The CBS Evening News on Monday ran this story about Juliann Ashcraft, the wife of one of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. She suddenly became the single mother of four children when her husband, Andrew, was killed along with 18 others from the crew June 30 on the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona. Even though Mr. Ashcraft worked full time, the Prescott Fire Department said his wife is not entitled to the survivor benefits usually owed to a full time firefighter.
(The video may take a while to begin. If you can’t view it, visit the CBS site.)
In 2011 Andrew Ashcraft sent us some photos he took of the Las Conchas fire in northern New Mexico.
He also sent his wife some photos of the Yarnell Hill Fire an hour or two before the crew was overrun by the fire on June 30, 2013.
The Falls Fire burned close to many homes. August 6, 2013 photo by Marc Peebles
Information Officer Marc Peeples told us that the evacuations have been lifted for LakeLand Village and Rancho Capistrano. Decker Canyon remains under a mandatory evacuation order.
One of the factors that slowed the fire activity late in the day on Monday was the rising relative humidity. At 6:41 p.m. on Monday at the Temescal weather station 10 miles north of the fire it was 38 percent which is fairly high to sustain rapid fire spread in southern California brush. At 6:41 a.m. Tuesday it was 87 percent and fell to 49 percent by 9:41 a.m.
In spite of the high humidity, Mr. Peeples said there was beginning to be a little fire activity in some of the canyons on the fire Tuesday morning.
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(UPDATE at 8:44 a.m. PDT, August 6, 2013)
DC-10 drop on Falls Fire, August 5, 2013,, from KCAL video
The Southern California Geographic Area Coordination Center reported at 8:30 a.m. PDT that the fire has burned 1,416 acres and is zero percent contained. The fire continues to move south and east and has established itself in the San Mateo Wilderness, but is holding at the ridge lines. They said the it has potential to move further north, resulting in additional structure threat and could also move into Morrell and Decker Canyons. LakeLand Village, Rancho Capistrano and Decker Canyon remain under mandatory evacuation orders, according to the Coordination Center’s 8:30 a.m. report.
Marc Peeples, an Information Officer on the Incident Management Team assigned to the fire, said at 8:45 this morning that the fire is 5 % contained and is being fought by 265 personnel. Other resources on the fire include 6 helicopters, 6 fixed wing aircraft, 16 crews, and 45 engines.
The Cleveland National Forest has not updated InciWeb since about 7 p.m. Sunday and it also says the evacuations are in effect for Lakeland Village, Decker Canyon and Rancho Capistrano residents, in spite of a report from KCAL saying some of the evacuations had been lifted.
The report from KCAL said the Ortega Highway may remain closed for days or weeks, due to firefighters working along the highway, guard rails that have to be replaced, and power lines that were damaged.
The video also has some footage of Tanker 910, a DC-10, making some impressive retardant drops adjacent to houses.
Wakoski’s Incident Management Team was scheduled to assume command of the fire Tuesday morning.
The fire was reported at 10:06 a.m. Monday west of El Cariso Engine Station in the Cleveland National Forest.
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(UPDATE at 9:25 p.m. PDT, August 5, 2013)
At 9:15 p.m. the Cleveland National Forest reported the fire had burned 1,500 acres. Mandatory evacuations for Lakeland Village, Decker Canyon and Rancho Capistrano residents. Ortega Highway is closed to non-residents. Closures are at Grand Ave in Lake Elsinore and Antionio Parkway in Orange County. The evacuation perimeter is for residences between Grand/Ortega Highway and Grand/Corydon on the west side of the lake.
Official information about evacuations can be found at InciWeb.
Excellent photos of the Falls Fire.
The videos below are from the Press-Enterprise.
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Falls Fire as seen from LA’s NBC 4 at 5:13 p.m. PDT, August 5, 2013, looking southeast. (click to enlarge)
(Originally published at 5:54 p.m. PDT, August 5, 2013; we will update this article as needed.)
A wildfire that started Monday morning in southern California between Lake Elsinore and San Juan Capistrano spread east almost four miles and is threatening homes in the Lakeland Village community on the west side of Lake Elsinore. In the photo above captured from television at 5:13 p.m. PDT, the fire had moved across the South Main Divide road and was burning downhill at a moderate rate of spread. It appeared to be approximately 500 to 1,000 feet west of the homes in the photo in Lakeland Village south of the Ortega Highway.
Falls Fire, near Ortega Hwy and Grand, August 5, 2013. Photo by Ken.
As this was written at 5:54 p.m. PDT, the fire was even closer to the homes and can be seen occasionally on NBC 4’s live video feed. It was burning vigorously less than 200 feet from homes.
Several helicopters and air tankers, including a DC-10 Very Large Air Tanker, are assisting firefighters.
Referencing the map of the Falls Fire below, the fire has spread across the South Main Divide and is much closer to Lake Elsinore than shown in the heat data that was collected at 1:47 p.m. PDT today.
Map of Falls Fire at 1:47 p.m. PDT, August 5, 2013, showing heat detected by a satellite. The red squares indicating heat can be as much as a mile in error. (click to enlarge)
The media is reporting the fire has burned 1,200 acres.
It is burning near the location of the 1959 Decker Fire (see the map above) which entrapped seven firefighters. Five of them lost their lives; three were members of the El Cariso Hotshot Crew. The east-facing slope above the lake is infamous for unusual wind patterns, which was a factor in the fatalities.
3-D Map of Falls Fire at 1:47 p.m. PDT, August 5, 2013, looking northwest. The red squared represent heat detected by a satellite; they can be as much as a mile in error. (click to enlarge)DC-10 finishing a drop on the Falls Fire, August 5, 2013. Note from Bill: I examined the drop based on the known length of a DC-10, which is 180 feet, and calculated that this drop is approximately 1,620 feet long. The length of a drop from a P2V for coverage levels 4 to 10, ranges from 180 to 430 feet.
A bill that would affect federal wildland firefighters, which is very similar to those that have failed in Congress several times in the past, has been reintroduced in the House of Representatives. Named the “Wildland Firefighters Protection Act”, H.R. 2858 would establish a “wildland firefighter occupational series that will more accurately reflect the variety of duties performed by wildland firefighters”. For decades federal wildland firefighters have worked in various technician or professional job series that are not specifically related to firefighting.
The bill would also begin a pilot program during which firefighters would receive “portal to portal” pay while they are assigned to an emergency incident.
Last year’s bill died in committee. This version was introduced by Rep. Diana DeGette from Colorado on July 30, 2013. No cosponsors are listed on the Library of Congress Thomas site.
In a bizarre series of incidents, on August 3 a man committed suicide who had pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge for starting the 1997 Hemlock Fire in southern California which killed an aerial firefighter.
Cary Thomas Meeks admitting throwing an illegal firecracker into a grassy area of the San Bernardino National Forest in 1997 resulting in the 3,700-acre fire. In 1998 he received a sentence of three year’s probation for the crime. Since then he has been in and out of jail for other offenses.
Helicopter pilot Floyd Hiser was dropping water on the Hemlock Fire on July 6, 1997 when his helicopter lost power and crashed near Highland. He reportedly said “flame out” twice on the radio before his Bell 206 L-1 crashed. The National Transportation Safety Board said malfunctioning fuel-line valves caused the crash.
Mr. Meeks had a busy day on Saturday beginning with slashing the throat of a 67-year old man, who survived. U.S. Forest Service firefighters from the San Bernardino National Forest responded to that medical aid incident.
Mr. Meeks then carjacked a vehicle from a 73-year old man and led police officers on a chase at speeds up to 100 mph, with the vehicle’s owner in the car, who called 911 and described what was going on. Eventually the owner was let out of the vehicle, after which Mr. Meeks steered the car at high speed into a concrete bridge pillar without breaking. He died in the crash. He had previously told the vehicle’s owner he was going to kill himself.
Mr. Meeks had several other run-ins with law enforcement since starting the fire. The Riverside Press-Enterprise which always does an excellent job covering wildfires, has all of the details.
The U.S. Forest Service announced today that the agency has banned exploding targets on National Forest system lands in the Rocky Mountain Region. In October when we first wrote about these devices that explode when shot with a rifle, we listed 24 wildfires we found with a quick internet search that were started by shooters using the targets in 2012.
Exploding targets have become popular in the last year with shooters who get a thrill from seeing the explosion when their bullet hits its mark. The devices are sometimes called “binary exploding targets”, since they are completely inert until two powders are mixed by the target shooter. After they are combined, the compound is illegal to transport and is classified as an explosive by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and is subject to the regulatory requirements in 27 CFR, Part 555.
In June a man attending a bachelor-bachelorette party in Minnesota was killed by an exploding target. After someone shot the device, shrapnel struck 47-year-old Jeffery Taylor in the abdomen causing his death.
The new ban affects national forest system lands in the states of Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, Colorado, and Kansas. Under the Order prohibiting the devices, anyone using them can face a fine of up to $5,000 and imprisonment of not more than 6 months. The Order is effective for one year and expires August 2, 2014.
The U.S. Forest Service has previously banned exploding targets on national forests in Washington, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas according to Forest Service spokeswoman Sarah Levy.
The Bureau of Land Management bans them during certain times on their land in some states — not only the use but the possession of the devices.
“The Bureau of Land Management is working on a Fire Prevention Order that will ban exploding targets on BLM lands in Colorado as well,” said John Bierk, State Staff Ranger for BLM Colorado/Eastern States.
They are also banned or soon will be when new legislation takes effect on state lands, at least under some conditions, in Washington, Utah, Oregon, and Idaho.
Exploding targets have started at least 16 wildfires since 2012 on Forest Service lands in 8 western states causing the federal government to spend approximately $33.6 million in suppression costs. The U.S. Forest Service provided the table below which lists seven fires started by exploding targets in the Rocky Mountain Region during that time period. The fires burned a total of 1,187 acres in the Region and cost $2.9 million to suppress.
“Exploding targets pose a very real safety threat to visitors and our employees” said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell.
“We have seen a significant increase in the use of exploding targets on National Forest lands within the Region” said U.S. Forest Service Regional Special Agent in Charge Laura Mark. “Our objective is to educate the public on the dangers associated with the use of these targets in vegetation that can ignite a fire, as well as the safety risk they pose to the public, our employees and first responders. In addition to the seven fires caused by exploding targets on national forests in the Region since 2012, explosives ordinance demolition experts have had to respond on three occasions this year to safely dispose of unused targets that had been mixed but not yet used.”
A wildfire entrapped 15 smokejumpers and a fire guard in Mann Gulch on August 5, 1949 on the Helena National Forest in Montana. The fire took the lives of 13 men and burned nearly 5,000 acres.
The fatalities:
Robert J. Bennett
Eldon E. Diettert
James O. Harrison
William J. Hellman
Philip R. McVey
David R. Navon
Leonard L. Piper
Stanley J. Reba
Marvin L. Sherman
Joseph B. Sylvia
Henry J. Thol, Jr.
Newton R. Thompson
Silas R. Thompson
The 13 men who were killed in the Mann Gulch fire. U. S. Forest Service photo.
In light of the June 30 deaths of 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots on the Yarnell Hill Fire and their attempted use of an escape fire to create a refuge zone, you may be interested in a paper that analyzed Smokejumper Foreman Wag Dodge’s escape fire that probably saved his life on the Mann Gulch Fire. In the 27-page document written by Martin E. Alexander, Mark Y. Ackerman, and Gregory J. Baxter, they concluded that the size of Mr. Dodge’s escape fire was about 120 feet by 86 feet when it was overrun by flames from the main fire. Mr. Dodge later told investigators that he explained to the firefighters nearby that after the escape fire spread and cooled in the interior, they should take refuge in the new burned area with him. Unfortunately, none of them did.
The paper includes a statement made by Mr. Dodge that was included in Earl Cooley’s 1984 book, Trimotor and Trail.
When the main fire reached my area, I lay down on the ground on my side and poured water from my canteen on my handkerchief over my mouth and nose and held my face as close to the ground as I could while the flames flashed over me. There were three extreme gusts of hot air that almost lifted me from the ground as the fire passed over me. It was running in the grass and also flashing through the tree tops. By 6:10 p.m. the fire had passed by and I stood up. My clothing had not been scorched and I had no burns.
Here is a photo of Mann Gulch taken in 2008, from The Travels of John and Breya.
