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.

LEGO team idea: evacuation sign

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized8 Comments on LEGO team idea: evacuation sign
Evacuated sign
Rough draft of sign developed by the NEON SPARKS LEGO robotics team

A team of eight elementary school girls who are on the NEON SPARKS LEGO robotics team in Oregon sent us an idea they have been working on. The photo above is a very rough draft of a sign that would be much more polished in the final version. Below is the text of an email they sent us:

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“This year, we have spent the past 4 months researching Wildfires, wildland urban interface (WUI) areas, and defensible space. As a result of their extensive research, we have developed a rather simple, easy to use system for people living in WUI areas to signal to other people that they have evacuated their homes in the event of a mandatory evacuation.

Basically, we have developed a sign which people can place in the front window, or other areas of their home to signal to firefighters or other law enforcement people that a home is cleared of all people and pets. Through our research, we found similar signs available for homeowners living in areas prone to tsunami, tornados, floods, and hurricane evacuations. But, we could not find any such signs available for homeowners or rural homeowner associations in WUI areas prone to wildfires – especially here in the Pacific Northwest. Our prototype sign would be made of a fire-resistant material, brightly colored, and very inexpensive to manufacture and distribute. We feel this real-world, simple, and easy to use sign could have the potential to free-up valuable firefighter’s time, and save lives too.

Thank you for any positive feedback you would like to share with us.

The Neon Sparks LEGO Robotics Team in Oregon”

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From Bill:

What do you think, readers of Wildfire Today? Have you seen anything like this used on wildfires or any other natural disasters in your area?

I have to admit, I don’t really know what these LEGO competitions are all about. When I was a kid LEGOs had not yet become popular.

City of Prescott and Arizona State Forestry reject Yarnell Fire claims and fines

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 12 Comments on City of Prescott and Arizona State Forestry reject Yarnell Fire claims and fines
Yarnell Hill Fire
Yarnell Hill Fire. Photo by Joy Collura, June 30, 2013.

The City of Prescott has rejected the claims filed by the mother of one of the 19 firefighters that were killed, as well as those filed by 21 residents whose homes burned during the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30 in Arizona. According to the Prescott Daily Courier, the claims, which cited negligence in management of the fire, amounted to $48 million for the death of firefighter Grant McKee and nearly $100 million for the property damage.

The newspaper also reported that the Arizona State Forestry Division is contesting citations and $559,000 worth of fines issued to them by another state agency, the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health. The Forestry Division said in their letter to the state OSHA agency that the citations and fines “are not supported by substantial evidence, are contrary to law, arbitrary, capricious and constitute an abuse of discretion by the Industrial Commission of Arizona.” The next step may be a review by the Industrial Commission’s Hearing Division, which originally approved the fines and citations recommended by the state OSHA. The fines included $25,000 allotted for the survivors of each firefighter, a total of $475,000.

In a related story by the Daily Courier, more claims have been filed:

PRESCOTT – The families of 12 of the fallen Granite Mountain Hotshots filed wrongful death claims today, seeking a total of more than $200 million from four public entities.

The notices of claim are going to the State of Arizona (including the Arizona State Forestry Division), Yavapai County, the City of Prescott, and the Central Yavapai Fire District (CYFD), and are claiming “intentional, reckless, careless and grossly negligent conduct” during firefighting efforts on the June 30 Yarnell Hill wildfire.

Idaho newspaper publishes series of articles about wildland fire

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags 1 Comment on Idaho newspaper publishes series of articles about wildland fire

The Magic Valley Times-News in Twin Falls, Idaho has recently run a series of articles about wildland fire. One of them published this week is about the Yarnell Hill Fire and is very critical of the investigations and the reports produced by the 60 people assigned to uncover what went wrong and why. The reporters interviewed many current and retired firefighters in developing the lengthy article.

Ted Putnam, a U.S. Forest Service retiree who participated in several fire investigations, in the article had a suggestion for firefighters that he thought would improve their chances of survival if they are entrapped in a wildfire — two firefighters get under two fire shelters that are layered, one shelter on top of the other.

The other articles in the series at the Times-News include an editorial about wildfire fatalities, an article about aging aviation resources (which has one or two factual errors), and a piece devoted to fire shelters, their history, development, and ideas for improvement.

Former California firefighter charged with setting 7 fires

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 12 Comments on Former California firefighter charged with setting 7 fires
Zane Wallace Peterson
Zane Wallace Peterson

CAL FIRE law enforcement officers arrested former firefighter Zane Wallace Peterson, 29, of Happy Valley, California Tuesday morning on suspicion of intentionally setting seven fires in Shasta County, including the September 9th, 2013 Clover Fire. Peterson was booked into the Shasta County Jail and charged with over 200 arson-related counts, including 60 for arson to occupied structures.

  • Arson of a Structure or Vegetation (Penal Code 451(c)) 140 Counts
  • Arson that causes great bodily injury (Penal Code 451(a)) 1 Count
  • Arson to Occupied Structures (Penal Code 451(b)) 60 Counts.
  • Arson with Aggravating Factors (Penal Code 451.1(a)(4)) 2 Counts
  • Arson using Incendiary Device (Penal Code 453) 5 Counts

He was also charged with homicide for the death of one person on the Clover Fire. On September 10, 2013 the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office located a deceased person, identified as Brian Stanley Henry, 56, inside the Clover Fire perimeter on Coal Pit Road in the community of Igo, California while conducting a welfare check.

Mr. Peterson will be arraigned Wednesday afternoon in Shasta County.

The U.S. Forest Service confirmed that Mr. Peterson was a former employee on the Mendocino National Forest. He worked as a firefighter (Forestry Technician) and fire engine operator from May 15, 2005 until October 22, 2012.

The Clover Fire burned 8,073 acres and threatened over 500 residences. It destroyed 60 occupied residences and 130 outbuildings. Over 1500 firefighters from across the state responded at the height of the incident. The cost to contain and control the fire was over $7.3 million.

Response to the Yarnell Hill Fire “Swiss Cheese” article

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags 2 Comments on Response to the Yarnell Hill Fire “Swiss Cheese” article

On December 15 we wrote about the Yarnell Hill Fire and compared some of the issues identified on the fire to James T. Reason’s Swiss Cheese model of accident causation. Of the 19 issues (or “holes”), we mentioned that one of them was having only one aerial supervision platform, an Aerial Supervision Module (ASM), on a very complex fire at the time the 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots were entrapped and killed.

In a response, a friend, Tony Duprey, kindly submitted his thoughts on the subject. Tony was qualified as an ASM and was an Air Tactical Group Supervisor (ATGS) and Branch Director on a Forest Service California Type One Incident Management Team for 7 years and continues to serve as an ATGS after his retirement. Below is his response to the article, and below that, a question from me and his answer.

We thank Tony for taking the time to compose this well-reasoned article.

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While I agree with your summation and the use of Dr. Reason’s “Swiss Cheese Model,” there are two slices that I believe COULD be misleading and I would like to attempt to clarify.

The first is the Aerial Supervision Module (ASM) role. The ASM program is an excellent program when utilized as originally envisioned and intended. (I will cover this in another article to you in the coming weeks). Suffice it to say, the ASM program has evolved quite a bit from its beginning with the Alaska Fire Service (AFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Today’s ASM program enhances and strengthens both the stand-alone LEAD and Air Attack or Air Tactical Group Supervisor (ATGS) programs and positions. That is worth repeating: Today’s ASM program enhances and strengthens both the stand-alone LEAD and ATGS programs. How does it do that? Through cross-training, crew cohesion, having a firefighter (Division Supervisor qualified ATGS) in the LEAD cockpit, and having ATGS’s gain experience as a part of low-level (below 500 feet AGL) operations – and the aircraft/cockpit management process. So we end up with stronger stand-alone ATGSs and stronger stand-alone Leads.

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