The Lac La Biche Post reports that a 70-year old volunteer firefighter in Rich Lake, Alberta died May 12 while fighting a vegetation fire at his residence.
…According to a press release from Lac La Biche County, the man reported a grass fire at his residence before attempting to extinguish it. A County peace officer arrived at the scene to find the man, who had recently suffered cardiac arrest.
“We are very saddened by this tragic event,” Acting Mayor Robert Richard said in the release, which described the man as a long-serving, respected local volunteer firefighter and did not reveal his name before family members were notified. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family during this difficult time.”
The person has not been identified yet, but our sincere condolences go out to the family.
Facnetwork.org has an interesting article about how residents in the northern California community of Butler successfully prepared for and responded to the Butler Fire, part of the Orleans Complex, in August of 2013.
…A significant investment in fire prevention work from the community, the US Forest Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service during and after these fire events allowed firefighters to safely defend the 10 structures there during the Butler Fire.
Butler folks had faced this event before and were prepared, with the help of the local community and firefighters, to defend their homes once again. An old ditch line constructed by miners in the 1800’s was identified after the 2008 fires as the place to hold future fires upslope of the homes. Thirteen acres of prescribed burns had been conducted by the Orleans Somes Bar Fire Safe Council between this ditch and the homes below, since 2008, and in the past two years, the Salmon River Fire Safe Council had brushed more than 10 acres along the ditch line.
Burnouts on the western flank of the 2013 Salmon River Complex in Murderer’s Gulch caused thousands of acres of plantations to burn at high intensity.
As the fire approached, 40-plus community members who had just mobilized to help save the town of Orleans from another arson fire, came up to see how they could pitch in. While some crews prepared the homes for fire, others established perimeter firelines and brushed along the main water line. Still others organized an emergency evacuation plan for volunteers. Some people brought food, and supplies like brass fittings to get hydrants online. And Rebecca Lawrence, a Facebook pro, whipped up the Salmon River and Orleans Complexities Open Group that allowed people to communicate and organize even when phones were out and roads were closed. When the agency hotshot crews showed up a couple days later, they were grateful for the prep work already accomplished that allowed them to focus on bringing the fire safely past the homes with minimal use of burnouts…
Responding to a requirement in the 2009 FLAME act, the Departments of Agriculture and Interior produced a report on May 1 revealing their projection that the costs of suppressing fires on federal lands this year will exceed the amount of funds appropriated by about $470 million.
Below is the text of a news release from the the two Departments. After you read that, check out an interesting article at AmericanProgress.org about a proposal to overhaul how the United States pays the costs of responding to the most catastrophic wildfires.
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“Cost of Fighting Wildfires in 2014 Projected to be Hundreds of Millions of Dollars over Amount Available
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2014–According to a Congressionally-mandated report issued today, the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of the Interior (DOI) are projected to spend over $470 million more than is available to fight wildfires this season. According to the report, the Forest Service and Interior may need to spend $1.8 billion fighting fires this year, while the agencies have only $1.4 billion available for firefighting.
“The forecast released today demonstrates the difficult budget position the Forest Service and Interior face in our efforts to fight catastrophic wildfire,” said Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Robert Bonnie. “While our agencies will spend the necessary resources to protect people, homes and our forests, the high levels of wildfire this report predicts would force us to borrow funds from forest restoration, recreation and other areas. The President’s budget proposal, and similar bipartisan legislation before Congress, would solve this problem and allow the Forest Service to do more to restore our forests to make them more resistant to fire.” Continue reading “Costs of fighting fires this year expected to exceed appropriated funds by $470 million”
Today in honor of Smokey Bear’s 70th year the Ad Council released two new public service announcements. The concept in the video above, Smokey being horrified by the flames from 70 candles on his birthday cake, was developed from suggestions by Brigham Young University students.
The video below shows Smokey hugging someone who prevented the safety chains on his trailer from dragging the ground and creating dangerous sparks.
Here are some interesting facts found in an article at the Orlando Sentinel:
A 1952 anthem celebrated “Smokey the Bear” and stirred a debate that lasted several decades. To maintain the proper rhythm in the song, the writers added “the” to the name, etching Smokey the Bear into the public psyche. But his name always was, and still is, Smokey Bear.
The venerable Chicago ad agency Foote, Cone & Belding has represented Smokey Bear on a pro bono basis since he was a cub. As a public service, executives in the agency’s Los Angeles office now volunteer their time to produce ads featuring the bear.
Federal law places tight restrictions on how Smokey Bear can be used and what he can say. He is allowed to utter just one line: “Only you can prevent wildfires.” For 54 years, Smokey said: “Only you can prevent forest fires.” The line was modified in 2001 to recognize the danger near more urban areas to “Only you can prevent wildfires.”
[In the new ad campaign,] Smokey Bear also took on a softer image. He doesn’t growl as much, and now he gives out bearhugs.”The bearhug campaign is refreshing the brand, and making him seem more lovable — and more relevant,” FCB’s Springer said. “We didn’t want him to be mad at mankind for starting forest fires.”
In an acknowledgment of the digital age, Smokey is now on Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter. And of course he has a webpage, and even his own Zip Code, 20252.
I know climate change can’t be proven or disproven by the the weather for one day, one storm, or even one year, but my very unofficial observations lead me to the realization that there have been many, many record-setting weather events over the last several years.
Red Flag Warnings are in effect for areas in California and Alaska. In Southern California the Warning is in effect through Wednesday, where firefighters can expect east to northeast winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 55 mph, along with a relative humidity of 5 percent with poor overnight recovery.
In the Susitna Valley in Alaska the Warning is related to a forecast for Tuesday which includes temperatures of 60 to 70 degrees, winds at 15 to 25 mph, and a relative humidity of 13 to 28 percent.
Red Flag Warnings, May 13, 2014
The Red Flag Warning map was current as of 9:46 a.m. MDT on Tuesday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts. For the most current data, visit this NWS site.
