Burned fire engine in Western Australia. Photo credit: Department of Environment and Conservation
The 45-year old Western Australia firefighter that suffered burns when she and another firefighter were entrapped in their fire engine on Friday and overrun by a fire continues to fight for her life in the burn unit at the Royal Perth Hospital. She has burns over 60 percent of her body and is in the intensive care unit, while the 24-year old firefighter that was also entrapped has burns over 40 percent of her body. The 24-year old has been moved out of intensive care and is in stable condition.
According to Western Australia Fire and Emergency Services Authority state duty director Bruce Jones the firefighters were from the Department of Environment and Conservation and the local bushfire brigade. In an October 13 statement Mr. Jones said, “Preliminary reports state that the firefighters were caught when strong winds caused the fire to suddenly change direction on a slope”.
Three other firefighters were also injured and were treated at a hospital in Albany.
Jim Sharp of the Department of Environment and Conservation said the younger firefighter is making progress:
I can say that I did have the opportunity of speaking to the younger officer, who is now in a stable condition. I was able to speak to her and that was encouraging I guess, to me and to others, to at least converse with her.
Brian Pickford, the Emergency Management Co-ordinator said
All firefighters are supplied with what we call PPE, which is protective clothing that is to a large degree fireproof.
Their tankers are also very heavily protected but sometimes the intensity of the heat can truly overcome the safety equipment we provide them.
We had firefighters that were caught in what we call an overrun situation.
I can’t explain too much because that particular part of the fire is under investigation but needless to say they were caught in an extreme and very hot fire area.
The 1,500-hectare (3,706 acres) fire has been controlled. Law enforcement authorities are investigating if the blaze was deliberately lit.
The area of Colorado Springs that was devastated by the Waldo Canyon fire is rising from the ashes.
The Fern Lake Fire in Rocky Mountain National Park has burned 673 acres but received some rain and snow on Saturday. The fire is being managed by a National Incident Management Organization (NIMO) team.
Bicycle racers ride past the Horsethief Canyon fire, September, 2012. Photo by David Cernicek
Some people prayed that the Horsethief Canyon fire would burn down the city of Jackson, Wyoming last month.
If Congress allows the Budget Control Act of 2011, which has been called the “fiscal cliff”, to go into effect on January 2, 2013 the federal wildland fire programs will be cut by $218 million.
In addition, the FLAME wildfire suppression reserve fund will be cut by 8.2 percent, meaning it would not be funded at the 10-year average, greatly increasing the risk of funding shortfalls, as occurred in fiscal year 2012 which ended September 30. Such a shortfall would impact more than just the fire programs. With no carryover funds and a cut in the FLAME reserve fund, the wildland fire agencies in the Departments of Interior and Agriculture would need to take funds from other accounts to make up the firefighting shortfall.
Under the Budget Control Act, the sequestration would result in a 9.4 percent reduction in non-exempt defense discretionary funding and an 8.2 percent reduction in non-exempt nondefense discretionary funding. The sequestration would also impose cuts of 2.0 percent to Medicare, 7.6 percent to other non-exempt nondefense mandatory programs, and 10.0 percent to non-exempt defense mandatory programs.
Most of the federal wildland fire appropriations will be subject to an 8.2 percent reduction since they are considered “discretionary”.
A report, prepared by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), revealed the following cuts to wildland fire budgets that will be effective January 2, 2013; the numbers do not include the FLAME fire suppression accounts:
US Forest Service Wildland Fire Management: $172 million
Department of Interior Wildland Fire Management: $46 million
The OMB report said the major budget reductions were never intended to be implemented, and were supposed to to drive both political parties to reach a compromise on more sane budget cuts. The OMB said: “The Administration strongly believes that sequestration is bad policy, and that Congress can and should take action to avoid it by passing a comprehensive and balanced deficit reduction package.”
At a meeting on forest health Friday in Denver, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said, “If Congress fails to act before the end of the year, the sequester that Congress has triggered will go into effect. That will result in every line item of virtually every aspect of USDA being cut by at least 8.2%, that’s every line item, no ability to transfer or prioritize the cuts.”
Two female firefighters in Western Australia (WA) are being treated in a Perth hospital after being entrapped and burned while fighting a fire in a pine plantation near Albany Friday night (map). According to WA Fire and Emergency Services Authority state duty director Bruce Jones the firefighters were from the Department of Environment and Conservation and the local bushfire brigade. In a statement Mr. Jones said, “Preliminary reports state that the firefighters were caught when strong winds caused the fire to suddenly change direction on a slope”.
Two Royal Flying Doctor Service aircraft transported the women to Perth. One aged 45 suffered burns to 60 per cent of her body and other aged 24 suffered burns to 40 per cent of her body, a Royal Flying Doctor Service spokeswoman said.
The fire, which is now contained, has burned about 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) near the Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve east of Albany.
We will keep the two firefighters in our thoughts and hope for a speedy recovery.
A screen grab from a video endorsed by Cabela’s demonstrating a Star Exploding Target. We added the arrow and the “Flames” text to point out that flames are visible following the explosion.
Originally published October 11, 2012, updated February 6, 2013
Targets that are designed to explode when shot with a rifle have become more popular in recent years, emerging as an increasing threat to our wildlands. The problem is, they sometimes start fires in spite of claims by the manufacturers saying they are safe.
The military has been using them for at least 20 years when training marksmen to hit targets hundreds of yards away, since it can be difficult to see if a target was hit at that distance. When struck with the bullet from a rifle, the explosion and smoke are easily seen and indicate that the shooter hit the target
They are sometimes called “binary exploding targets”, since they are completely inert until two powders are mixed at the site by the target shooter. After they are combined, the compound is illegal to transport. The manufacturers claim that the only way they can be detonated is by striking them with a high-velocity bullet fired from a high-powered center-fire rifle. At least one company has recently started offering targets that will explode when hit with a much less powerful .22 caliber rim-fire rifle.
While the manufacturers claim they can’t start a fire, the screen grab (above) from a video shows flames in the grass just after a target advertised by Cabela’s and manufactured by Star Exploding Targets, explodes. The video is below, however we expect that eventually Cabela’s and Star will remove it from YouTube. The flames are visible three seconds into the video at the bottom left.
In a quick search, we found numerous reports of wildfires having been caused by exploding targets in a 5-month period. The dates below indicate when the information was published.
June 17, 2012, Colorado. The Springer Fire in Park County on the Pike National Forest burned 1,045 acres. It was caused by exploding targets.
June 13, 2012, Idaho. Four wildfires were caused by shooters using exploding targets up to that date in 2012.
June 15, 2012, Washington. A small fire near the mouth of the Grande Ronde River was apparently started by someone shooting at exploding targets.
June 16, 2012, Utah. The 300-acre Little Cove fire was caused by shooters using exploding targets.
June 29, 2012, Utah. A fire investigator said eight wildfires in the previous three weeks were caused by shooters using exploding targets.
July 2, 2012, Nevada. A five-acre fire in Elko was caused by shooters using exploding targets.
August 19, 2012, Oregon. Five shooters were cited for starting a 35-acre fire using Tannerite exploding targets.
September 6, 2012, Washington. The Goat Fire burned 7,378 acres 3 miles southwest of Pateros, WA. It was started by exploding targets. Forest Service officials previously said two smaller fires — a 120-acre blaze in Mud Creek Entiat and one on Deadman Hill near Cashmere — may also have been ignited by exploding targets.
October 7, 2012, Pennsylvania. Two state Game Commission workers suffered injuries including burns, temporary blindness and hearing damage when an illegal exploding target blew up while the men attempted to put out a fire at a gun range in Pike County.
October 11, 2012, California. A 364-acre fire was started by shooters using exploding targets. A news report (see video below) shows two pounds of the explosive being used to blow up a car.
October 19, 2012, Utah. Two men have been charged with starting the Dump fire near Saratoga Springs, Utah that burned more than 5,500 acres and cost $2.1 million to put out. About 2,500 people were forced to evacuate. Investigators say the men were shooting June 21 when they hit an explosive target that started the fire in vegetation.
October 23, 2012, Nebraska. Three men have been charged with starting a fire by using exploding targets in Nebraska, and starting the Spotted Tail fire that burned 83 acres south of Chadron October 23.
This is a total of 24 fires that were either confirmed or suspected to be caused by exploding targets since the first of June, 2012. And these are just the ones that we were able to find using Google.
In most areas in the western United States exploding targets are illegal to use if there is a law or temporary ban on open fires.
One of the primary manufacturers of the targets is Tannerite. The company has a patent on the devices and has said the fires are caused by other companies infringing on their patent and adding an additional incendiary component in order to produce a more spectacular explosion.
At an online forum for firearms enthusiasts, The Firing Line, some of the posters decry the lack of wisdom of target shooters who start fires with exploding targets. A person using the moniker “g.willikers” wrote:
It seems that we gun owners have two enemies. Those who would deprive us of our gun rights. And those who throw those rights away.
Others on the forum suggested some alternative targets that can produce an impressive display when hit with a bullet, such as:
A milk jug filled with water
Potatoes
Pop can filled with water
Fresh cow pie
UPDATE October 12, 2012:
Ken told us about this news report that appeared on television in southern California October 11, 2012, explaining and demonstrating the hazards of these explosive targets. They use two pounds of the explosive to blow up a car, and Chief John Hawkins of CAL FIRE provides his point of view on the problem.
Bumper sticker distributed by the Idaho Forest Products Commission
The Idaho Forest Products Commission has started a bumper sticker campaign to encourage the U. S. Forest Service to accelerate the pace of thinning the national forests in their state. The Commission, a state organization comprised of members appointed by the Governor, has distributed information stating that “part of the reason for wildfires burning in Idaho this year is because the state’s national forests are overstocked with dead and dying trees, and timber harvest levels are nearly at an all-time low.”
The bumper sticker, as you can see above, says “Thin The Threat!” over a background of what appears to be a forest fire behind some trees.
The bumper stickers are available at no charge from the Idaho Forest Products Commission. They can be ordered by email, ifpc@idahoforests.org or phone at 208-334-3292.
