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.

Memorial events for Daniel Laird scheduled

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Daniel Laird memorial

Daniel Laird, the U.S. Forest Service Helitack Captain who was killed in a helicopter accident on March 27 was honored April 3 by a procession from Conroe, Texas to the Bush airport in Houston.

Chris Schenck, of the Texas Parks and Wildlife described it:

Today Adam Terry and I, representing  TPWD, had the privilege of participating in the Memorial Procession for Daniel Laird, USFS Firefighter who perished in a helicopter crash last week.

It was for me an important element of respect for our fallen brother firefighter.  More than 100 fire vehicles  traveled in procession from Conroe to Houston Airport. Along the way fire companies with apparatus on overpasses and civilians saluted this fine young man as we passed.

It was both moving and helpful to those of us who have been involved in fire and aviation management.

The video shows the procession to the airport.

A United Airlines 737 transported Captain Laird from Houston to Sacramento where an honor guard escorted him to the Ullrey Memorial Chapel in Yuba City. On the trip to Yuba City firefighters and others paid their respects along the route and at overpasses.

Captain Laird was one of three people in a helicopter that crashed during aerial ignition operations on a prescribed fire in the Sam Houston National Forest in Texas. The pilot, Morgan J. Kozloski, and a passenger, Kelly Callahen, were injured. The privately owned helicopter was under contract to the government.

Captain Laird worked on the Tahoe National Forest in California and leaves behind his wife and daughter. He had served for 23 years with the U.S. Forest Service.

Scheduled memorial events:

Friday, April 5

  • 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.: Public Viewing at Ullrey Memorial Chapel, 817 Almond Street, Yuba City, CA.

Saturday, April 6

  • 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. — Processional from Ullrey Memorial Chapel to Sutter Cemetery at 7200 Butte House Rd. Sutter, CA. Many firefighters and pieces of fire apparatus are expected to participate in the processional.
  • 10 a.m. — Graveside service. This is a family service and seating is limited but they have invited any members of the U.S. Forest Service, other agencies and the public to attend as room allows.
  • 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. –The Laird family will be arriving at the House of Bread Church, through the Cordon of Honor. 6521 Hazel Ave, Orangevale, CA.
  • 2 p.m. — Memorial service at the House of Bread Church, 6521 Hazel Ave, Orangevale, CA.

Washington’s Commissioner of Public Lands dances with Smokey Bear

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Smokey Bear Hilary Franz
Smokey Bear and Hilary Franz, Washington State’s Commissioner of Public Lands, in a screengrab from the video below.

Smokey Bear and Hilary Franz, Washington State’s Commissioner of Public Lands, filmed a fire prevention public service announcement with Smokey Bear.

30,000 acres burned so far in prescribed fire in South Florida

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prescribed fire in Everglades and Biscayne National Parks
Cross-boundary prescribed fire in Everglades and Biscayne National Parks. NPS photo.

Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Park are conducting a cross-boundary prescribed fire this week in South Florida. So far they have completed 30,000 acres. Everglades is continuing ignitions today and tomorrow, April 4 and 5, 2019.

prescribed fire in Everglades and Biscayne National Parks
Cross-boundary prescribed fire in Everglades and Biscayne National Parks. NPS photo.

The south Florida National Parks often ignite prescribed fires with a helicopter-mounted device that drops plastic spheres which ignite after hitting the ground. It’s called a Plastic Sphere Dispenser, or PSD. Much of what the parks burn is vegetation over standing water. If the sphere lands in water it may not ignite the vegetation, but every sphere does not have to be successful.

The burn pattern in the photo below illustrates the paths of several helicopter flight lines. The direction of spread is being determined by a wind blowing from left to right.

prescribed fire in Everglades and Biscayne National Parks
Cross-boundary prescribed fire in Everglades and Biscayne National Parks. NPS photo.

When the PSD was first developed several decades ago it was called an
Aerial Ignition Device, or AID. When acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS, became a serious health issue, firefighters dropped the AID label and renamed it Plastic Sphere Dispenser, or PSD.

Joint Fire Science Program slated to be defunded

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What you can do

Joint Fire Science ProgramThe Joint Fire Science Program is slated to be defunded by the Administration in the current budget proposal for FY 2020. If you have thoughts about this, consider signing on to a letter of support by April 8, 2018.

Here is a description of the JFSP:

The Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) was established in 1998 to provide scientific information and support for wildland fuel and fire management programs. The program is a partnership of six federal agencies; the Forest Service in the Agriculture Department and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Geological Survey, all in the Department of the Interior. JFSP received specific direction from Congress to address four areas: fuels inventory and mapping, evaluation of fuels treatments, scheduling of fuels treatments and development of protocols for monitoring and evaluation.

In 2001, Congress further directed JFSP to expand its research efforts in post-fire rehabilitation and stabilization, local assistance, and aircraft-based remote sensing. Research sponsored by JFSP also examines other fire related issues including air quality, smoke management, and social aspects of fire and fuels management. In short, the purpose of JFSP is to provide wildland fire and fuels information and tools to specialists and managers, helping them to make the best possible decisions and develop sound, scientifically valid plans. The JFSP is managed by an appointed ten-person governing board with five representatives from the Department of Interior and five representatives from the USDA Forest Service. The board meets several times a year and conducts frequent conference calls to discuss program management and issues.

Fire whirl filmed with infrared camera

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infrared video of fire whirl
Screen shot from infrared video of a fire whirl. Courtesy of RPX Technologies.

Jim O’Daniel of RPX Technologies sent us the link to the video below which shows a small fire whirl filmed by one of their HyperSight infrared thermal cameras. The devices, which can see through smoke, can be mounted on a fire engine.

Mr. O’Daniel said, “The camera we developed is intended as a safety tool for escaping and navigating through smoke. The camera is vehicle-mounted and always ready. It allows the driver to see while keeping windows up and both hands on the wheel.”

And, just to be clear, it is not a “fire tornado”. David W. Goens of the Missoula office of the National Weather Service explained what a fire tornado is:

These systems begin to dominate the large scale fire dynamics. They lead to extreme hazard and control problems. In size, they average 100 to 1,000 feet in diameter and have rotational velocities up to 90 MPH.

In addition, they can last for an hour or more and have been known to move across the terrain for miles. You do not want to be anywhere near a fire tornado. They can be deadly.

After the Carr Fire at Redding last year, a report was issued about a real fire tornado that was related to the death of at least one firefighter.

A large fire tornado was one of the primary causes of the entrapment and death of FPI1 on July 26, 2018. The fire tornado was a large rotating fire plume that was roughly 1000 feet in diameter at its base. tornado Fujita scaleWinds at the base of the fire tornado reached speeds in the range of 136-165 mph (EF-3 tornado strength), as indicated by wind damage to large oak trees, scouring of the ground surface, damage to roofs of houses, and lofting of large steel power line support towers, vehicles, and a steel marine shipping container within ½ mile of the entrapment site. The strong winds caused the fire to burn all live vegetation less than 1 inch in diameter and fully consume any dead biomass. Peak gas temperatures likely exceeded 2,700 °F.