A company called ThinkGeek has some humorous maternity shirts for geeks. I like this one.
Is there something that would be appropriate for the shirt of a pregnant firefighter, or the spouse of one? Let’s see… En route …. Drop Zone … Incident With Potential … Responding ….. Bambi Bucket … Box Canyon … Double Female or Double Male (if it’s twins of the same sex) … Nine Month Time Lag.
What do YOU think?
A Grand Jury in San Bernardino, Calif. today indicted Rickie Lee Fowler for setting the Old fire which burned 91,000 acres in 2003 in southern California. He was charged with five counts of murder, one count of arson of an inhabited structure, and one count of aggravated arson with special circumstances. Six Five heart attack deaths have been linked to the fire which burned in the areas of Lake Arrowhead, Running Springs, and Big Bear.
District Attorney Michael Ramos said the charges could bring the death penalty.
As Wildfire Today reported on June 14, 2009, Mr. Fowler has been a suspect as the arsonist for some time, but apparently there was no rush to indict him since at that time he was serving a nine-year prison sentence for burglary.
A second suspect, Martin Valdez, 24, was killed in an unrelated shooting in 2006 in Muscoy, California.
Witnesses reported to fire investigators that they had seen a man flipping lighted matches from a van, which started the Old fire. They helped law enforcement officers draw a composite sketch, which received widespread publicity.
On July 21, 2009 Thomas Marovich, 20, of Hayward California incurred fatal injuries when he fell while performing routine rappel proficiency skill training at the Backbone fire Helibase in Willow Creek, California. Wildfire Today covered it HERE, HERE, and HERE.
We have not seen an official accident report about the accident, but the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued violation notices to the U. S. Forest Service related to the incident.
The first one is a “Serious” violation that involves the procedures for the use of the rappel equipment. OSHA provided in the document four specific “abatement methods to correct these hazards”. They involve equipment such as the Bourdon snap hook, a Mallion Rapide Tri-Link, and the HR-2 rappel harness.
The second is a “Willful” violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. OSHA accuses the USFS of failing to provide requested information about the accident. In fact, the USFS stated in writing that they would not comply with OSHA’s request.
Here is an excerpt from the violation notice OSHA sent to the U. S. Forest Service in Eureka, California, on October 2, 2009, about the “Willful” violation:
Excerpt from page 8 of OHSA’s notice to the U. S. Forest ServiceOSHA apparently concludes that the only way the USFS could be in compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act and Executive Order No. 12196 is if the incident must be “kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy”, but then says it involves neither.
One has to wonder if the recent trend of prosecuting people involved in accidents led to the refusal of the USFS to release the information OSHA requested.
The Tunnel Fire, commonly referred to as the Oakland Hills fire, occurred on Sunday October 20, 1991 in Oakland, California. The fire killed 25 people (23 civilians, 1 police officer, and 1 firefighter) and injured 150. It destroyed 2,449 single-family dwellings and 437 apartment and condominium units. The economic loss has been estimated at $1.5 billion.
Houses destroyed during the Oakland Hills fire, 1991
For more info
On October 12 Wildfire Today reported that investigators trying to determine the cause of the Station fire wanted to talk to Babatunsin Olukunle, 25, who was spotted by U. S. Forest Service workers as he walked away from the August 20 Lady Bug fire that started six miles away from the origin of the August 26 Station fire.
Mr. Olukunle was arrested on Thursday by sheriff’s deputies in Lancaster, CA and charged with one felony count of unlawfully causing a fire on forest land, the Lady Bug fire, which burned a few square feet. The investigators want to talk with him about the Station fire but they are not listing him as a suspect yet.
The Station fire started on August 26 and burned over 160,000 acres near Los Angeles. Two firefighters from L.A. County Fire Department were killed in the fire when their truck fell into a ravine. A reward of $150,000 has been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonist.
The Station fire was officially 100% contained on Friday, October 16.
October has historically been a busy time for southern California firefighters. From our Infamous World Fires document, here are some of the large October fires that occurred in that area:
Many of the residents that were affected by the 2007 fires in San Diego and Riverside counties are still struggling to recover.
The San Diego Union Tribune has an article about the rebuilding and recovery. Here is an excerpt.
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When the smoke cleared and fire crews returned home, officials began sizing up the overall wreckage.
Hundreds of square miles were scorched by flames that spared some homes while leveling others. Firefighters had wrapped whatever photos and mementos they could salvage in blankets and left them in front of burned-out houses.
The final toll was similar to damage caused by the October 2003 wildfires, in which 17 people died, about 2,600 homes were destroyed and more than 376,000 acres burned. The 2007 wildfires killed 10 people and burned 1,646 homes and 368,396 acres.
More than half of the houses that burned two years ago — 1,046 — were in unincorporated areas, which have issued a smaller proportion of rebuilding permits than cities and Indian reservations.
By last week, 239 houses and mobile homes had been rebuilt in unincorporated areas, the Union-Tribune’s analysis showed. Construction is under way on 137 others, and 39 applications are awaiting approval.
In San Diego, 365 homes and condominiums were lost, with the majority of the destruction in Rancho Bernardo, which was in the path of the Witch Creek fire.
Thinh Tran, the development official who worked at the Rancho Bernardo recovery center until it closed this month, said the city did the best it could to fast-track building permit applications.
“We promised them a five- to 10-day turnaround,” Tran said. “For a normal house, it usually takes months to go through the whole process.”
Over the past two years, the city has issued 242 building permits for single-family residences, Tran said. More than three-quarters of those projects are completed and the homes occupied.
Poway lost 90 homes and has issued 46 building permits; Escondido had 36 homes destroyed and has permitted 30 replacement structures; all 59 homes that burned on the La Jolla Indian Reservation were permitted to rebuild; and at least six of the 50 homes lost on the Rincon reservation have been approved for reconstruction.
Two Fire Notes have been published jointly by the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre and the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council.
One is Assessing Aerial Suppression Drop Effectiveness by Dr. Matt Plucinski. I found it very interesting, especially the infrared photos of fires and retardant drops. The publication covers drop placement, suppression chemicals, drop coverage, and the effects on fire behavior.
Here is one illustration from the paper:
From Fire Note #38The second one is Exploring the Bushfire Experience from a Domestic Perspective, by Mae Proudley. The author concludes, in part:
The south-eastern region of Australia is often cited as being one of the most bushfire-prone locations in the world and yet there is a disturbing lack of national research which focuses on bushfire from the perspective of families.
There is little recognition of the emotional attachment that people have to their homes, possessions and domestic pets or livestock and how this influences people’s behaviour and responses before and during a bushfire. Critical decision-making, often influenced by the presence of children in bushfire and other emergency situations, has been central to this qualitative research. This case study provides evidence-based research that supports the need to rethink the Prepare, Stay and Defend or Leave Early policy in terms of those who are expected to enact it – including families under extreme stress.
Thanks Ion
The Oct. 14 edition of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric had a segment about the controversy over day number two of the Station fire near Los Angeles and the fact that the number of firefighters and helicopters were reduced from the day before. Wildfire Today first reported on this October 1 HERE. The fire eventually burned over 160,000 acres and is the largest fire in recorded history in Los Angeles County. Which is saying something, considering the fire history in that area.
Adding fuel to the issue is a memo from the USFS regional office to the forest supervisors in California three weeks before the fire which ordered them to minimize the use of state and local firefighting resources as a cost reduction measure and that “fire resources be managed to ensure no deficits”.
An investigation is underway by the USFS, so we’ll wait to see what that uncovers.
When I learned how to fight fire in California we were taught to attack a fire aggressively and with overwhelming force. It’s hard to do that while minimizing costs and reducing assistance from your cooperators. But in the long run it can actually keep the fire smaller and reduce the overall costs. Bean counters sitting at desks in regional offices don’t always realize this.
Thanks Kelly
On October 9 Wildfire Today posted a video of a demonstration by the D.C. fire department in which a firefighter received some small burns on his face and hand. The firefighter is expected to return to work soon.
Fire Chief Dennis Rubin recently appeared on Firehouse.com contributor Ed Comeau’s Fire Marshal’s Corner podcast and discussed the incident.
Here is an excerpt from the interview on Firehouse.com:
[Rubin] pointed out that a Plexiglass draft curtain meant to keep the heat and smoke within the trailer actually made matters worse as it began to melt on top of the firefighters while they attacked the blaze.
“Some of the failures on our part — and I’ll take full responsibility — had to do with the idea that we wanted to have a demonstration was impactful so that the equipment would work in a reasonable timeframe,” Rubin said. “Next time we will need a draft curtain that will probably be something that is not as combustible.”
Rubin said despite technical failures, not following NFPA 1403, the Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions, is really where the demonstration went wrong.
“I don’t believe we briefed the crew before they went into the structure and I think (that was) a recipe for near-disaster,” he said.
“I stayed pretty busy doing some of the administrative tasks and 20/20 hindsight, I wish I would have had the chance to take a closer look, but we didn’t have a checklist.”
Rubin said another issue was that two hoselines were laid out, but only one was active.
“I thought one was a backup and one was an attack line, but that turned out to be incorrect. The backup line I thought I was looking at turned out to be the feeder line going into the sprinkler system. When it came time for a second crew — which was not on location — to wet down and protect the first crew; that simply wasn’t there.”
Comeau also pointed out that the firefighters went right into the flames, instead of attacking it from a distance.
“I think they wanted to demonstrate their bravery and skill and that was just the wrong place to do it,” Rubin said. “The other horrifying part of the incident was that they were unaware of the fact that they were burning.”
Rubin said that over the years he’s been present for more than a hundred demonstration burns and that his department simply forgot the basics.
“We worked very hard for weeks to prepare for this event . . . It was the perfect setting on the perfect day,” he said. “You can never let your guard down. I just feel horrible about it. Thank goodness it was very minor injuries, but it looked like a comedy act.”
(THE VIDEO AT THE ONION MAY OR MAY NOT STILL BE AVAILABLE)