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.

Report: car with firefighters hits and kills another firefighter

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized

A car overloaded with U.S. Forest Service firefighters hit and killed another USFS firefighter in northern California.

Fox40 is reporting a bizarre story about how a car overloaded with U.S. Forest Service firefighters hit and killed another USFS firefighter who was lying in the road. The incident occurred at 1 a.m. Saturday on Marysville Road about 20 miles north of Nevada City in northern California.

Below is an excerpt from the article:

“…According to the California Highway Patrol, another car heading east along Marysville Road stopped after the driver saw a person lying in the westbound roadway. Seeing a 2002 Hyundai Accent driving right into where the person was lying, the other driver started flashing his high-beams.

However, the Hyundai – reportedly driven by 26-year-old San Diego resident Andrew Gruenberg – kept on going and ran over the pedestrian.

CHP says that one of the six other passengers in the Hyundai – which is designed to only carry five passengers, including the driver – called 911 to report that they believe they had just run over an animal.

The Hyundai eventually stopped two miles down the road, where two of its passengers got off and into another car to drive back to the scene of the accident. They soon found that emergency personnel were at the scene, tending to the pedestrian who was hit by the Hyundai.

The pedestrian was identified as 32-year-old Camptonville resident Michael P. Kelley II. He had suffered major blunt-force trauma to his head and torso and was pronounced dead at the scene, CHP says.

CHP believes that alcohol played a factor in the incident, but no arrests have been made as of Sunday night.

Gruenberg, Kelley and all six other passengers in the Hyundai are said to be employed as firefighters for the Hotshots crew of the U.S. Forest Service in Yuba County, CHP notes.”

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UPDATE November 19, 2013 at 12:33 MST:

The AP reports that Mr. Kelly was a full-time employee and squad boss on the Tahoe Hotshot crew. Mr. Gruenberg is also on the crew.

Other sources told Wildfire Today that Mr. Kelly rookied with the McCall Smokejumpers in 2012 and was based in West Yellowstone in 2013.

White Draw Fire, historic cabins, one year later

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , 7 Comments on White Draw Fire, historic cabins, one year later

White Draw fire, old cabin 6-30-2012

The above photo shows some historic cabins on June 30, 2012 that firefighters worked hard to protect during the White Draw Fire northeast of Edgemont, South Dakota. The photo below was taken yesterday, about 16 months later. Both were shot by Bill Gabbert.

White Draw Fire, old cabin, 11-16-2013. Photo by Bill Gabbert

This was the fire on which the MAFFS 7 air tanker crashed on July 1, 2012, killing four crew members and injuring two. In July a memorial was dedicated a few miles away from the crash site in memory of the aerial fighters.

First claim filed for death on Yarnell Hill Fire

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags 37 Comments on First claim filed for death on Yarnell Hill Fire
Yarnell Hill Fire near Yarnell, AZ, June 30, 2013.
Yarnell Hill Fire near Yarnell, AZ, June 30, 2013. Photo by Joy Collura.

The first of what could be many claims has been filed for the death of one of the members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. On June 30, 19 firefighters on the crew died when they were overrun by flames on the fire near Yarnell, Arizona.

According to Azcentral, Marcia McKee, the mother of firefighter Grant McKee, filed the $36 million action.

Below is an excerpt from Azcentral:

The 16-page claim alleges officials “carelessly” allowed the hotshots to move into a chaparral-choked area where escape from the fire was impossible, that officials lost track of the hotshots and that officials failed to understand the “extreme peril” that confronted the hotshots.

The claim names 13 entities or individuals, including Gov. Jan Brewer, Arizona State Forester Scott Hunt, Prescott Wildland Division Chief Darrell Willis, who oversaw the crew, Prescott Mayor Marlin Kuykendall, the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors, and Department of Public Safety.

Mural to be unveiled 

In another story related to the fire, on Saturday, November 16 a mural will be unveiled in Prescott memorializing the fallen Granite Mountain Hotshots and all first responders, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Classic Gas, 1310 W. Iron Springs Road.

Kids propose solutions for wildfire problems

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized9 Comments on Kids propose solutions for wildfire problems

A Lego League Team of kids 9 to 14 years old is working on a science project. The task of Team #896 is to develop some innovative ideas to mitigate wildfires. They asked me to give them some feedback on what they came up with.

I complied with their request, and then asked if we could publish what they submitted — they said they would love to see them on this website. So, here they are, as I received them:

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“1) This idea is a dome made out of a very light weight metal with a fire retardant cloth lining the inside. They thought of making this huge dome to be carried by a helicopter or plane. And dropping the dome on the hotspot to snuff it out like a candle snuffer.

2) Another idea is to make lightweight foldable domes for the firefighters to use as protection if they get caught in a wildfire.

3) we talked to some firefighters and they said they get rid of the fuel with chainsaws and axes. This idea is a chemical (not sure what chemical yet) that is sprayed on the trees and shrubbery that they want to get rid of that dissolves it or makes it so it will not burn.

4) idea to get rid of smoke from wildfires. A huge vacuum on a helicopter or truck that sucks up the smoke and filters it, so it’s clean, or filters it and spits it back to the fire mixed with something the help put out the fire.

5) early warning system consisting of cameras and heat sensors that are solar powered to detect and warn when a woodland fire has started and where.

6) idea to make firebreaks better, have a tank or bladder attached to the bushwhacker when making a firebreak to spray a fire retardant chemical to help the firebreak work better. [Note from Bill: I asked about the “bushwhacker”, and they replied: “The bushwhacker is what the kids call the tractor the firefighters use to make the firebreak.”]”

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We also heard from another Lego League team that produced an interesting infographic about wildfires.

Large group of researchers hopes to develop more accurate fire models

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,
RXCADRE
From the RxCADRE overview report.

“Fire science is not rocket science—it’s way more complicated.”

That quote comes from research ecologist Matt Dickinson of the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station who borrowed it from Robert Essenhigh, Professor Emeritus, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Ohio State University. Mr. Dickinson was one of 36 researchers who collected data over a two week period during a series of extensively instrumented prescribed fires at Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle last year.

The Joint Fire Science Program organized and helped fund the project, called RxCADRE, which collected 10 terabytes of data using many, many ground based sensors and four orbiting aircraft. Their goal was to obtain a comprehensive dataset of fire behavior, fire effects, and smoke chemistry, using measurements taken systematically at multiple, cascading scales. The information will help scientists and fire modelers test their models and develop better ones, ultimately making them more reliable.

Part of the project included hiring a writer to produce a 12-page overview of their work. It provides a great deal of information about how they planned and conducted the field work, and is for the most part well-written and worth reading, but occasionally lapses into flowery language for the sake of … flowery language.

For example,

36 scientists watch as fire’s ancient energy is captured, photographed, mapped, sensed, counted, measured, weighed, and rendered into data.

and,

The fire catches, wavers, and bellies gently before the wind. It spreads unevenly, then comes together, licking the grasses.

The Joint Fire Science Program deserves kudos for organizing this important research and for arranging to produce the 12-page overview.