News and opinion about wildland fire
If you have not checked FireAviation.com recently, here is what you missed:
*In answering 12 Questions, Walt Darran reveals the secret to cleaning retardant off the windshield of an S2T while in flight.
*Jerome Laval discusses the “Secret of Boredom” while he answers the same questions.
*Photos of a TBM dropping retardant.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized2 Comments on NIFC summarizes the 2012 fire season The National Interagency Fire Center has summarized the 2012 wildfire season in a 10-minute video.
This could be big. All of the past and present members of the Type 1 and Type 2 incident management teams in California are being invited to a reunion. It is the first time this has been attempted. I doubt if anyone knows how many people have been on all of those teams over the last, say, 20 years, but with five very large Type 1 IMTs, and quite a few Type 2 IMTs, we’re probably talking about thousands of people. Of course not all will attend, but they have a large base for possible attendees.
Below is an excerpt from the announcement. Clicking HERE will download Word document, and HERE is the registration form.
…The federal California Incident Management Teams Reunion 2013 is the first ever event to gather the past and present members of the Type 1 and Type 2 fire teams of Region 5 at the amazing Atlantis Casino Resort Spa in Reno, Nevada, where team members and guests can relax and visit. Each day will feature special meals, exhibits and guest speakers with ample time to connect with colleagues and lifelong friends. Headed by the steering committee of Denny Bungarz, Charlie Gripp, Sid Nobles, and Jim Hanrahan, the reunion has the support of ICs Tom Hutchinson, Dave Kohut, Jack Lee, Jerry McGowan, Jeanne Pincha-Tully and Ron Raley.
Today we have the seventh article of our series in which we ask current and retired leaders in the wildland fire service to answer 12 questions.
We appreciate everyone who is cooperating with this project. Some of their responses may add to the knowledge base of our new firefighters coming up through the ranks. If you have a suggestion of someone who would be a good candidate for these questions, drop us a line through our Contact Us page. And their contact information would be appreciated.
Below we hear from Joe Lowe, a former Director of the South Dakota Division of Wildfire Suppression and Type 2 Incident Commander of Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team C. Currently Joe is the owner of the Reflections of South Dakota Gallery in Rapid City.
Joe answered the first generation of the 12 Questions, which have since been modified.
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When you think of an excellent leader in the fire service, who comes to mind first?
My departed teacher and friend Paul Gleason
What is one piece of advice you would give to someone before their first assignment as an Incident Commander?
This is advice I would give my ICT2 trainee. They are as follows and in no particular order:
If someone is planning a prescribed fire, what is one thing that you hope they will pay particular attention to?
The weather factors present before you start the burn. Do they match your forecast?
What was the first very large fire you were on?
The Indian Fire in November of 1980. It burned 28,000 acres in Orange County and the Cleveland National Forest. I was a new firefighter and assigned to Type 3 engine,
What color should fire trucks be?
Why red of course
What was the first job you ever had?
A paper route.
What was the first job you had within the fire service?
A volunteer firefighter for CDF.
What cell phone do you have for personal use?
An Android 4G
What kind of computer do you have at home?
Windows
What gadgets can’t you live without?
My IPAD
What was the first vehicle that you bought?
A 1953 Ford Station Wagon
What was your most memorable vacation?
My 1st trip to Maui with my wife after we got married.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized9 Comments on Is prescribed fire in chaparral “irrelevant”? 
Some of the opinions of Jon Keeley, a fire ecologist with the U.S Geological Survey (USGS) at Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park, are again in the news. A web site called OurAmazingPlanet has quoted him in a lengthy article about prescribed fire, titled “Fighting Fires: You’re Doing It Wrong”. While admitting that prescribed fire in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park “is extremely necessary”, he goes on to say:
In most of Southern California, [prescribed fire] is completely irrelevant. There is overwhelming evidence we’ve never come anywhere close to excluding fire on this landscape [through prescribed fire].
Mr. Keeley believes that manipulating the vegetation in chaparral-covered areas by masticating and prescribed fire, replaces the native vegetation with invasive species like cheatgrass. He thinks that instead, we should concentrate on planning and reduce the number of people that are put at risk.
This is not the first time Wildfire Today has written about Mr. Keeley’s opinions. In 2009 we covered his research that indicates it is unlikely that changing the age class of chaparral can prevent large fires. The details are in his papers HERE and HERE, and in a brief article by John McKinney HERE.
Conventional wisdom was that younger chaparral, less than 20 years old, had fewer tons-per-acre of vegetation than older stands, and also had a much different live/dead ratio, with fewer dead stems and plants. Less flammable fuels (higher green content with higher fuel moistures) meant fires would spread more slowly and should be easier to suppress.
Totally preventing or excluding fires in chaparral will never be feasible, but… it is hard for me to give up the idea that creating a mosaic of chaparral age classes does not have a significant effect on fire size and resistance to control.
Monday the Associated Aerial Firefighters held their annual meeting in Reno. Here is a video report from KTVN:
KTVN Channel 2 – Reno Tahoe News Weather, Video –
