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.

Federal land management agencies ramping up mobilizations to help with COVID vaccinations

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 3 Comments on Federal land management agencies ramping up mobilizations to help with COVID vaccinations

Asking qualified personnel to accept 30-day assignments around the country

COVID vaccinations in California
COVID vaccinations in California. FEMA photo.

Federal land management agencies are ramping up their efforts to assist with COVID vaccinations across the country.

The Department of the Interior has distributed to their personnel a three-page flyer written February 17 seeking qualified personnel to accept 30-day assignments across the country. The document explains, “President Biden has tasked Federal departments and agencies, including DOI, to support FEMA and the Department of Health and Human Services to deliver 100 million doses in 100 days.”

Santon Florea, a spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service, said they have a similar effort underway. The agency has deployed 174 personnel that are currently assigned to the National COVID Vaccine Campaign, administering vaccinations, providing logistical support, and planning at regional and state levels with FEMA and states.

COVID vaccinations, Oakland, CA
COVID vaccinations, Oakland, CA. USFS photo.

The locations of the assignments are still being developed, but the current focal areas include Oakland and Los Angeles, California; Phoenix, Arizona; Carson City, Nevada; Dover, Delaware; and Denton, Texas. These areas are expected to expand.

The DOI is looking in the Interagency Resource Ordering Capability application (IROC) for agency employees that are qualified as AEMTs, AEMFs, EMTBs, EMTFs, EMTIs, EMTPs and EMTFs. (Some of these position codes are decoded here.)

There is also a need for DOI personnel with command and general staff support qualifications.

Additionally, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has cast a wide net in terms of vaccination providers, including MDs, DOs, PAs, RNs, EMTs, pharmacists, pharmacy techs, medical assistants, nurse assistants, veterinarians, etc.

The assignments are slated to be 30 days with a 2-day break somewhere in the middle. But, the flyer states, “There is critical, unprecedented demand for vaccinators, and qualified EMS resources should come forward with their availability, even if short of the desired 30-day commitment. Consideration will be given to 14- and 21-day assignments, if necessary.”

COVID vaccinations, Oakland, CA
COVID vaccinations, Oakland, CA. USFS photo.

Agency personnel should make sure that their qualifications are entered in the Incident Qualifications and Certification System (IQCS) and make themselves available as a resource in IROC.

Currently a Type 1 Incident Management Team is assigned to support operations in the state of Idaho. And last month another Type 1 IMT assisted in planning for vaccinations in Washington. The U.S. Forest Service has more than 50 qualified employees helping administer vaccines at Los Angeles and the Oakland Coliseum.

The photos on this page show assistance being provided in California by the National Park Service, CAL FIRE, by people in what appear to be U.S. Forest Service uniforms, and other agencies.

The three-page flyer can be downloaded here.

If you are qualified and want to help but are not a DOI or Forest Service employee, contact your local, state, tribal, or territorial health department.

COVID vaccinations, Oakland, CA
COVID vaccinations, Oakland, CA. USFS photo.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to John.

NPR: Firefighters are facing a growing mental health challenge

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags 22 Comments on NPR: Firefighters are facing a growing mental health challenge

Interviews with several firefighters. One said, “Things we did 10 years ago are no longer working”

Smoke column from the Williams Fork Fire in Colorado
Smoke column from the Williams Fork Fire in Colorado Aug. 15, 2020. USFS photo.

National Public Radio has an interesting interview with several firefighters, and a researcher who studies issues that affect firefighters. Check it out — it’s only seven minutes.

And speaking of firefighters’ health, you need to read the story of one who has survived two fire shelter deployments. He describes some of the challenges he’s dealing with.

Garbage truck driver in California arrested for starting deadly Sandalwood Fire

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 1 Comment on Garbage truck driver in California arrested for starting deadly Sandalwood Fire

The fire killed two people and destroyed 74 structures in Riverside County in 2019

Sandalwood Fire
San Bernardino Sheriff Department search dogs assisted Riverside County in searching the structures after the Sandalwood Fire. Photo courtesy of Lt. James Mahan

Two passing motorists told Antonio Ornelas-Velazquez on October 10, 2019 that it was too dangerous to dump the burning contents of his garbage truck on the side of the road during a strong wind advisory. But according to the arrest warrant, that is what he did, near Calimesa Boulevard and Sandalwood Drive in Riverside County, California. The burning trash ignited what became the 1,011-acre Sandalwood Fire.

The wind pushed the fast-moving fire into the Villa Calimesa Mobile Home Park where it killed Hannah Labelle, 61, and Lois Arvickson, 89, and burned 74 structures.

Sandalwood Fire
Riverside County Fire Department photo.

It did not take fire investigators long to determine the cause of the fire but Mr. Ornelas-Velazquez was not arrested until Saturday, when he was charged with involuntary manslaughter and unlawfully causing a fire resulting in great bodily injury, according to a spokesperson with the Riverside County district attorney’s office. He was released the next day after posting $75,000 bond.

The truck was owned by CR&R Recycling.

The ABC7 video shows video of the smoking truck as it pulled off the road, and also has an interview with one of the motorists who said he advised the driver to dump it “anywhere but here.”

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Tom.

FEMA denied most Oregonians’ requests for wildfire disaster aid

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 10 Comments on FEMA denied most Oregonians’ requests for wildfire disaster aid

Lower income applicants were about four times more likely to be denied than those with higher incomes

structures burned Almeda Drive Fire Phoenix Talent Oregon
Devastation from the Almeda Drive Fire near Phoenix and Talent in southern Oregon. Screenshot from video shot by Jackson County on September 8, 2020.

Jefferson Public Radio has an article by April Ehrlich who reported that after the disastrous wildfires in Oregon in 2020 the Federal Emergency Management Agency denied about 57 percent of the 27,000 applications for federal assistance.

As an example, a woman who had lived in her home since 2012 was denied help because, as the letter from FEMA said, “You are not eligible for housing assistance because you did not prove you lived in the damaged home at the time of the disaster.” The homeowner, Maria Meunier, is one of the 14,000 Oregonians whose applications were not approved, but she is one of only 290 people who appealed the denials. Only 40 of the appeals were approved, but Ms. Meunier’s was not one of them.

Below is an excerpt from the article at Jefferson Public Radio:

Left out
Oregon’s high rates of denial are on par with previous natural disasters. FEMA denied about 60% of Puerto Rican disaster assistance applicants after Hurricane Maria. A study by Texas Hausers, a housing nonprofit, found that FEMA denied a quarter of disaster applicants after Hurricane Harvey hit there.

Many of the people who have been denied assistance are low-income. Among Hurricane Harvey applicants, people whose annual incomes were below $15,000 had a 46% denial rate. People with annual incomes exceeding $70,000 had a 10% denial rate.

JPR has a pending data request with FEMA to obtain income and demographic information about Oregon applicants who were impacted by wildfires in 2020.

Following Oregon’s wildfires, FEMA issued press releases encouraging people to appeal. They said the appeals process could be as simple as correcting a typo or providing a missing document.

Disaster victim advocates and legal aid attorneys say appealing FEMA’s denials is anything but simple; and that by denying so many people the first time, the agency is using a complex bureaucratic process to weed out people who likely need the most help.

“People who’ve been affected by a disaster are dealing with trauma,” said attorney Tracy Figueroa with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid. “They’re trying to pull the documents together, and just hearing “no” from one entity or another can shut things down. They don’t know how to navigate the bureaucracy. They’re just done.”

Figueroa and other legal aid attorneys say applicants almost always need an attorney to help them find and deliver documents, provide context for their living situations, and continually follow up with FEMA representatives.

People with limited resources are less likely to have access to a lawyer. Disaster-prone states like Texas, where Figueroa has worked through 18 federal disasters, have teams of legal aid attorneys that help low-income disaster victims. But in states like Oregon, which rarely sees a disaster as destructive as the Almeda Fire, there are few private or nonprofit attorneys who are experienced in FEMA disaster assistance.

FEMA’s denial letters aren’t always clear about how applicants can amend their applications. For example, several Oregon applicants told JPR that they were denied assistance because they have homeowner’s insurance; a common misunderstanding, since FEMA often lists homeowners insurance as a reason for denial. Rather, FEMA can help people with homeowners insurance, but those applicants need to follow a few other steps first. They need to see what their insurance will cover and provide that documentation to FEMA, then they need to apply for a loan through the Small Business Administration, even if they don’t intend to take out a loan. At that point, they could go back to FEMA with an appeal.

Challenges with mobile homes
Jackson County officials say two-thirds of the homes destroyed by the Almeda Fire were manufactured homes. Like Meunier, mobile homeowners face a number of challenges in applying for disaster assistance. They need to provide months-long proof that they paid space rent, a copy of their lease agreement and a title to their home, which isn’t always available because of the generally informal process of buying a mobile home.

“For people who are living in mobile homes, they may not have those title documents,” said Sarah Saadian of the Low Income Housing Coalition. “Even if your state may require you to register it, it just doesn’t happen like that. Sometimes the park owner might have it. Sometimes it’s never delivered when the home is delivered.”

Saadian and the Low Income Housing Coalition are encouraging FEMA and Congress to enact legislation that allows mobile homeowners to self-certify homeownership in lieu of title documents, a process that had been allowed after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico. FEMA only allows self-attestation in U.S. territories, not in the states.

Mobile home parks have historically been located in areas that are susceptible to natural disasters, including wildfires and hurricanes.

“They’re in areas where wildfires occur and where flooding can occur because they’re tucked away,” said attorney Ilene Jacobs with the California Rural Legal Assistance. “Some of them are quite substandard and are in areas adjacent to a highway.”

The Almeda Fire burned through the Bear Creek Greenway, a riparian area and bike path running along the Interstate 5 freeway. Several manufactured home parks abutted the greenway and freeway before the fire raged through those properties.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Kelly.

Combined, bark beetle outbreaks and wildfire spell uncertain future for forests

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 2 Comments on Combined, bark beetle outbreaks and wildfire spell uncertain future for forests

Bark beetle outbreaks and wildfire alone are not a death sentence for Colorado’s beloved forests — but together, their toll may become more permanent

Aspen trees regenerate fire beetles
Aspen trees regenerate from their roots in the San Juan range of the Rocky Mountains, amidst many dead Engelmann spruce trees. (Credit: Robert Andrus)

Aspen trees regenerate from their roots in the San Juan range of the Rocky Mountains, amidst many dead Engelmann spruce trees. (Credit: Robert Andrus)

New research from the University of Colorado Boulder found that when wildfire follows a severe spruce beetle outbreak in the Rocky Mountains, Engelmann spruce trees are unable to recover and grow back, while aspen tree roots survive underground. The study, published last month in Ecosphere, is one of the first to document the effects of bark beetle kill on high elevation forests’ recovery from wildfire.

“The fact that Aspen is regenerating prolifically after wildfire is not a surprise,” said Robert Andrus, who conducted this research while working on his PhD in physical geography at CU Boulder. “The surprising piece here is that after beetle kill and then wildfire, there aren’t really any spruce regenerating.”

Andrus’ previous research found that bark beetle outbreaks are not a death sentence to Colorado forests — even after overlapping outbreaks with different kinds of beetles — and that spruce bark beetle infestations do not affect fire severity.

This new research, conducted in the San Juan range of the Rocky Mountains, shows that subalpine forests that have not been attacked by bark beetles will likely recover after wildfire. But for forests that suffer from a severe bark beetle outbreak followed by wildfire within about five years, conifers cannot mount a comeback. While these subalpine forests can often take a century to recover from fire, this research on short-term recovery is a good predictor of longer-term trends.

“This combination, the spruce beetle outbreak and the fire, can alter the trajectory of the forest to dominance by aspen,” said Andrus, who is now a postdoctoral researcher at Washington State University.

For those worried about the future of Rocky Mountain forests farther north, more research is needed on areas burned in the 2020 East Troublesome Fire to understand how the mountain pine beetle outbreak prior to that fire will affect forest recovery, according to Andrus.

The next generation

Each bark beetle species specializes in attacking — and usually killing — a specific host tree species or closely related species. Several species of bark beetle are native to Colorado and usually exist at low abundances, killing only dying or weakened trees. But as the climate becomes hotter and drier, their populations can explode, causing outbreaks which kill large numbers of even the healthiest trees.

spruce seedling fire beetles
An Engelmann spruce seedling survives where few seeds have fallen following spruce beetle outbreak and wildfire. (Credit: Robert Andrus)

An Engelmann spruce seedling survives where few seeds have fallen following spruce beetle outbreak and wildfire. (Credit: Robert Andrus)

These large, healthy Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir trees are the ones that produce the most seeds. When bark beetles kill these trees and then fire sweeps in, the researchers found there simply aren’t enough seeds being produced in the burned areas to regenerate the forest.

Aspens, however, regrow from their root systems. While all three of these higher elevation trees have thin bark and die when exposed to fire, with their regenerative roots underground, aspens can bounce back where conifers cannot.

The researchers focused specifically on areas of forest affected by spruce bark beetle outbreaks, which attack Engelmann spruce, where fires such as Papoose, West Fork and Little Sands burned in 2012 and 2013 in Rio Grande National Forest. They found that for forests that suffer from a severe bark beetle outbreak followed by wildfire within about five years, Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir trees failed to recover in 74% of the 45 sites sampled.

This information will help inform land managers and policy makers about the implications for high elevation forest recovery following a combination of stressors and events.

And it’s more important information than ever. Not only do bark beetle outbreaks leave behind swaths of dead, dry trees — and fewer trees to produce seeds — but the climate is getting hotter and droughts are becoming more frequent, promoting larger fires.

“Bark beetle outbreaks have been killing lots and lots of trees throughout the western United States. And especially at higher elevation forests, what drives bark beetle outbreaks and what drives fire are similar conditions: generally warmer and drier conditions,” said Andrus.

But there is good news: The aspens that may come to dominate these forests can anchor their recovery, and keep forests from transitioning into grasslands.

“Where the aspen are regenerating, we expect to see a forest in those areas,” said Andrus.

The name of the paper that was published January 22, 2021 is “Future dominance by quaking aspen expected following short‐interval, compounded disturbance interaction.” Additional authors on this publication include Thomas Veblen at CU Boulder; and Sarah Hart and Niko Tutland of Colorado State University.

As bushfire conditions in Eastern Australia have eased this summer firefighters train and conduct prescribed fires

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , ,
Firefighters in Victoria, Australia conduct prescribed fires.
Firefighters in Victoria, Australia conduct prescribed fires. Forest Fire Management Victoria photo.

The cooler and wetter weather in the Eastern Australian states of New South Wales and Victoria this summer has resulted in a very different bushfire season than the one that led to multiple very large fires a year ago.

Firefighters in Victoria have taken advantage of the conditions to conduct rappel training and complete prescribed fires.

Firefighters in Victoria, Australia conduct prescribed fires.
Firefighters in Victoria, Australia conduct a briefing before a prescribed fire. Forest Fire Management Victoria photo.
Firefighters in Victoria, Australia conduct prescribed fires.
Firefighters in Victoria, Australia conduct a prescribed fire. Forest Fire Management Victoria photo.
Firefighters Victoria, Australia rappel training
Firefighters in Victoria, Australia conduct rappel training. Coulson photo.
Firefighters Victoria, Australia rappel training
Firefighters in Victoria, Australia conduct rappel training. Coulson photo.

In the video below Victoria’s new Deputy Chief Fire Officer Geoff Conway and CFA’s Deputy Chief Officer for the South East Region Trevor Owen provide an update on how the bushfire season is going and what to expect ahead in the Gippsland region of Southeast Victoria. It was recorded February 10, 2021.