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.

Woodbury Fire east of Phoenix grows to over 40,000 acres

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,
3-D map of the Woodbury Fire
3-D map of the Woodbury Fire mapped at 10:20 p.m. MST June 17, 2019. Looking west toward Phoenix. Wildfire Today. Click to enlarge.

The Woodbury Fire 12 miles east of the Phoenix suburbs has burned 40,557 acres, mostly in the Tonto National Forest in the 11 days since it started. The agency is not attempting to completely suppress it, but instead is using a variety of strategies.

(To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Woodbury Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.)

The weather forecast for the fire area over the next seven days looks very static, with high temperatures in the Tortilla Flat area around 100 degrees and no expectation of precipitation. The wind should be about 8 to 10 mph out of the south and southwest during the daylight hours.

Resources assigned to the fire include 18 hand crews, 34 engines, and 6 helicopters, for a total of 747 personnel.

The smoke forecast for 6 p.m. MDT on Tuesday shows the smoke plume from the fire being pushed off to the northeast, away from the greater Phoenix metropolitan area.

wildfire smoke forecast
Forecast for the distribution of smoke from wildfires at 6 p.m. MDT June 18, 2019.

Below is a summary of Monday’s activities released by the Incident Management Team at 9 p.m. on Monday.

[Monday]: Early this morning helicopters used aerial ignition and began a low intensity fire in the Reavis Ranch area to reduce vegetation in front of the advancing fire. These efforts were taken to protect Mexican spotted owl habitat, some stands of ponderosa pine and an old apple orchard As predicted, the fire moved east through the area today from Iron Mountain/Angel Basin, creating a large smoke plume and dropping ash as far as the communities of Tonto Basin and Roosevelt. While increased smoke and ash will continue in coming days, at this time there are no evacuations in place for these communities. All evacuation notices, if needed, will come directly from the Gila County Sheriff’s Office.

Heli-rappellers and hotshot crews joined efforts to fight fire near Hewitt Ridge today. The hotshots will remain in the area overnight. Other hotshots completed suppression efforts in the Buzzard Roost area along the boundary of Forest and State lands. Retardant drops in the Coffee Flat /Valley Canyon area were effective in preventing fire spread; crews will be used to reinforce the line as needed. All of these suppression actions help tie together a contiguous line around the fire, and stop its spread southwest towards State and private lands, and local communities. Retardant and water drops were also used successfully in other areas of the fire.

Structure protection and fuels reduction efforts continue on the north boundary of the fire along State Highway 88, including mowing of roadside fuels in the road corridor and around power transmission poles. Heavy equipment is being used on the northeast and east sides of the fire to improve roads and protect the 500 KV lines that provide power for Phoenix. Protection for other infrastructure is in development.

Closures: State Highway 88 is closed from Needle Vista east to the junction of State Highway 88 and State Highway 188. This includes Tortilla Flat, Canyon Lake, Apache Lake, and campsites along State Highway 88.

map of the Woodbury Fire
Map of the Woodbury Fire mapped at 10:20 p.m. MST June 17, 2019. Wildfire Today.
Satellite photo Woodbury Fire
Satellite photo of the Woodbury Fire at 6:06 p.m. MDT June 17, 2019.

Opinion: transferring Job Corps Centers will mean privatization

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags 7 Comments on Opinion: transferring Job Corps Centers will mean privatization
Anaconda Job Corps
Members of a Job Corps Center fire crew at Anaconda in Montana. This facility is slated by the Trump Administration for closure. Job Corps photo.

The Trump Administration’s plans to transfer the management of 25 Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers from the Forest Service to the Department of Labor (DOL) and permanently close 9 of those 25 centers continues to provoke strong reactions.

On June 11 we published an editorial written by a former high-level Forest Service employee, Michael T. Rains. Before he retired in 2016 Mr. Rains had been Deputy Chief of the Forest Service for State and Private Forestry in Washington, D.C. and Director of the Northern Research Station at Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Below, Mr. Rains expands on his earlier message, this time concentrating on what it will mean to transfer the Centers to the Department of Labor.

“I am writing again about the May 24, 2019 decision to “close” and “transfer” 25 Forest Service JCCCC’s.

“Recently, I was reading an article entitled, “Privatization of Trapper Creek Job Corps would ripple across forests, towns, schools.” The article focuses on the negative impacts of “transferring” the Trapper Creek Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center [JCCCC] to a private contractor through the Department of Labor.

“Because words do matter, I began to think about the words “closure”, “transfer”, “contractors” and “privatization.”  “Closure” is clear.  Everything ends.  The Trapper Creek JCCCC is set for “transfer.”  I suppose, clinically speaking, “transferring” something from point A to point B sounds pretty innocuous; no harm no foul, right?  But then when I think about the words “contractors” or “private contractors” that lead to the “privatization” of an enterprise steeped in a specific culture; the word “transfer” takes on a much more profound meaning.  Accordingly, it remains clear to me that a transfer to privatize will essentially end a success story of helping train students to care for the land.  And, in these times when caring for America’s lands is so critical to protecting people and communities from disturbances – for example, wildfires – transferring to privatize the Forest Service JCCCC’s is a really ugly choice.

“It is clear that many are outraged about the “closures.” They should be.  Let us also be outraged about the “transfer” of Forest Service JCCCC’s that will be “privatized” causing the legacy built by the Forest Service Job Corps teachers and students to be methodically lost.  And, what a loss that will be.  As a former Forest Service Job Corps employee during the mid-1960s so succinctly put it:  “The fact this program is either being shut down or auctioned off to a mercenary group is a bloody disgrace.” Yes, words do matter.  Moving from Point A to Point B may not seem like a big deal.  But, with the Forest Service JCCCC’s, the word transfer will mean privatization and this essentially means closure.  Do not let this happen.”

Job Corps repairs bridge
Students from the Blackwell Job Corps Center helped the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest Recreation Crew replace decking on the off-highway vehicle trail bridge over Riley Creek in Florence County, Wisconsin. The Blackwell Center is slated for closing by the Trump Administration. Job Corps photo.

More about transferring and closing the Job Corps Centers:

Tahoe National Forest produces “Fire and Forest Health” short film

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 7 Comments on Tahoe National Forest produces “Fire and Forest Health” short film

Official selection at the 2019 Wild & Scenic Film Festival

Fire and Forest Health film fire wildfire
Screenshot from “Fire and Forest Health”

On a busy morning I read an email sent by the Public Affairs Officer for the Tahoe National Forest, Joe Flannery, about “… a short film on YouTube about wildland firefighters, wildfire, and forest health. I thought your audience might be interested; I get a lot of feedback from Wildland firefighters who really enjoy it.”

Here is how it was described:

Fire and Forest Health showcases wildland firefighters, biologists, foresters, and fuels specialists as they work together to stop catastrophic wildfires and increase forest health. This film was shot on location within the Tahoe National Forest and features Tahoe National Forest employees.

“At its heart, this is an educational film. Within a few short minutes audiences can learn how wildland firefighters prepare for the upcoming fire season and also how the US Forest Service is working to prevent catastrophic wildfires through the planning and implementation of forest health projects,” said Eli Ilano, Tahoe National Forest Supervisor. “We hope this film will be shared far and wide by educators, community groups, social media users, and anyone interested in wildfire prevention, forest health, and modern National Forest land management.”

I thought that sounds interesting, a video produced at the local level by a National Forest — I figured I’d view it quickly and if it looks decent probably embed it in a short article on Wildfire Today and move on to the next project.

But after clicking the play button I was immediately interested. The opening seconds showed beautiful scenes and then there was a graphic:

Fire & Forest Health
Your Tahoe National Forest
Official selection at the 2019 Wild & Scenic Film Festival

As the video unfolded showing the Tahoe Hotshots, engine crews, and forest management personnel, I thought, wow, these Forest Service employees who filmed this are very good. Then there was drone footage, motion graphics, scenes that appeared to be shot from a dolly or steady-cam, and then more  images from drones. The quality of the cinematography was professional level — so good that it was almost distracting, at least to someone who often has a camera in his hands.

It may not have been inexpensive to create, but the quality level could enhance the chances of the fire management message being distributed in many venues and social media posts.

The 11-minute film was written, directed, and produced by Mr. Flannery in association with the Eastern Sierra Interpretive Association, with cinematography and editing by Gigantic Film Company and Origami Rocket. It can be viewed in quality up to 4K (2,160p).

The video can also be viewed on Vimeo and YouTube.

NASF supports legislation to enable greater sharing of firefighting resources

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,
Swan Lake Fire
Swan Lake Fire in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, June 12, 2019, 5 miles east of the community of Sterling, Alaska. InciWeb photo.

From the National Association of State Foresters

The National Association of State Foresters is calling on Congress to introduce and pass legislation that will allow resource sharing among states and Canadian provinces for the express purpose of fighting wildfires.

“To better protect Americans from wildfire, our states need Congress to enact federal legislation to address liability concerns for Forest Fire Compact resource exchanges,” Alaska State Forester Chris Maisch told the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Thursday. “Current federal and state legislation doesn’t provide adequate liability protections to compacts so that they can freely exchange emergency response personnel and resources like firefighting aircraft. In effect, some states are unable to mobilize critical resources across compact boundaries.”

Chris Maisch, Alaska State Forester
Chris Maisch, Alaska State Forester, testifies before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee June 13, 2019.

Across North America, there are eight operating Forest Fire Compacts. Each compact includes several state members, and a few even include Canadian provinces. Within each compact, wildfire fighting resources and personnel can be deployed quickly and efficiently from state-to-state to suppress wildfires. But under current legislation, compact-to-compact sharing of resources is limited.

For example, the Southern Forest Fire Compacts are reluctant to accept resources from the Northeast and Northwest Forest Fire Compacts because the latter compacts don’t have inter-compact liability protection language in their statutes. The Northwest Compact does not accept or export any resources on a compact-to-compact basis for the same reason. This lack of compact-to-compact liability protection means that half of states (and several Canadian provinces) aren’t able to share wildfire fighting resources, even in times of extreme emergency.

“The first Forest Fire Compact was established in 1949 as a way for states to share firefighting resources crucial to managing wildfires efficiently,” said Jay Farrell, NASF executive director. “NASF and the Alliance for Forest Fire Compacts are urging Congress to give these compacts a fix, allowing more life-saving resources to be deployed for wildfire response.”

360-degree video inside a forest fire

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized1 Comment on 360-degree video inside a forest fire

NIST designed a water-cooled camera

video in forest wildland wildfire fire
NIST

(From the National Institute of Standards and Technology)

Conservation Foundation’s Franklin Parker Preserve in the New Jersey Pine Barrens conducted on March 27, 2019 by the U.S. Forest Service and New Jersey Forest Fire Service. This video shows a forest fire that spreads along the forest floor, called a surface fire. The video was captured using a water-cooled glass enclosure developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology to protect 360° cameras in fires. For more information and additional 360° fire videos visit the 360-Degree Video in Fire Research project webpage. The burn was performed in conjunction with work by researchers from the University of Edinburgh’s Fire Safety Engineering program to study ember generation and transport.

360° video  of a prescribed forest management fire in the New Jersey. (CLICK AND DRAG CURSOR IN VIDEO BELOW TO CHANGE ORIENTATION)

Some of the most useful and compelling information obtained during a fire experiment comes from visual observations. However, the extreme environmental conditions present in a fire necessitate limited access during experiments. Current solutions to collect visual data from fires have largely been limited to two-dimensions, often with a narrow field of view and for limited periods of time; e.g. until the camera is destroyed. High-resolution omnidirectional cameras are rapidly getting smaller, better and cheaper and the 360-degree images and video they capture provide a more immersive viewing experience. However, to use such cameras in a fire, two problems must be solved: how to keep the camera cool and how to protect the camera sensors from the intense thermal radiation given off by a fire.

In a 2018 Engineering Laboratory Exploratory Project, NIST researchers designed, fabricated and tested a transparent, water-cooled enclosure to house various commercial 360-degree cameras to record video from inside a fully-developed fire. We successfully recorded 360-degree video in two compartment fires, including stereo sound inside of a compartment fire in one test. Details about the development and construction of the enclosure are here .

NIST water-cooled camera
NIST water-cooled camera

Chief John Hawkins honored at SoCal Foresters & Fire Wardens conference

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 9 Comments on Chief John Hawkins honored at SoCal Foresters & Fire Wardens conference

After his scheduled presentation he was surprised with gifts and was recognized for his service

Chief John Hawkins retired honored
Chief John Hawkins was honored by the Southern California Foresters and Fire Wardens for his 55-year firefighting career. Photo by Joy Collura.

Former CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Chief John Hawkins was honored last month at the annual meeting of the Wildland Fire Training and Safety Conference put on by the Southern California Foresters and Fire Wardens at Yukaipa, California. Chief Hawkins retired on Christmas Day in 2018 after his 55-year fire career. As Fire Chief he directed a cooperative regional fire protection district with 97 fire stations, three fire camps, one air attack base, and 1,600 personnel, responding to over 160,000 emergencies over a large unincorporated county area and 21 partner cities. He also supervised the CAL FIRE resources that provide services under contract to Riverside County, the 4th-most populous county in California and the 11th-most populous in the United States.

After his presentation at the conference about the key elements of leadership and the importance of mentoring successors he was surprised to be honored and presented with gifts, including a chromed double-bit axe.

Some of the topics from Chief Hawkins’ talk explored day to day human factors that firefighters are exposed to, such as stress, PTSD, suicide, and their supervisors, but most were about the characteristics of a good leader of firefighters. Used with his permission, below are 10 images that I selected from his 114-slide presentation at the conference:

Chief John Hawkins presentation

Chief John Hawkins presentation

Chief John Hawkins presentation
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