Wildfire Today

News and opinion about wildland fire

Wildfire Today

Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

California state regulators halt power company’s power shutoff plan

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,

The California Public Utilities Commission issued a temporary order blocking the plan by San Diego Gas and Electric to preemptively shut off the electricity for up to 150,000 people at a time when the fire danger meets their predetermined criteria. SDG&E had expected to implement the plan on September 1, but the commission put a halt to it at least until they can meet on September 10.

Photo: ginsnob / Flickr

The power company has said shutting off the electricity during dry and windy conditions would prevent fires that could be started by their power lines. Many groups are opposed to the plan, including schools, water districts, and disabled people who rely on life-sustaining equipment. One study found that there are 900 people in the affected area with chronic medical problems. Of those, 590 rely on electrical equipment for thier well being.

SDG&E’s outage plan

Body of helicopter pilot found

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , ,

The body of Robert Christopher Woodhead, the 53-year old helicopter pilot who had been missing after his firefighting helicopter crashed into the Fraser River in British Columbia on Friday, has been found. It was located just south of Saddle Rock, near Spuzzum. 

Mr. Woodhead was piloting a Bell 212 and attempting to fill his water bucket when the ship crashed into the river. 

The helicopter company he worked for is planning a tribute on Sunday in Lillooet on the bridge over the Fraser River.

Athens wildfire threatens homes

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags
A volunteer firefighter extinguishes a bushfire in Magoula village, a few miles northwest of Athens, August 20, 2009. REUTERS/Yiorgos Karahalis

We’re bringing you the story of a fire in Greece which is threatening homes near Athens because we needed an excuse to include the photo above of the firefighter attempting to put out a vegetation fire with a dry chemical fire extinguisher. We will have to assume that for some reason that was the only option available to the firefighter at that time.

Is there a watch-out situation that addresses attacking the head of a fire with a dry chemical fire extinguisher?

There are no more details about the fire available except that a warehouse and two trucks burned, and the fire is being fought with 100 firefighters, 25 engines, and 5 helicopters.

Yellowstone fires, big blowup, August 20, 1988

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags 3 Comments on Yellowstone fires, big blowup, August 20, 1988

In the summer of 1988 numerous fires burned 793,000 acres of Yellowstone National Park as well as large tracts of land surrounding the park. Half of the acres burned inside the park resulted from fires that started outside the boundary. Nine of the fires were human-caused, and 42 were started by lightning.

Protecting the Old Faithful Inn, 1988. Photo: Jeff Henry

On the worst single day, August 20, 1988, tremendous winds pushed fire across more than 150,000 acres. Throughout August and early September, some park roads and facilities were closed to the public, and residents of nearby towns outside the park feared for their property and their lives.

Yellowstone’s fire management policy was the topic of heated debate, from the restaurants of park border towns to the halls of Congress. Following this event, the National Park Service and other federal land management agencies rewrote their policies affecting how they managed fires with less than full suppression strategies.

Helicopter pilot believed dead after crash in B.C.

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , ,

Authorities now believe that the pilot who was flying the helicopter that crashed into the Fraser River in British Columbia on Friday is dead. Our sincere condolences to the family and co-workers.

From EastOttawa.ca:

Robert Christopher Woodhead, 53, of Stoney Creek, Ont., was operating a Bell 212 helicopter with a line and water bucket Friday afternoon when the aircraft went down in the Fraser River, near Lytton, B.C.

RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said Mounties believe Woodhead died soon after the chopper crashed in water 15 metres deep and with a swift current.

“We have met and spoken to the family,” Moskaluk said.

“It is believed that Mr. Woodhead perished in the river.”

Woodhead, who was based in B.C., was last seen in the water just after the crash by another pilot who was flying overhead.

That pilot tried to save Woodhead by lowering his own line and bucket into the water but the rescue attempt proved unsuccessful.

Moskaluk said search crews have recovered Woodhead’s flight helmet, as well as pieces of debris from his helicopter, but they have yet to find the man’s body in the water.

“In incidents of this nature, with the incertitude of the person’s fate, it leaves all in a suspended state of deep grief,” he said.

“Our thoughts, along with those of all British Columbians, whose lives and homes were protected in this and in past fire seasons by the courageous efforts of ground firefighters and the pilots assigned to battling these blazes, are with the Woodhead family at this time.”

B.C.-firefighting helicopter crashes into river, pilot missing

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , ,

From the C.P.:

LYTTON, B.C. — The search continues in the rushing waters of the Fraser River for an Ontario helicopter pilot whose aircraft crashed while fighting one of the many forest fires burning across British Columbia.

The Bell 212, piloted by 53-year-old Robert Christopher Woodhead of Stoney Creek, Ont., was operating as a waterbucket on the 12-square-kilometre Intlpam fire near Lytton late Friday afternoon when it went down.

The helicopter is now submerged in 15 metres of water flowing at about 16 kilometres per hour, but there’s no sign of Woodhead, who was the only person in the aircraft.

Woodhead’s family in Stoney Creek say they aren’t commenting on the search.

Cpl. Dan Moskaluk of the RCMP says the federal Fisheries Department and a local search-and-rescue squad have boats on the water and a Mountie helicopter is searching from the air, but he says the water is too rough to use divers.

Moskaluk says witnesses reported seeing the pilot surface after the crash, prompting the Mounties to focus thier efforts on the water and riverbanks.

The B.C. Forest Service had contracted the chopper, which is the second aircraft the crash this fire season, although this is the first fatal crash.

A single-engine (air tanker) crashed into Okanagan Lake on July 25, but the pilot escaped without injury.

UPDATE at 5:10 p.m. MT, Aug. 15

The story has been updated by the Canadian press at 2:36 p.m. MT today. Here is an excerpt:

KELOWNA, B.C. — An Ontario helicopter pilot who was helping to fight one of British Columbia’s many forest fires was still missing Saturday, a day after another pilot flying overhead was unable to pull the man from the water in a dramatic rescue attempt.

Robert Christopher Woodhead, 53, of Stoney Creek, Ont., was operating a Bell 212 with a waterbucket Friday afternoon when the aircraft when down in the Fraser River near Lytton.

Woodhead, who was based in British Columbia, was last seen in the water just after the crash by another pilot who watched from the air as the helicopter went down, said RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk.

“A valiant attempt was made by lowering his line and bucket into the river near Mr. Woodhead,” Moskaluk said in an interview.

“However, he was not successful in getting the line to him and did eventually lose visual sight of the pilot in the water.”

Moskaluk said police are still considering the search a rescue operation, and are concentrating their efforts on the riverbanks in what is considered a particularly rough part of the Fraser Canyon.