been more appropriate to recognize that their (ST-1C) specialties were in other areas of firefighting and take the time to give them a more thorough briefing on the assignment rather than handing them off to be briefed by ST-2C STEN.”
“Walking through it afterward, E-2 was in perfect alignment with the draw, but of course you couldn’t see with all of the vegetation.”
From Capt. E-1: “Should of used a faller to drop the problem tree in the first place. Use the professionals.”
And from the same Capt: “There are all these other resources that we don’t normally deal with, like fallers, inmate crews and dozers. We had resources we could have used, but I just didn’t have the experience to think to ask for them.”
Excerpts of observations from the FLA team members:
The participants believe the division was large and complex. Geographically the division stretched over 5 to 7 miles of line.
The participants felt complexity and scope of the division complicated communications over the assigned tactical channel. Early on in the shift it was identified that communications were difficult. To mitigate it, ST-1C began using their 800 MHz for intra-crew communications. One difficulty was that not everyone had both radios. Some had the 800 MHz, and some had a VHF radio, but not everyone had both. Every member should have the same type of communication capability.
FLA team members and participants acknowledged that utilizing an unassigned tactical frequency on an incident is against several policies & guidelines.
