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Granite Mountain Hotshots, in videos

Bill GabbertDecember 24, 2013December 24, 2013UncategorizedYarnell Fire11 Comments

Erick Marsh, Superintendent Granite Mountain Hotshots — Erick Marsh, Superintendent of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, in a screen shot from the 2010 video.

We just discovered these videos today that feature the Granite Mountain Hotshot crews of 2010 and 2012. I am surprised they have not received more attention.

The first video is a summary of their 2012 fire season, during which they worked more than 1,000 hours of overtime on fires. It shows some of the fires they fought, the crew at work, and some light-hearted moments as well. It was uploaded to YouTube by the City of Prescott on November 26, 2012.

The second video, below, was produced by the Prescott Daily Courier and describes some of the training the crew went through. It was shot in 2010 and was uploaded to YouTube on July 5, 2013, five days after 19 members of the crew were killed on the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona.

Christmas Red Flag Warnings in California

Bill GabbertDecember 24, 2013December 24, 2013UncategorizedCalifornia, Red Flag Warning4 Comments

The beautiful weather that southern Californians enjoy throughout much of the year comes with a price at times. This year their Christmas present is a Red Flag Warning for Christmas day and Thursday for areas in Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. The warm, dry, weather with breezy offshore winds will persist through Saturday.

For Christmas day and Thursday weather forecasters are predicting wind gusts of 45 to 50 mph in the mountains and gusts between 35 and 40 in wind prone valleys. Relative humidities will reach into the lower teens by late Wednesday morning and into the single digits on Thursday. These weather conditions paired with extraordinarily dry fuels will produce elevated to critical fire weather conditions.

The Red Flag Warning map was current as of 4:40 p.m. PST on Tuesday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts.

Thanks go out to Ken

Suggested protocol for firefighters when declaring an emergency

Bill GabbertDecember 23, 2013December 23, 2013UncategorizedYoLO30 Comments

A firefighting helicopter pilot has an idea for a standardized protocol for wildland firefighters to use on the radio when they have an emergency and need help. The concept comes from Joseph Berto who was the pilot of the Bell 205A1 working on the Pole Creek Fire who rescued a firefighter from an approaching flame front by allowing him to climb into the helicopter’s water bucket and then extracting him to safety. Mr. Berto received a commendation from the U.S. Forest Service for his actions that day in September, 2012.

After reading about the deaths of the 19 firefighters on the Yarnell Hill Fire, Mr. Berto had some thoughts about the crucial need for clear, descriptive radio communications when there is a firefighter emergency that requires immediate assistance. Below is his proposal, and following that my initial reaction and his response:

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YoLO Proposal:

In an effort to improve the communications between ground resources and command in an emergency situation, and more specifically any time a shelter deployment seems or is imminent, I would propose a new set of protocols and terminology that would be taught to all firefighters during their shelter deployment training.

Similar to a MAYDAY call used by aviators, ground resources will utilize the New Emergency Communication Term:

YoLO, which is an acronym for, Yarnell, Look Out!

An emergency situation is classified as when a firefighter is in a condition of being threatened by serious and/or imminent danger and of requiring immediate assistance. The spoken word for this distress is “YOLO” and it is pronounces three times.

A YoLO callout is REQUIRED to be used any time a fire shelter deployment is imminent.

The first transmission of the YoLO distress call shall be on the Air-to-Ground frequency in use at the time. If the firefighter is unable to establish communications on the frequency in use, the message shall be repeated on the Guard 168.625 frequency or any other frequency in an effort to establish communication.

The YoLO distress call SHALL have priority over ALL other transmissions. All stations hearing it shall immediately cease any transmissions that will interfere with it and shall listen on the frequency used for the distress call.

An example of the communications for a firefighter:

YOLO, YOLO, YOLO. THIS IS FIRE MOUNTAIN HOTSHOTS NEAR THE ALPHA /ZULU BREAK. WE ARE IN DANGER OF BEING ENTRAPPED AND ARE DEPLOYING OUR SHELTERS. OUR COORDINATES ARE 42.30.67 by 122.55.45. . YOLO, YOLO, YOLO

Included in the distress message should be as many as possible of the flowing elements:

The name station being addressed i.e. Air Attack, Operations Etc.
The identification of the firefighter or crew
The nature of the emergency situation
The intention of the person in command
The present position

YoLO should proceed the message, preferably spoken three times, and if necessary be included at the end of the message as well.

Upon receipt of a YoLO, the station being addressed (including resources on Guard 168.625 if utilized) shall proceed with all speed and commit any resources at his command to render assistance and, if possible, inform the sender of the YoLO of his intentions.

(end of Mr. Berto’s proposal)

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(Bill’s initial reaction)

I generally like the proposal. However, inventing a new term that means “Mayday” is going to have some trouble catching on, and would require a lot of education. I suggest you stick with “Mayday”, a term that is a standard within many structural fire departments. When city firefighters are in trouble or entrapped within a structural fire, they often say “Mayday”. That would be easier than reinventing the wheel.

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(Mr. Berto’s response)

I understand what you mean, but think it is VERY important to differentiate between an aviation emergency (which brings a totally different response) and a wildland firefighter emergency. A structure fire does not have the mixed resources so there is no chance of confusion. I think (YoLO) Yarnell Look Out will resonate and really make it clear what type of emergency it is. I also think it honors these and other fallen firefighters in a way that will last forever.

In Canada they use Pan Pan and I have never had any trouble remembering that.

Documentary, Colorado wildfires

Bill GabbertDecember 23, 2013December 23, 2013UncategorizedColorado5 Comments

Screen shot from the Colorado fires video

Since 2000 1,769 homes have been destroyed by wildfires in Colorado — 850 in the last two years during the Black Forest and Waldo Canyon fires. The conflagrations have killed 8 residents and 12 firefighters.

The Denver Post has produced an excellent documentary, which includes photos, videos, audio of fire department radio transmissions, and interviews with firefighters, fire experts, politicians, and authors. We are not able to embed it here, but you can view it at the Denver Post website.

Thanks go out to Mike

Fire investigations and pyroterrorism

Bill GabbertDecember 21, 2013August 25, 2019Uncategorizedarson, Colorado, pyroterrorism2 Comments

The Gazette in Colorado Springs has two interesting articles about investigating the cause and origin of wildfires and how thoughts of pyroterrorism have occurred to some folks in the state. No knowledgeable person as far as we know is saying the numerous suspicious fires that have occurred in the front range over the last two years are related to pyroterrorism. However, the 25 Teller County fires in June, 2012, combined with the Black Forest and Waldo Canyon fires that together destroyed about 850 homes and caused several fatalities, has fire investigators and detectives on edge, not ruling anything out.

Below is an excerpt from the second article, about pyroterrorism (which also quoted Dick Mangan, former President of the International Association of Wildland Fire):

…Investigators searching for the cause of a wildfire essentially work backwards, said Bill Gabbert, managing editor of Wildfire Today.

“You have to look for the direction of the spread to see which way the fire is moving,” he said. “So you have to work backwards.”

The quicker the response, the easier it is to find the point of origin because it decreases the area investigators must peruse.

Once the point of origin is located, investigators must determine what started the fire, which, depending on the igniter, “can be fairly easy or hard.”

“If they use a lighter and put it back in their pocket, it’s hard,” he said.

But arsonists also use devices that are left at the scene, sometimes something as tiny as a match.

“If you’re lucky, you can find the match,” Gabbert said. “Even if it’s charred, it helps.”

More information: articles at Wildfire Today tagged pyroterrorism and arson.

Katie Couric – Yarnell Fire families and Wildland Firefighter Foundation

Bill GabbertDecember 20, 2013August 25, 2019UncategorizedWildland Firefighter Foundation, Yarnell Fire5 Comments

The Katie Couric show on Tuesday did something surprising. Not only did they interview three wives whose husbands were members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots killed on the Yarnell Hill Fire June 30, but they publicized efforts to donate large sums of money to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. The WFF assists firefighters that have been injured on wildland fires and the families of firefighters who have been killed. It is a wonderful organization that does great things for the wildland firefighter community.

In this first video Katie talks to the three wives.

Then three members of the Fire Department of New York mention how wildland firefighters helped them out by sending Incident Management Teams to assist them after they suffered the attacks on the World Trade center on 9/11. I have seen folks from the FDNY mention this several times — they talk about paying back the wildland fire community and “paying it forward”. They lost 341 firefighters and two paramedics on 9/11.

The FDNY has already raised $50,000 for the families of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, and on the show the brother of deceased firefighter Patrick Joyce, who runs a foundation in his honor, announced the organization was donating $10,000 to the WFF. Then Katie produced a second large check for the same amount contributed by the Safeway Foundation.

And it didn’t stop there. One of the FDNY gentlemen said they are hoping to get every firefighter in the country to donate $10 each to the WFF. If that happens, $10 million would be raised.