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Firefighter collapses, dies during first day of training

Bill GabbertApril 25, 2018February 16, 2021UncategorizedCalifornia, inmates, lodd1 Comment

Anthony Colacino, 33, died during physical training April 21, 2018.

An inmate firefighter collapsed and died during physical training near Jamestown, California April 21. For Anthony Colacino it was his first day as a trainee firefighter on the Sierra Conservation Center fire crew. Just before 8 a.m., about 50 minutes into a one-hour training hike, Mr. Colacino collapsed.

Below is an excerpt from an article in the LA Times:

The on-duty fire captain, along with four other inmate firefighters, took Colacino to the center’s firehouse, where they tried to save him by doing CPR in the vehicle and at the facility until an ambulance arrived, said Krissi Khokhobashvili, a corrections spokeswoman. “Those inmate firefighters, they jumped into action,” she said. “They did what they’re supposed to do.”

Colacino — who had served more than a year of a four-year, four-month sentence out of Riverside County for two counts of evading a peace officer while driving recklessly, cruelty to animals and discharging a firearm with gross negligence — was pronounced dead soon after. Officials said foul play is not suspected in his death, but the Tuolumne County coroner will determine the cause of death.

Our sincere condolences go out to Mr. Colacino’s friends, family, and coworkers.

(UPDATE Feb. 16, 2021. MyMotherLode reported: “Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, Sgt. Andrea Benson, says, ‘The official cause of death [of Mr. Colacino] is Fatal Cardiac Arrhythmia due to Cardiomyopathy with contributing factors of Intramural Coronary Artery Disease.’ ” )

At least two other very serious life-threatening injuries have occured to wildland firefighters in recent years during day one or two of physical training. They occurred in 2016 in South Dakota and the Northwest.

One was a Rhabdomyolysis (Rhabdo) injury after running for more than nine miles and doing uphill sprints on the first day.

The other was a heat stroke near the end of a seven-mile run on day two of their season. The employee was unconscious for several hours and spent four days in the hospital.

We are aware of five other California inmate line of duty fatalities in the last seven years:

January 4, 2012: Crisanto Leo Lionell, 54, was participating in a training exercise at the California National Guard’s Camp San Luis when he lost consciousness and later passed away.
August 19, 2012: Jimmy Randolf, 44, died seven hours after he was found unresponsive where he was sleeping at the Buck Fire. The cause of death was listed as anoxic encephalopathy combined with complications of heat stroke.
February 25, 2016: Shawna Lynn Jones, 22, died from major head injuries after being struck by a rolling boulder while fighting the Mulholland Fire near Malibu.
May 24, 2017: Matthew Beck, 26, was working on a county roads project with a crew in the Hoopa area. He suffered major head, neck and back injuries when a 120-foot tall tree uprooted and fell on him. He died before life-flight crews were able to reach him.
July 11, 2017: Frank Anaya, 22, was throwing cut brush during line construction operations on a fire near Lakeside when he lost his balance and fell into a running chainsaw. He suffered a severe cut to his upper right leg behind his chaps and succumbed to his injuries July 11, 2017.

Forest Service Chief testifies about cutback in air tankers

Bill GabbertApril 24, 2018June 3, 2020Uncategorizedhearing, legislation, Victoria Christiansen2 Comments

In 2017 there were 20 large air tankers on exclusive use contracts. This year there are 13.

(This article first appeared at Fire Aviation)

In a hearing Tuesday morning about the Forest Service budget for FY 2019 before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Senators asked the interim Chief of the Forest Service, Vicki Christiansen, about the reduction in the number of large air tankers on exclusive use contracts and the agency’s plans to rely on call when needed aircraft to fill the void.

Vicki Christiansen, Interim Chief Forest Service — Ms. Vicki Christiansen, Interim Chief, U.S. Forest Service, testifies April 24, 2018.

Lisa Murkowski (AK), Chair of the committee, mentioned the issue during her opening remarks. Senators Maria Cantwell (WA) and Cory Gardner (CO) asked questions about what could be a shortage of air tankers, with most of the discussion centering around call when needed vendors. The Senators appeared to be concerned about the higher daily and hourly costs of CWN aircraft, and referred to the 48-hour time frame for them to mobilize after notification.

Ms. Christiansen tried two or three times to explain how activating CWN air tankers works and how the USFS makes decisions about when to bring them on board. Her descriptions were rambling as she talked about predictive services, but it was a little too ambiguous for some of the senators who asked for clarification.

Senator Gardner mentioned that this year there are 13 exclusive use large air tankers compared to 20 last year, and talked about how call when needed aircraft are more expensive than exclusive use aircraft. He said, “What is the rationale for that again?”

Ms. Christiansen: “Senator, we really look hard and do our analysis on the right balance between the exclusive use which is for an extended period of time and the call when needed. We take this very seriously and we will evaluate each year and adjust for the balance of these contracts. These next generation aircraft are more expensive than the legacy aircraft we had operated for the last two decades. So we have to be fiscally prudent and responsible in finding that right balance. We are confident that we have the aircraft we need when we need it through the combination of exclusive use, the call when needed, the military MAFFS, and then when we can call our partners down from Alaska and Canada.”

Senator Gardner continued: “Do you think you’re providing industry with enough certainty, private industry with enough certainty, to replace some of the contracts in the past that were coming out of the Forest Service in terms of the air tankers that were in use since the 2014 passage of the Defense Authorization Act?”

Ms. Christiansen: “Senator Gardner we are doing everything we can to be a good partner with the industry and exercise our fiscal responsibility.”

No one acknowledged the elephant in the room, the reason there are fewer air tankers. The budget that Congress approved and the President signed forced the reduction. Ms. Christiansen, a member of the administration, apparently feels that she has to be a good soldier and say, everything is fine, there’s nothing to see here: “We are confident that we have the aircraft we need”.

And the Senators don’t want to admit that they approved legislation which caused the number of EU air tankers to be cut by one-third. So they asked mild-mannered questions and didn’t follow up when the administration’s representative insisted that everything is going to be OK.

During a discussion about budget reductions on a different issue, Senator Joseph Manchin (WV) said, “Have you been able to push back on the administration, saying you can’t cut me this deep, I can’t do my job?”

Ms. Christiansen: “Senator, we have prioritized what we can do within these constraints…”

Senator Manchin: There’s a lot of us that will go out and …..”

Ms. Christiansen: “Our priority is on the National Forests, but I look forward to working with you on additional priorities.”

Meanwhile, John Hoven, the Senator from North Dakota, spent most of his allotted time presenting what was basically an infomercial about his state.

A recorded video of the hearing will be available at the committee’s website.

Two very large wildfires in Western Oklahoma winding down after burning 348,000 acres

Bill GabbertApril 24, 2018August 25, 2019Uncategorized34 Complex of Fires, Oklahoma, Rhea Fire

Above: Water tenders on the 34 Complex of Fires. Posted to Inciweb April 19, 2018.

The two very large wildfires in Western Oklahoma are downsizing their staffing as they move closer to full containment. Few smoking areas have been observed on recent overflights.

The larger of the two, the Rhea Fire, has burned over 286,000 acres. There are currently 223 personnel assigned. The most significant event Monday was when resources responded to a new fire that started when a hawk flew into a power line, causing arcing and ignition of the grass. It was fully contained at 5 acres. T

The Incident Management Team is being released from the 34 Complex of Fires which has burned over 62,000 acres. On Monday there were still 186 personnel assigned who continue to patrol firelines.

The video below was filmed on the Rhea Fire by Mississippi firefighters while the blaze was still very active.

#Update More footage from the Rhea wildfire in Oklahoma taken by our MFC Wildland Firefighting Task Force Leader.#OKFire #wildfire #wildfires #Mississippi #Forestry #Oklahoma #RheaFire
Footage Credit: Korey Williams, Mississippi Forestry Commission pic.twitter.com/Xe9bzJU0Yo

— MSForestryCommission (@MSForestryComm) April 19, 2018

Rattlesnake Fire burns almost 17,000 acres in eastern Arizona

Bill GabbertApril 23, 2018UncategorizedArizona, Rattlesnake Fire Arizona3 Comments

Above: The Rattlesnake Fire, posted to Inciweb approximately April 20, 2018. Photographer unknown.

Growth on the 16,891-acre Rattlesnake Fire 20 miles southwest of Alpine, Arizona has slowed in recent days, but the perimeter continues to expand as firefighters conduct burnout operations to secure firelines.

Fire managers continue to monitor lines on the western flank near the Black River where a few areas of concern are still active. Some firefighters were moved from the west to the east side which has more active fire. Burnout operations were conducted along Forest Road 25 on Saturday.

Map of the perimeter Rattlesnake Fire — Map of the perimeter of the Rattlesnake Fire, April 22, 2018. USFS.

Mike Rowe honors wildland firefighters

Bill GabbertApril 22, 2018April 22, 2018UncategorizedArizona, Mike Rowe, Yarnell Fire1 Comment

His Facebook show traveled to Prescott, Arizona, which was the home of the Granite Mountain Hotshots

Above: The trailhead at Granite Mountain Memorial State Park May 19, 2017 before the modification featured in the program.

In the most recent episode of Mike Rowe’s Facebook series, “Returning the Favor” (below), he honors wildland firefighters as he spends time in Prescott, Arizona. The 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots who perished in the Yarnell Hill Fire south of the city in 2013 were based in Prescott. Mr. Rowe talks with Deborah Pfingston and Roxanne Preston, co-founders of The Wildland Firefighter Guardian Institute, and reveals an improvement at the state park that honors the crew.

Ms. Pfingston’s son, Andrew Ashcraft, and Ms. Preston’s husband, William Warneke, were killed in the fire.

I don’t know when the show was filmed, and I won’t spoil the reveal at the end, but the change made at the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park was not there when I visited the park in May of 2017.