Author

Incident Commander of the Yarnell Hill Fire reflects on the 19 fatalities

Bill GabbertOctober 6, 2013October 6, 2013UncategorizedYarnell Fire1 Comment

The person who was in charge of the Yarnell Hill Fire the day 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots were killed was interviewed by The Republic recently. Incident Commander Roy Hall, submitting to his first detailed interview since the June 30 tragedy near Yarnell, Arizona, said there was “no smoking gun here”, referring to the report commissioned by the state of Arizona.

The article and a video of Mr. Hall can be seen HERE, but be advised the video will play automatically.

Mr. Hall arrived on the fire the morning of June 30. Usually an incoming team will observe and shadow the existing command structure for 12 to 36 hours before they take over a fire, but a few hours later at 10:22 a.m. an announcement was made over the radio that their team was assuming command. About six hours after that 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots were dead.

In the interview and in a written statement, Mr. Hall provided some background information about the fire and his feelings about the deaths.

Below is an excerpt from his statement, which has many capitalized words and exclamation points:

…we must realize and personally ACT NOW to STOP the speculation, questions, and cynicism of Monday morning quarterbacking! It will NOT bring back 19 of our best and finest comrades!

[…]

The risk and exposure of the wildland fire ground is well documented, however, there will ALWAYS be necessary decision space at the battlefield-fire line level.

The article also includes quotes from two of the Operations Section Chiefs on the fire. One of them, Paul Abel, said he verified with Division Supervisor Eric Marsh that the Granite Mountain crew was safe in a previously burned area, and they discussed the treacherous wind forecast. Mr. Abel said he still doesn’t know why the hotshots moved from the safe, black area and proceeded to a ranch, which had been identified as another safety zone.

****

Another article at the Arizona Republic, in today’s edition, quotes “experts” and authors of books about potential lessons learned in the Yarnell Hill Fire report.

Thanks go out to Chip

Prescott Fire Chief forced out

Bill GabbertOctober 6, 2013October 14, 2013UncategorizedDan Fraijo, Yarnell Fire2 Comments

The chief of the Prescott Fire Department is being forced out of his job by the City Manager. Even though this happened three months after 19 members of the department lost their lives on the Yarnell Hill Fire, the reason for Fire Chief Dan Fraijo’s departure is unclear.

Prescott City Manager Craig McConnell told the Daily Courier that the Chief is leaving by “mutual agreement” effective November 15, but Chief Fraigo told the Courier and the Arizona Republic that the city asked him to leave.

The 70-year old Chief, formerly with the Phoenix Fire Department, was hired on an interim basis in May, 2012 and was named Fire Chief in February, 2013. His contract specified that either party could end his employment with 30 days’ notice.

The official report of the 19 fire fatalities of the Granite Mountain Hotshots found “no indication of negligence, reckless actions, or violations of policy of protocol” on the part of the firefighters.

Thanks go out to Gary

Smokey Bear furloughed

Bill GabbertOctober 5, 2013October 5, 2013UncategorizedSmokey Bear1 Comment

Smokey Bear is being used as a symbol — not of fire prevention, but of furloughed federal employees.

And the Daily Show interviews Smokey Bear about being furloughed, in a NSW video.

Wildfire briefing, October 4, 2013

Bill GabbertOctober 4, 2013October 4, 2013Uncategorizedclimate change, research1 Comment

Measuring live fuel moisture from space

Southern California researchers at Chapman University and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are trying to develop a model that would use data from satellites to determine the amount of moisture in live vegetation. This is an important variable that planners and fire behavior analysts need when managing preparedness and predicting the spread of wildfires. The NASA funded work is in the preliminary stage. If the effort is successful it would be possible to obtain daily updates of live fuel moisture using information collected by two satellites, Terra and Aqua, the first passing overhead in the morning and the second in the afternoon.

When I was Captain at Descanso Station in southern California it was an official fuel moisture monitoring location. Every 10 to 14 days our engine crew would drive out on Viejas Grade Road and fill one-quart paint cans with clippings from chamise bushes. This is still being done all over the western United States, but with different species in other areas. In the basement back at the station we would weigh the unopened cans, then after removing the lids the cans would be placed in a convection oven overnight at moderate heat, and weighed again the next day. The entire building had the smell of cooked chamise. After accounting for the weight of the empty can, we would calculate the percent moisture that was lost. I plotted the data on a graph on a piece of paper along with the readings from the previous year, then made copies and snail-mailed them to the other fire stations on the District. Obviously this was before everyone had a computer on their desk and in their pocket.

Research: red stage needles do not recover moisture overnight

Preliminary research indicates that red stage lodgepole pine needles do not recover fuel moisture overnight, as occurs in other fine, dead surface fuels. The study was conducted on foliage from trees that had been attacked by mountain pine beetles. If this is confirmed it will have implications for predicting the rate of spread of fires in bug-killed stands.

Time Magazine: firefighting tactics in a warming world

Bryan Walsh, a senior editor at Time, writes about the increasing number of fires and considers a less than aggressive suppression strategy for some of them. In the article he used a phrase we have written many times:

The U.S. fights wildfires like it once fought wars—with overwhelming force aiming for unconditional surrender.

We do not entirely agree with Mr. Walsh. The federal land management agencies at one time DID fight fires with the overwhelming force they could muster, but budget cuts, a leadership vacuum, and timid initial attack policies have made that a distant memory. However some organizations still do have overwhelming force strategies, such as CAL FIRE.

Another “wildfire”

We take notice when the word “wildfire” is stolen and attached to something that has no connection to a fire that burns vegetation. There have been Wildfire songs before, but The Saturdays recorded a new version this summer.

Red Flag Warnings, October 4, 2013

Bill GabbertOctober 4, 2013August 25, 2019UncategorizedRed Flag Warning1 Comment

Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches for enhanced wildfire danger have been issued by the National Weather Service for areas in California, Arizona, and New Mexico.

The Red Flag Warning for southern California from Friday morning through Sunday includes the counties of Orange, southwestern San Bernardino, western Riverside, and San Diego. Winds are expected to be northeast at 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 60 mph with isolated gusts to 75 mph, along with single-digit relative humidities.

The Red Flag Warning map was current as of 1:30 p.m. MDT on Friday. 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.