Kelly Andersson, Author at Wildfire Today

Biden Administration announces new community funding for prevention

Kelly AnderssonMarch 21, 2023Wildfirecommunity grants, prevention5 Comments

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced on Sunday more than $21 million in new funding for wildfire risk reduction; she spoke during a press conference with Senator Jeff Merkley at the Oregon Department of Forestry Southwest District headquarters, according to a report by KEZI-TV News in Eugene, Oregon.

She said fire management agencies plan fuel management work on more than 170,000 acres in Oregon this year.

District Forester Mike Shaw said there’s good news with better snowpack this year. “I do project that we’re going to have another challenging fire season,” he said. “All hands on deck is the approach that we’re taking and all wildland fire agencies are working together.”

Senator Jeff Merkley, chairman of the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, joined Haaland and Shaw to emphasize their collaboration on wildfire prevention. “We’re really focusing on the front end of forest treatment and on the back end of having the resources to fight the fires,” Merkley said. “The key word here is collaboration.”

Aside from the millions in federal funding allotted from his bipartisan infrastructure law, Haaland said that President Biden is also supporting increased pay, better housing, and more full-time jobs for firefighters.

Vice President Kamala Harris joined other national leaders in the nation’s capitol to announce the new funding to help protect high-risk communities. “Our acres of burned land have doubled,” Harris said. “We need to change how we think about how we respond to fires. We need to prevent them, not just respond after they’ve started.”

KRDO News reported that $197 million in federal funding will be made available this year to 100 communities in 22 states and 7 Native American tribes. “There were 36 states and 45 tribes that applied for the funding,” Harris said. “This is the result of legislation I started years ago while I was in the Senate.”

She said she was motivated by recent destructive fires in her home state of California. “This will be the first of many grants,” she said. “We’re committing $1 billion over the next four years and $7 billion over the next ten years.”

Fire in Colorado’s Poudre River Canyon evacuates residents

Kelly AnderssonMarch 19, 2023March 23, 2023WildfireColorado, Poudre Canyon

A 7-acre wildfire in the area of Highway 14 and Arrowhead, according to a report by 9NEWS-TV, resulted in evacuations for residents of Poudre Canyon in Larimer County on Sunday afternoon.

Voluntary evacuations were issued for a stretch of the canyon; the Arrowhead Fire was reported by the Canyon Lakes Ranger District at 50 percent containment by late afternoon.

The Coloradoan reported that the fire was burning near the U.S. Forest Service’s Arrowhead Lodge visitor center, 34 miles west of Ted’s Place along Colorado Highway 14, also known as the Poudre Canyon Highway. The sheriff’s office issued evacuation notices from the Lodge east to Riverside Drive, and residents were told to gather essential items and prepare to evacuate. A Red Cross evacuation site was established at Cache La Poudre Middle School in Laporte, and a portion of Highway 14 was closed between Arrowhead Lodge and Rustic.

Safety Warning 23-01: Non-Specification Fire Shelters

Kelly AnderssonMarch 13, 2023March 23, 2023Safetyfire shelters, safety warning

Fire shelters that are not manufactured to specs are being advertised and sold as meeting Forest Service (FS) specification 5100-606 requirements. These shelters are made from unknown materials and components that have not been tested and certified, and the materials could affect the performance and safety of the non-specification fire shelter if deployed on a fire.

These shelters are sold as the M-2002 fire shelter. The National Technology and Development Program (NTDP) was alerted on February 22, 2023 about these fire shelters by a contractor who inspected their shelters upon delivery.

Subject matter experts with NTDP evaluated the shelters and determined they did not meet FS specifications that govern the materials and components deemed safe for fire shelter use. Specification fire shelter materials have been extensively tested for toxicity; they do not release toxicants that would harm a shelter occupant. Shelters constructed with materials that don’t meet requirements have not been tested and may release hazardous toxicants to a shelter occupant. NTDP has not yet completed testing of the thermal performance of these non-specification fire shelters, but a visual inspection shows deviations that will mean the shelter does not deploy as intended. Any non-FedMall (open market) fire shelter purchases should be inspected to verify that they are built to specification 5100-606.

Any non-specification fire shelter should be removed from service and NOT CARRIED ON THE FIRELINE. IN THE EVENT OF AN ENTRAPMENT OR BURNOVER, SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH COULD OCCUR.

The noticeable differences between specification and the non-specification fire shelters can be identified by the following.

> Carry case:
• Absence of hard plastic liner
• Missing stenciling on Use Instructions pocket
• Missing sewn-in label

> Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) bag:
• For the Large fire shelter, the pull strap is missing LARGE stenciling (FYI the pull strap for Regular fire shelters is yellow and not labeled)
• Missing paper insert label

> Fire shelter:
• Missing LEFT HAND and RIGHT HAND stenciling on shake handles
• Uneven and loose folding of the shelter not in a brick shape

The non-specification fire shelters are made from unknown materials and components that do NOT meet specification 5100-606. Use of the non-specification fire shelter during an entrapment or burnover may result in serious injury or death. For federal agencies, the Interagency Standards for Fire and Aviation Operations (Red Book), Chapter 7: Safety and Risk Management specifies that firefighters must carry an M-2002 fire shelter built to FS specification 5100-606 while on the fireline.

Questions? Please contact:
David Maclay-Schulte, Equipment Specialist
david.j.maclay-schulte@usda.gov 406-329-3965

All federal firefighters should purchase shelters directly from FedMall. State and local government firefighters may be able to register for FedMall access through the State and Local Government Purchasing Program. Those purchasing outside of FedMall should ensure they purchase fire shelters from reputable suppliers.

The fire shelters identified in this Safety Warning are the only known non-specification fire shelters currently sold on the open market, but that does not mean there aren’t others.

All fire shelters, regardless of supplier, should be inspected upon receipt to ensure that all components are accounted for, the shelter meets specification requirements, and that no damage has occurred during shipping or storage. Contact NTDP if you suspect you have purchased or stored a non-specification fire shelter.

Additional information on shelters is posted on the Fire Shelter and Personal Protective Equipment Subcommittee website.

2023 Alaska outlook – dry again in Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta

Kelly AnderssonMarch 12, 2023March 22, 2023WildfireAlaska

The Alaska Division of Forestry and Alaska Interagency Coordination Center’s early season wildfire outlook is now available, and normal fire potential is expected from March through June, except for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, where above-normal potential exists beginning in April. AICC’s Fire Weather Program Manager Heidi Strader said that low snowpack could result in a busy early season out on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

“Keep in mind that we have few indicators to tell us how mid-summer will be at this point,” Strader said. “For some of the more populated corridors around South Central and parts of the Interior, it’s more about fuels, wind events, and human activity.”

A typical fire season in Alaska includes about 500 wildfires that burn an estimated 650,000 acres. Every year more than 80 percent of these fires are human-caused and result from careless or negligent use of fire, often in escapes from burn barrels, campfires, burn piles, or other sources.

Alaska has been enjoying significant sunshine in March, and April will probably bring the first early-season human fire starts to low-lying areas of the state as the snowpack retreats. The U.S. Drought Monitor shows no current drought in Alaska, while the Climate Prediction Center calls for a slightly warmer and wetter spring for western and northern Alaska. Fire activity the first week of March in Alaska was non-existent with a thick blanket of snow for most of the state. Additional details are available online at the akfir einfo.com website.

Florida fires closing highways

Kelly AnderssonMarch 4, 2023Wildfireescaped fire, Florida, road closures

VOLUSIA COUNTY, FLORIDA — A large wildfire in Volusia County is putting up a lot of smoke, according to the Florida Highway Patrol, which cautioned drivers to exercise caution. A fire in the Tiger Bay State Forest, according to ClickOrlando.com news, is burning along Interstate 4 north of State Road 44 near DeLand. The Florida Forest Service said the fire had burned about 70 acres and was 60 percent contained.

A Florida Department of Transportation highway camera earlier today showed thick dark smoke from the fire, not far from I-4. State troopers issued a travel advisory because of the smoke for motorists in the area both for I-4 and for International Speedway Boulevard.

A 400-acre fire in Marion County, according to WCJB news, also closed roads. Florida Forest Service firefighters were dispatched to an escaped blaze near Gooski Prairie on Friday afternoon. Sheriff’s deputies said parts of County Road 316, from Northeast 175th Street to Fort McCoy, have been re-opened after a closure resulting from the fire and smoke.

Florida Forest Service officials said the fire was at 75 percent containment by 3:30 p.m. By 7 p.m., though, the winds had picked up and carried the fire from 200 acres to twice that size.

The fire started as a controlled burn ignited by a private landowner on Thursday afternoon.

WINK News reported yesterday that firefighters were working on several brush fires across southwest Florida pushed by high winds, including one in Collier County that the Florida Forest Service reported at 300 acres with about 25 percent containment. The Collier County Sheriff’s Office ordered evacuations, but they were soon lifted. The Greater Naples Fire Chief said three homes were burned and more were threatened.

ClickOrlando.com reported that temperatures are expected to climb into the upper 80s over the weekend before cooling down as a weak cold front moves closer to the region, but chances of rain are estimated at just 20 percent.

Long bushfire season wears down firefighters in Queensland and Western Australia

Kelly AnderssonMarch 4, 2023WildfireAustralia, bushfire, volunteers

State fire officials are airing concerns about firefighter fatigue as southwest Queensland heads into an “unprecedented” prolonged fire season this autumn, and South West Rural Fire Service superintendent Wayne Waltisbuhl told ABC News that he could not remember the last time a fire season continued into March.

“It’s usually finished by late January, early February,” he said. “It’s just very dry conditions.”

Waltisbuhl said the season could continue for the next six weeks, and the Bureau of Meteorology is predicting higher than median average temperatures for the March-to-May period. “We’ll have some really peak days with high fire danger weather and some lulls.”

In Western Australia, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) is disputing claims it doesn’t have the resources to handle the fires burning across the state. The West Australian reported that it took 200 firefighters to control a fire at Neergabby, near the popular tourist destination of Moore River. DFES deputy commissioner operations Craig Waters said that Western Australia is still “well-protected and well-resourced” and can provide a rapid response to such incidents.

Shadow Emergency Services Minister Martin Aldridge said that five trucks had been “mothballed” at city stations while the fires burned, but Waters disputed that. He said the five engines were crewed and available on Saturday and Sunday.

Those fires started the day after the United Professional Firefighters Union (UPFU) warned that the State could face a catastrophe over the weekend, after trucks were stripped and crews benched on Friday because of firefighter exhaustion. “DFES had sufficient resources over the weekend,” explained Waters, “to manage the effects of the industrial action initiated by the UPFU during the high-threat period.”

He said that in the metropolitan area, DFES has 139 vehicles across the career and volunteer brigades, with an additional 130 across local government bushfire brigades. He said that based on risk, together with the need to manage fatigue and staff rostering, DFES had decommissioned five firefighting vehicles in the metro area — for Friday only.

Waters said the state thus far had experienced only a moderate fire season, but he warned people not to be complacent. “There is still a long way to go, and Western Australia is incredibly hot and dry in summer, and the smallest flame can spark a devastating bushfire. Bushfires are burning for longer, and more intensely than we’ve seen in previous decades. Our firefighters do a tremendous job during bushfire season but we need people to take responsibility.”

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