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Topics discussed at meeting of Fire Compacts

Bill GabbertNovember 26, 2013August 25, 2019UncategorizedFire Compact, Jim Strain, South Dakota

Notes from the meeting of the Alliance of Forest Fire Compacts in Denver.

map Northeastern Forest Fire Protection Commission (NFFPC) — Map of state & provinces within the Northeastern Forest Fire Protection Commission

Even though you may not have heard of them because of their relatively low profiles, wildland fire compacts for state fire organizations got their start in the United States 64 years ago in 1949 when Congress passed legislation establishing the Northeastern Forest Fire Protection Commission. Seven states joined in 1949 and 1950 — Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York. The Canadian provinces of Québec and New Brunswick became members in 1969 and 1970, making it the first international compact. International treaties and other state and federal legislation enabled additional compacts to be formed so that today most of the Canadian provinces and all states in the U.S. are members except for six states: Nebraska, Utah, Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

The other seven Compacts are Great Lakes, Big Rivers, Great Plains, South Central, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Northwest.

Their purpose is to provide the means for its member states and provinces to cope with fires that might be beyond the capabilities of a single member. They share firefighting resources through mutual aid, support the development of integrated forest fire plans, and coordinate training. Some of the compacts are funded through annual dues for each state and/or federal grants from the U.S. Forest Service State and Private Forestry. Others have no funding at all.

On October 29 and 30 the Alliance of Forest Fire Compacts held their annual meeting in Denver, hosted by the Great Plains Compact. In addition to representatives from many state and province fire organizations, there were also attendees from the U.S. Forest Service, National Interagency Coordination Center, National Association of State Foresters, All-Hazards Incident Management Teams Association, and Western Governors Association.

Jim Strain, the Assistant Chief of Operations for South Dakota State Wildland Fire was at the meeting and took excellent notes, which he graciously shared with us. The following information draws heavily from Mr. Strain’s report and includes some of the points we found the most interesting.

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Dan Smith, representing the National Association of State Foresters (NASF) reported:

The NASF is dealing with ramifications of the Yarnell Fire report and the four areas identified for action that concern: (a) more instructions on how to utilize Very Large Air Tankers (VLATs); (b) interoperability of radio communications and GPS technology and tracking of ground based resources; (c) Interpersonal communications; and (d) guidance on what point is it necessary to separate Aerial Supervision Module (ASM) and lead plane roles to carry out responsibilities for each platform.

Mr. Smith also said the big update from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) is the Incident Management Team Succession Project. It appears for the time being that 40 is the number of nationwide teams that would be qualified at the Type 1 or “complex” level. Folks in the field need to know that we are heading to a future incident management world of Initial Attack, Extended Attack (Type 3) and Complex (Type 1). With that in mind, we need to develop alternative pathways or “speed to competency” to build up this capacity at the Type 3 level.

National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group (NMAC) update. Continue to expect future shortages of Type 1 crews and air tankers at the national level when the western fire season is in full swing. Still dealing with some hand crew support issues during times of nationwide mobilization (i.e. Type 2 Initial Attack crews not self- sufficient as per Mobilization Guide direction).

National Interagency Coordination Center update: Susie Stingley-Russell, Center Manager, NICC:

Very concerned about the shortage of Type 2 crews nationwide and the future capacity of Type 2 crews to fill resource orders.

Very Large Air Tankers, (VLATs) will be on a federal contract again next year that will pay daily availability, so the ordering agency only has to pay for flight time and retardant.

Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC): Serge Poulin:

The 2013 fire season in Canada as of 9/11/13 saw 5897 fires that burned 3,798,206 ha. There seems to be a trend in Canada of a lower number of ignitions but more ha burned. We are also seeing more of our personnel mobilizations lasting the full 14 days.

They are developing an alternative to BEHAVE called REDAPP (http://redapp.org). Furthermore, CIFFC is reviewing the FI210, S490 course and ICSCanada project. Work is going forward on several on-line courses (S290, s291, S292 and S204) with on-line exams. CIFFC this year moved all personnel on CAN/US exchanges on a passport basis only and will continue in that manner in the future.

All-Hazards Incident Management Teams Association (AHIMTA), Chief Michael Chapman

AHIMTA is still working with the National Integration Center to find core competencies for incident management tasks with endorsements for specific all hazard specialties. It was noted that Colorado Public Safety worked on all-Hazards task books with the exception of the operations section.

Discussion about international border crossings:

Trent Marty, Director, Bureau of Forest Protection for Wisconsin DNR, shared information on the “quick strike” form. Information will be added to the website on Border Crossing Information contacts and aircraft information. Reminders: Try not to cross on a holiday weekend and get crew manifest to border crossing point 12 to 24 hours prior to arriving at that point.

Measuring the severity of a fire season

Bill GabbertNovember 25, 2013May 9, 2016Uncategorizedfatality, lodd, statistics, structures burned2 Comments

By some measures the 2013 wildfire season in the United States was less severe than usual. In the lower 49 states this year to date there has been a decline in the number of fires, the number of acres burned, and the average size of fires. Sounds pretty good so far, right? But there was a sharp rise in the number of firefighters that were killed on fires — 34 so far this year.

Not only did the number of fatalities more than double over last year, according to the data from the National Interagency Fire Center, but the linear trend shows an increase since 1990. The wildland fire fatality statistics from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Fire Administration show even higher numbers for most years.

Of course more than half of the fatalities this year occurred on one fire, the Yarnell Hill Fire which killed 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. But if that terrible tragedy had not happened, there would still have been 15 fatalities, the same number from the previous year. Between 1990 and 2013 to date the average number of wildland fire deaths is 18 each year.

We can do better. We have to do better.

More wildfire statistics:

Below are some statistics on wildland fire occurrence in the United States from 1990 through today. The numbers are for the lower 49 states, which excludes Alaska, a state that in 2013 to date has had 609 fires that blackened 1,319,234 acres, about half the number of acres that burned in the other 49 states. Fire management in Alaska is very different from the rest of the country. Some fires there are aggressively suppressed, but many fires are not staffed at all, some are fought with small numbers of firefighters, and others only get attention in areas where a remote cabin is threatened. Including Alaska numbers with the rest of the country would skew the trend analysis.

Fire Chief magazine shuts down

Bill GabbertNovember 21, 2013August 25, 2019Uncategorized

(Originally published at 9:08 p.m. MST November 21; updated at 10 a.m. November 22, 2013.)

Fire Chief magazine is closing its doors. After publishing for 57 years, Penton, their parent company, gave the staff two days notice today that the magazine would no longer exist, effective tomorrow, November 22. The short notice and the timing as the holiday season approaches has got to be tough for the staff to comprehend.

Janet Wilmoth, the Associate Publisher for Penton and a familiar name to many firefighters, made the official announcement Thursday, November 21 on the Mutual Aid blog on the Fire Chief website. Below is an excerpt:

It isn’t easy to be the headline. As you probably have read by now, FIRE CHIEF is closing its doors, effective tomorrow. Our parent company, Penton, yesterday announced the closing of the 57-year old publication, its website, and supplementary products and events.

I first started with FIRE CHIEF in 1986 as associate editor working for original publisher Marvin Ginn and editor Bill Randleman. Over the years, FIRE CHIEF was bought by and sold to several different publishing companies, with different CEOs, publishers and editors.

[…]

FIRE CHIEF has always had a very specific target audience — fire chiefs and officers — and each of the editors have been fortunate to secure amazing contributors over the years. Twenty-three year Editor Bill Randleman tapped into the legends of the fire service: William Clark, Don Loeb and Charlie Rule to name a few. He also is credited with talking Ron Coleman into writing his column, Chief’s Clipboard, for the past thirty years. Another editor, Scott Baltic, took FIRE CHIEF to another level with writers like Chuck Burkell of the National Fire Academy, Colin Campbell on Washington updates, and correspondent Tim Elliott. Other editors, including Rick Markley, Glenn Bischoff and most recently Lisa Allegretti Williams have each contributed to FIRE CHIEF’s expansion into the digital realm.

FIRE CHIEF has been privileged to be a part of the fire industry for the past 57 years. Many factors that have contributed to the decision to close, including the publishing industry’s steady transition to digital, the economy, and the decline in ad revenue that most publishers are facing.

The FIRE CHIEF staff — past and present — is extremely proud of the impact the publication has had on the industry over the years. The fire and emergency services have changed dramatically over the 57 years, no role more so than that of the chief of a fire department.

Thank you for your support, and God bless the American fire service.

Occasionally Fire Chief had an article about wildland fire, but it was not their area of emphasis. How this could have an effect in the world of wildand fire is the future of Wildfire magazine, an official publication of the International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF). After publishing it in-house (with their own printing press!) and later with contractors since the early 1990’s, about eight or ten years ago the IAWF reached an agreement with Penton for the company to handle the publication of the magazine for the organization through a complicated financial arrangement. Many of the same staff members who worked on Fire Chief also worked on Wildfire over the ensuing years. Now that Fire Chief is shutting down, there is a big question mark above Wildfire.

The news about Fire Chief came as a surprise to the IAWF, finding out today along with the rest of the world. At this point, the organization is not sure what the future holds for Wildfire or if it will be affected by Penton’s action today. They have scheduled an emergency meeting on Monday.

The IAWF also has another official publication, the International Journal of Wildland Fire. It is published for them by CSIRO.

In 2008 another fire-related magazine ceased publication — Wildland Firefighter magazine.

These magazines shutting down, along with many newspapers and other dead tree publications, is a symptom of the shift from paper to digital. Many readers prefer to get their news from a source that can be updated minutes before they see it, rather than waiting until the next day or the next month when it can be stale or obsolete.

Having said that, I hope the system can still find a way to support full time, professional reporters who have the time, finances, and expertise to dig into issues. Think about how different the world would be if we didn’t have the Woodward and Bernsteins. Reporters and photographers are being laid off in large numbers — 32% and 43% respectively since 2000 according to the PEW Research Center.

They should be categorized as endangered, and wealthy billionaire philanthropists should find ways to support struggling news organizations. This is already happening to a certain extent, with Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos buying the Washington Post and Warren Buffet’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, acquiring 28 local newspapers.

Fire Chief and Sheriff disagree about cause of Black Forest Fire in Colorado Springs

Bill GabbertNovember 21, 2013December 23, 2021UncategorizedBlack Forest Fire, Colorado, Colorado Springs4 Comments

Black Forest Fire Colorado Springs — Firefighters mop up on the Black Forest Fire, June 15, 2013. Photo by Bill Gabbert.

(Originally published at 1:05 p.m. MST, November 21, 2013; updated at 9:20 p.m. Nov. 21)

The Fire Chief responsible for the suppression of the Black Forest Fire in Colorado Springs is disagreeing publicly with the county Sheriff about the cause of the fire that killed two people, destroyed 486 homes, and damaged 37 others in June.

Black Forest Fire Chief Bob Harvey told KRDO recently that the fire was caused by a human and “appears intentional”. He said he felt obligated to inform the public adding, “I think the worst thing is this person still is out there.” He said he consulted with outside experts in coming to that conclusion, but did not provide any more details.

Chief Harvey told KKTV that he has been working with investigators over the past few weeks, and they reached the conclusion that the fire was “likely intentional.” He stood by that conclusion Thursday.

However, El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa, whose department is leading the investigation, disagrees vehemently with the Chief, accusing him of being “less than truthful” about other details concerning the fire.

Below is the text of a press release distributed by the Sheriff just after midnight very early this morning:

DATE: November 21, 2013 [12:30 a.m.]

EL PASO COUNTY SHERIFF TERRY MAKETA FINDS REMARKS MADE BY FIRE CHIEF DISTURBING

Sheriff Terry Maketa was shocked to see recent reports in the local news media where Black Forest Fire Chief Harvey was quoted concerning the active investigation into the cause of the Black Forest Fire. On more than one media source, Chief Harvey was quoted as saying the cause of the fire had been determined to be “intentional”.

Sheriff Maketa offered these comments concerning the inappropriate remarks.

“Do not buy into Chief Harvey’s claims until it’s confirmed by the actual agency that has been the lead of the investigation and will base its findings on indisputable scientific evidence that can withstand the scrutiny of the criminal justice system. Right now that isn’t the case. His comments are nothing more than an attempt to mislead the public and a mere witch hunt. Numerous national experts and federal resources have been involved in this investigation and have not and cannot substantiate Chief Harvey’s unqualified knee jerk claims. “Human caused” has been known for a long time but this Chief is not involved in the investigation nor qualified to offer legal and scientific evidence. He does not know the point of origin and has been less than truthful about other circumstances with this disaster and just may be merely covering his own mishandling of this event in an attempt to avoid responsibility for allowing the fire to get out of hand. Furthermore, this Chief didn’t even know homes were burning at a time several were engulfed and never even requested evacuations of nearby households as the fire rapidly grew out of control, clearly placing citizen’s safety in jeopardy. It’s an injustice that he has chosen to jump to these unjustified and inconclusive assumptions without any effort to coordinate with local investigative authorities that have expended extensive resources to identify the cause and manner of this serious tragedy. Chief Harvey’s comments are reckless, irresponsible and lack what is in the best interests of the community following this tragedy.”

Whew!

Firefighter reports seeing UFO

Bill GabbertNovember 21, 2013UncategorizedUFO, Utah2 Comments

Someone suggested yesterday on Reddit that people post stories of UFO sightings. “Echatoner” was one of many who responded:

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“I was on a wildfire just south of Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah. We were in fire rigs driving to the incident area, four trucks in close convoy, when we heard helicopters. Eight black military choppers escorted us in formation for like ten miles, we assumed they were just doing drills and using us for fake target practice or something.

A little while later we are parked and about to start hiking to the fire line when suddenly a thin column of smoke shoots probably about two hundred feet into the sky, it was a good mile away but the concussion was pretty significant when it hit us and the noise was still ridiculously loud. We thought it was probably no big deal, we knew we were near a strike zone.

A good five minutes later an aircraft like nothing I have ever seen flew by us at maybe five hundred feet. It was flat black and sort of rectangular but with fins and wells on the underside. It was moving pretty slow and was dead silent so I have to assume it was some sort of stealth glider. It sounds ridiculous but it immediately reminded me of a huge, flying bat mobile, Time Burton era.

After that some military personnel got on our radio frequency and instructed us to leave the area immediately, when our crew chief asked who it was and why they signed off and the Incident Commander (the guy in charge of managing the entire situation) came on the radios and said we were evacuating the area. They sent us to a completely different fire about a hundred miles to the south and never told us why except that it was higher priority which was bullshit, it was already out when we got there and we just assisted crews in the mop up operation.

The thing that confuses me about this is that if the army didn’t want us to see that shit or if it was dangerous why didn’t they keep us clear of the area in the first place? Either a communications breakdown or they had a now shit situation going down and had to get us out of there without warning.

Edit: this is the closest thing anybody has suggested.”

Later he wrote:

“I was a rookie on my second fire so I have to consider that my crew may have been f***ing with me as far as why we had to leave, it was the kind of thing they’d do.”

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Anyone else seen anything unusual that they can’t explain on a fire?

Wildfire at Stones River National Battlefield

Bill GabbertNovember 21, 2013November 21, 2013UncategorizedTennessee

Stones River National Battlefield wildfire, November 20, 2013. NPS photo by Ranger Gib.

I admit that I had to look it up to find out where it was, but Stones River National Battlefield near Murfreesboro, Tennessee had a wildfire in the park on Wednesday. Apparently they suppressed it with the help of the local fire department without too much drama. The park has an active prescribed fire program, but this one was not planned.

Ashley McDonald, public information officer for Murfreesboro Fire and Rescue Department, said the fire burned about nine acres.

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