News and opinion about wildland fire
The number of hectares that have burned in wildfires so far this year in Europe is over four times the average for this date. Usually wildfire activity begins in earnest around the first of July but this year burned hectares began accumulating rapidly in mid-February. The 11-year average by May 14 is about 35,000 hectares but this year the to-date total is 197,000.
One hectare is equal to 2.47 acres.
FIRESCOPE has produced a video that describes the evolution of the Incident Command System after the disastrous fire season of 1970.
(UPDATE May 21, 2019: the video has been removed from YouTube, apparently due to a copyright issue.)
Here are more details:
During a 13-day period in Southern California in 1970, 773 wildfires burned 576,508 acres, destroyed 722 homes and killed 16 people. At the time there was no widely accepted interagency standard for organizing a management structure at an emergency or for sharing resources across agency and state boundaries. To help deal with these issues the federal government funded a project in Southern California called “FIrefighting REsources of Southern California Organized for Potential Emergencies” — FIRESCOPE. Later when the rest of the state bought into the effort the name was changed, leaving out the word “Southern”, becoming “FIrefighting RESources of California Organized for Potential Emergencies”, but retaining the same acronym, FIRESCOPE.
In the early 1970s tests of the Incident Command System, later also known as the National Interagency Incident Management System (NIIMS), began. By 1982 NIIMS and the Multi-Agency Coordination System (MACS) developed by FIRESCOPE had been fully implemented in some areas. In 1987, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recognized the value of the management concepts of ICS/NIIMS and MACS when used for many types of incidents. Sixteen months after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks the President ordered the Director of Homeland Security to develop, submit for review, and administer a National Incident Management System (NIMS). The next year the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security issued a memorandum formally adopting the National Incident Management System (NIMS) as the national model. NIMS was built upon NIIMS and was very recognizable to first responders who had been using it since 1982.
After the fires of 1970 California state agencies released what is now a classic film, “Countdown to Calamity”.
It comes as no surprise, but the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has confirmed what was long thought, that equipment on a Pacific Gas and Electric power line started the Camp Fire that burned through Paradise, California. PG&E has been saying for months that it was likely their power line started the fire but CAL FIRE’s investigation now makes it official. This could open the floodgates for numerous civil and possibly criminal cases.
CAL FIRE discovered two points of origin, both caused by the power line. One resulted from vegetation coming in contact with a conductor, but they were not specific about the second source. A few days after the fire started there was an unofficial report that a piece of hardware on a 100-year old high voltage transmission tower failed, causing the line to fall, but this has not been officially confirmed.
CAL Fire did not release its full investigative report, saying it had been forwarded to the Butte County District Attorney’s office, which is considering filing criminal charges against the utility.
The fire started early in the morning on November 8, 2018 near the small community of Pulga northeast of Paradise. It burned over 153,000 acres, destroyed 18,804 structures, and resulted in 85 fatalities. It became the most destructive and deadliest wildfire in the recorded history of California.
Very strong winds and low humidity that day spread the fire rapidly into the town making it impossible to safely fly air tankers and helicopters close to the ground. The wind would have also blown retardant or water far off any selected target.
Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Tom. Typos or errors, report them HERE.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized2 Comments on Forest Service Chief testifies about proposed budget for next fiscal year 
A Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee, the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, held a hearing May 15 to receive testimony from Vicki Christiansen, Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, about the administration’s proposed budget for next year, FY2020. In response to some of the questions related to recommended cuts by the White House, the Chief politely mentioned the fact that the administration ordered an overall five percent cut in the Forest Service budget.
One of the first topics of discussion were the large reductions in two programs. This fiscal year the Volunteer Fire Assistance program was funded at $11 million and State Fire Assistance program at $66 million. These programs provide assistance to states and local fire departments for wildland fire prevention, detection, and suppression. In Fiscal Year 2019, the programs were funded at $17 million and $81 million respectively.
I made two of the three clips below to highlight the sections when the committee was discussing fire-related issues. In the first one Chief Christiansen is asked to defend the cuts in the Volunteer Fire Assistance and State Fire Assistance programs.
Today in a Senate Committee hearing Forest Service Chief Christiansen was asked to defend cuts to the Volunteer Fire Assistance State Fire Assistance programs https://t.co/Keufs1ETIu
— Wildfire Today ? (@wildfiretoday) May 15, 2019
In the next Clip Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico asks Forest Service Chief Christiansen if the proposed funding amounts for next fiscal year can help restore forests and reduce the need for fire suppression.
Today in a Senate Committee hearing Forest Service Chief Christiansen was asked if the funds proposed for the FS in FY20 can restore forests and reduce fire suppression. https://t.co/VnNntwOonO
— Wildfire Today ? (@wildfiretoday) May 15, 2019
Senator Steve Daines of Montana asks Chief of the Forest Service Vicki Christiansen if more fuel breaks should be constructed along roads.
FS Chief Christiansen was asked in a Senate Hearing today, should fuel breaks be constructed along roads? Video: https://t.co/iFqgESRwRv
— Wildfire Today ? (@wildfiretoday) May 15, 2019
In an April 9 hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee other issues were discussed about funding for next fiscal year.
A surveillance camera overlooking an endangered oriental white stork nest in Russia’s Far East captured a scene of a wildfire spreading in a field on April 28. The fire went by without doing any harm to the birds. The camera was installed at a power pylon as a part of World Wildlife Fund Russia project to monitor the stork family online.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized4 Comments on Lawsuits filed to block renewal of grazing permits for Hammond family Members of the family were convicted of arson on BLM land in Oregon, and in 2016 their incarceration inspired a 40-day armed takeover and occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by Ryan and Ammon Bundy
Three environmental advocacy organizations have filed suit to block the 10-year renewal of grazing permits for Dwight and Steven Hammond on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management in Oregon.
Below are excerpts from an article at Oregon Live:
Western Watersheds Project, the Center for Biological Diversity and Wildearth Guardians filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Pendleton against the interior secretary, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the district manager of the land bureau’s Burns District office.
The three groups argue that then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s renewal of the grazing permit after the Hammonds were issued pardons violated federal administrative regulations because it failed to consider the Hammonds’ unsatisfactory record.
The groups contend the father and son’s cattle-grazing record violated regulations set by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and the Department of Interior and that the new permit didn’t undergo proper environmental assessments.
On Jan. 29, Zinke ordered the permit renewal for Hammond Ranches Inc. to last through 2024.
In February 2014, the federal agency rejected the Hammonds’ renewal application, citing their criminal convictions for setting fire to public land.
Before a 40-day armed takeover and occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by Ryan and Ammon Bundy, inspired by the incarceration of Dwight and Steven Hammond in 2016, the Hammonds set fires in 2001 and 2006 that started on or spread onto public lands and endangered wildland firefighters, in some cases forcing them to take evasive action when their safety was compromised. On one incident fleeing firefighters were led to safety via radio by an orbiting Air Attack.
Court documents revealed that the Hammonds conscripted a 13-year old to help ignite a fire who was too successful. He found himself surrounded by flames and fearing for his life. A group of three hunters, whose location was known to the Hammonds, were also threatened by one of the fires and had to hurriedly evacuate the area without having time to pack up the equipment at their campsite. The Hammonds also had several previous run-ins with law enforcement.
While the Hammonds were in prison for the arson on federal land convictions, President Trump issued them full pardons.
For more information about the Hammonds, check out the detailed timeline we put together covering their interactions with the legal system between 1994 and 2015. We developed the timeline from court documents, information provided by U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson Gerri Badden, and other sources provided by some of our loyal readers.
The article was corrected to show that Ryan and Ammon Bundy led the 40-day armed takeover and occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016.
Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Kelly. Typos or errors, report them HERE.
