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New edition of the “Red Book” published

Bill GabbertFebruary 5, 2019UncategorizedRed Book

The 2019 edition of the Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation Operations, commonly known as the “Red Book” is now available. Dated February 1, 2019, the document provides direction for fire programs in the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Indian Affairs.

When the Red Book first came out it was roughly six by eight inches with a spiral binding and while it probably was not carried on the fireline, it could easily be brought to incidents by overhead personnel working at the incident base. This latest edition is well over 500 pages which probably means few firefighting personnel will carry a paper version, relying instead on an electronic copy on a portable electronic device.

Even the “Executive Summary of Changes” is 20 pages long. This seems to be a trend in wildland fire agency documents and reports, making an executive summary section far, far longer than it should be. According to Wikipedia an executive summary is:

…a short document or section of a document, produced for business purposes, that summarizes a longer report … in such a way that readers can rapidly become acquainted with a large body of material without having to read it all.

The 20-page “Executive Summary of Changes” in the Red Book does not summarize anything. It lists every change that was made. And it is much too long for a busy executive to read.

The entire 2019 Red Book can be downloaded, or you can do it chapter-by-chapter.

Trail runner attacked by a mountain lion defended himself by suffocating the lion

Bill GabbertFebruary 5, 2019February 5, 2019UncategorizedColorado3 Comments

It happened near Fort Collins, Colorado

A man who went for a run alone yesterday on a trail at Horsetooth Mountain Open Space (map) just west of Fort Collins, Colorado was attacked by a mountain lion. While defending himself he managed to suffocate the animal, killing it, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The runner was then able to leave the area and get himself to a local hospital.

The victim of the attack described hearing something behind him on the trail and was attacked as he turned around to investigate. The lion lunged at the runner, biting his face and wrist. He was able to fight and break free from the lion, killing the lion in self-defense. The runner sustained serious, but non-life threatening injuries as a result of the attack.

As wildlife officers searched the trail area described by the runner, the body of a juvenile mountain lion was found within feet of several possessions that the victim asked the officers to look for on the trail. The lion has been taken to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife animal health lab for a necropsy.

“The runner did everything he could to save his life. In the event of a lion attack you need to do anything in your power to fight back just as this gentleman did,” said Mark Leslie, Colorado Parks and Wildlife Northeast Region manager.

Mountain lion attacks on people are rare, with fewer than 20 fatalities in North America in more than 100 years. Since 1990, Colorado has had 16 injuries as a result of mountain lion attacks, and three fatalities. Lion populations are doing very well in Colorado, but they are elusive animals and tend to avoid humans. Most people will never see a lion in the wild, but they are there. If you live, work, or play in mountain lion country, it is important to be alert.

The article was corrected to show that the attack occurred west of Fort Collins, Colorado.

Tax tip for retired first responders

Bill GabbertFebruary 4, 2019UncategorizedTaxes2 Comments

Earlier we wrote about tax provisions that could reduce federal taxes for those who had property losses during the 2017 and 2018 wildfires in California.

There is another federal tax program that can save retirees money. It applies to retired public safety officers, defined by the IRS as “law enforcement officer, firefighter, chaplain, or member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew”. Basically, you don’t have to pay taxes on money from your retirement annuity that is used to buy health or long-term care insurance. The premiums, up to $3,000, can be for coverage for you, your spouse, or dependents.

Here are a few more details from IRS Publication 721 (page 18):

Publication 721, on page 1 and 2, also describes another benefit for federal firefighters and other public safety federal employees related to early distributions from a governmental plan, spousal benefits, and annuities received by the spouse, former spouse, or child of a public safety officer killed in the line of duty.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Jim. Typos or errors, report them HERE.

Tax relief for victims of November 8 wildfires in California

Bill GabbertFebruary 4, 2019February 4, 2019UncategorizedCalifornia, Camp Fire, Taxes, Woolsey Fire1 Comment

Applies to victims of the Camp and Woolsey Fires

People who reside in or had businesses in the areas that burned in the wildfires that started in California on November 8, 2018 could qualify for federal tax relief.

The Camp and Woolsey Fires destroyed thousands of homes in Butte, Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Since the President declared the fires to be major disasters residents with losses in those locations may be able to take advantage of slightly extended deadlines for filing federal tax returns.

In addition, taxpayers in the federally declared disaster areas have the option of claiming disaster-related casualty losses on their federal income tax return for either the year in which the event occurred, or the prior year. See IRS Publication 547 for details. IRS Publication 976 has instructions for tax relief for the California fires of 2017.

Individuals may deduct personal property losses that are not covered by insurance or other reimbursements. IRS Form 4684, Casualties and Thefts, has more details.

General information about the program can be found at the IRS website.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Jim. Typos or errors, report them HERE.

Eight first responders injured and one killed while assisting at accident scene

Bill GabbertFebruary 2, 2019August 25, 2019UncategorizedCalifornia1 Comment

It happened on rain-slickened Interstate 5 in Southern California Saturday morning

(Above: photo by LA County FD)
Eight first responders were injured and one was killed in Southern California Saturday morning while they were assisting at the scene of a vehicle rollover on Interstate 5. The person killed was a member of the Ventura County search-and-rescue team.

Below is an excerpt from the LA Times published at 10:50 a.m local time on Saturday:

Los Angeles County firefighters were assisting the sheriff’s department with the rollover crash that left first responders “severely” injured. Three of those hurt in the were members of the Fillmore search-and-rescue team, the sheriff’s department said.

The group was on its way to Mt. Pinos for a training exercise when they saw a crash on the freeway and stopped to help, the sheriff’s department said.

“While they were assisting people, a vehicle plowed into the scene,” Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Eric Buschow said.

The Fillmore Mountain Search and Rescue Team is composed of a group of “highly skilled volunteers” who respond to wilderness emergencies in Ventura County, Buschow said.

Our sincere condolences go out to the families, coworkers, and friends of the victims.

accident fatality Interstate 5 California — Photo by Los Angeles County Fire Department, February 2, 2019.

Ventura County search-and-rescue team member killed, 9 taken to hospital in crash on Interstate 5 near Gorman https://t.co/gIWjKD9yvg @latimes @latimesphotos @VENTURASHERIFF @LACoFDPIO pic.twitter.com/ho1ae12VSI

— Irfan Khan عرفان (@latfoto) February 2, 2019

Average size of wildfires continued to increase in 2018

Bill GabbertFebruary 2, 2019August 25, 2019Uncategorizedstatistics2 Comments

The number of acres burned and the total number of fires decreased in 2018 from 2017

While the number of wildfires and the total acres burned both declined in 2018 the average size continued to increase. The number of wildfires has been trending down since at least 1985 and the average size has been increasing. There are variations in the number of acres burned from year to year roughly in five to six-year cycles, but in the late 1980s the average size of a wildfire in the U.S. was 30 acres. That number has increased every decade since, bringing the average for this decade (to date) up to 101 acres.

The number of acres burned and the total number of fires decreased in 2018 from 2017 by 13 and 22 percent respectively, while the acres burned was sixth highest since records have been kept.

If the five to six-year cycle for burned acres that we noticed in the data is real, and continues, we could expect lower numbers for the next three to four years beginning in 2019 compared to 2017 and 2018.

The raw data we used to construct these charts is from the National Interagency Fire Center, current as of December 21, 2018. The historical data for Alaska before 1990 which we used to determine the numbers for the other 49 states is from a paper published by the University of Alaska.

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