News and opinion about wildland fire
Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches for enhanced wildfire danger have been issued by the National Weather Service for areas in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, and California..
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The Red Flag Warning map above was current as of 11:55 a.m. MDT on Thursday. 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.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized1 Comment on Firefighters on Falls fire observe anniversary of Decker Fire Firefighters on the Falls Fire at Lake Elsinore, California today are wrapping up the incident. It is in the same location as the Decker Fire exactly 54 years ago today that killed six firefighters. This morning a moment of silence was observed on the fire in memory of those six. Three of them were members of the El Cariso Hotshots.
On August 8, 1959 the Hotshots and engine crews were on the Ortega Highway above the fire firing out along the highway. The bowl where the fire occurred has an unusual but predictable diurnal wind pattern, with downslope breezes during the afternoon that stop at about 8 p.m. With the fire below them, the wind stopped at 8 p.m. and several large fire whirls developed on the fire that traveled up the slope, entrapping the firefighters.
The diagram below is from a report about the fire and shows the tactics being used just before the blowup. Click it to see a larger version.
The maps below are from our article about the Falls Fire. The red squares represent heat detected by a satellite before the fire spread east across the South Main Divide and down through the bowl where the Decker Fire fatalities occurred. Click on them to see larger versions.
A current map of the Falls Fire is on InciWeb.
This article was corrected on 8/8/2013 to show that a total of six firefighters were killed. Five died during or shortly after the incident, and a sixth passed away five weeks later from his burn injuries. The fire report referenced above indicates that only five were killed but must have been prepared before the sixth person died.
Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches for enhanced wildfire danger have been issued by the National Weather Service for areas in Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and California..
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The Red Flag Warning map above was current as of 7:35 a.m. MDT on Wednesday. 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.
I believe the dense smoke shown in southwest South Dakota is from the Hardluck Fire in northwest Wyoming that burned very intensely into the night on Tuesday. It put up a huge convection column that made it impossible for the USFS infrared (IR) aircraft to map the entire fire Tuesday night, which is very unusual. Rarely is an IR ship unable to map a fire at night because of a convection column. The Hardluck Fire is labeled on the Red Flag Warning map above.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized5 Comments on Surviving Granite Mountain Hotshot interviewed by ABC 
The member of the Granite Mountain Hotshots who survived the Yarnell Hill Fire after 19 other firefighters on the crew were killed, was recently interviewed by ABC. In one of the first times he has spoken in detail about the fatalities, Brendan McDonough talked with ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross. It was conducted in the Granite Mountain Hotshots station house and marked the first time Mr. McDonough had been inside it since the Yarnell Hill fire.
The interview will air today, August 7 on “Good Morning America” (7:00 a.m., ET), “World News with Diane Sawyer” (6:30 p.m., ET) and in late-night on “Nightline” (12:30 a.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.
Thanks go out to Kari
(Originally published at 3:58 p.m. MDT, August 6, 2013; updated at 4:50 p.m. MDT, August 6, 2013; Jesse Trader’s name corrected February 22, 2023.)
The driver of a water truck, also known as a water tender, was killed Tuesday morning, August 6, when his truck crashed while working on the Big Windy Complex of fires in southern Oregon. Josephine County Sheriff Gil Gilbertson said 19-year old Jesse Trader was returning Tuesday morning at 7:20 a.m. after working the night shift. The truck hit an embankment and rolled over on the Bear Camp Road near Soldier Camp. Firefighters in vehicles driving behind Mr. Trader immediately stopped to assist. An advanced life support ambulance arrived on scene within minutes and life flight was quickly launched; however, all efforts to save him were unsuccessful.
The water tender, owned by Ace Earthmoving, was being used by County Fire, a private fire suppression company contracted to assist with the Big Windy Fire.
Our sincere condolences go out to the driver’s family and co-workers.
The Big Windy Complex is a group of three lightning-caused fires in southwest Oregon northwest of Grants Pass that have burned 10,832 acres of Bureau of Land Management lands protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry. Since July 29 the Complex has been managed by Chris Schulte’s Type 1 Pacific Northwest #2 Incident Management Team. InciWeb has more details about the fires.
Below are some photos from the fire. The first one was taken on Bear Camp Road.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized5 Comments on Robert Bonnie confirmed as Under Secretary of Agriculture Last week the Senate confirmed the nomination of Robert Bonnie to be the new Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and the Environment. In this role he will supervise the U.S. Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Mr. Bonnie comes highly recommended by dozens of organizations, including environmental groups as well as some connected to the timber industry. The National Association of State Foresters has a long list of the organizations. Here is an excerpt from the recommendation on their site:
…Mr. Bonnie is a leading national expert on efforts to reward stewardship on private lands. Serving as Senior Advisor to Secretary Vilsack for Environment and Climate since 2009, Mr. Bonnie has demonstrated strong leadership at USDA on decisions to conserve the nation’s natural resources. Before joining USDA, Mr. Bonnie co-led the Land, Water Wildlife program and directed the Center for Conservation Incentives at Environmental Defense Fund. For more than a decade at EDF, Mr. Bonnie worked collaboratively with farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to develop solutions to protect endangered species and other resources. His leadership will also be welcome in improving the operations of the National Forest System.
We have below an excerpt from Mr. Bonnie’s written statement when he was being considered by a committee:
…The growth in catastrophic fire has had an enormous human toll as we witnessed with the recent loss of 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hot Show Crew in the Yarnell Hill fire in Arizona. Though these firefighters weren’t federal employees, they are part of a close-knit firefighting community and the Forest Service and the Department of Interior are deeply saddened by the loss of their colleagues. As with every firefighting fatality, we must ensure that we learn from this incident so that we can prevent future tragedies such as this one. The Forest Service continues to strive to make safety a bedrock value. If confirmed, I will support these efforts and work with Secretary Vilsack and Chief Tidwell to ensure the safety of our firefighters and communities remains paramount.
Both the President and the Secretary have spoken about the substantial budgetary challenges created by the growth of catastrophic wildfires for the Forest Service. Whereas the Forest Service use to spend 10-15% of its budget on fire preparedness and suppression, today it spends closer to 40% or more during bad fire years. Since 1998, Forest Service fire staff has more than doubled, while forestry, biologists, and recreation staff has been reduced over 35%. Budgeting for fire has forced the Forest Service to make difficult budgeting decisions, including reducing funding for management activities that might otherwise prevent catastrophic fires. If confirmed, I look forward to working with the President, the Secretary, this Committee and Congress to address both the budget challenges and the land management challenges presented by catastrophic wildfire.
Since the Senate has not been approving many of the President’s nominees for anything, the position has been open for a while, filled in the interim with Ann Mills as an acting Under Secretary.
Generally we have not heard a lot from the people in this powerful position since Mark Rey, a former timber industry lobbyist, was in the job during the last Bush administration. They testify in front of committees, but generally do not make the news. Mr. Rey was the exception and is now doing very well financially as a lobbyist working for Lockheed Martin and other companies. Lockheed described his duties as lobbying the federal government to buy the company’s “firefighting equipment”. Translated: Convince the U.S. Forest Service to buy a large number of C-130J aircraft at $80 to $90 million each to serve as air tankers. Opensecrets.org reports that in 2012 Mr. Rey made $436,000 as a lobbyist. To date this year they show that he has earned $236,000.
