Authorities report at least one person was killed
Continue readingCameras on firefighting aircraft filmed attack on brush fire in California
S2T and OV-10 attack the Still Fire
Continue readingMeeting the new USFS requirements for data monitoring and communications on helicopters
Helicopter 729 drops on a fire near El Cajon, CA May 13, 2022. Ryan Grothe.The US Forest Service recently released new requirements for firefighting helicopters on their Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC). It requires real-time communications, automatic flight following, and ATU bucket drop data, together with cockpit audio recording and Flight Data Monitoring (FDM).
Three companies have combined their expertise to build a system that meets the requirements without overburdening aircraft and budgets, according to a press release issued by GPMS, Blue Sky Network, and Flightcell.
Below are excerpts:
Today, GPMS International, Flightcell, and Blue Sky Network jointly announced a combined solution featuring their industry-leading technologies that creates a fully compliant, lightweight, cost-efficient option for operators looking to bid on the recently released U.S. Forest Service Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC) firefighting contract.
Executives from the companies explained that many operators are having difficulty finding workable solutions to satisfy the new requirements in the USFS contract. By pairing Flightcell’s and Blue Sky Network’s enabled communications, flight following, Additional Telemetry Unit (ATU), and cockpit audio recording with GPMS’s advanced Health and Usage Monitoring System, the combined package meets new USFS requirements including the “modern aircraft” specification for HUMS.
“After many discussions during the HAI Firefighting and Aerial Firefighting shows, operators told us that they are looking for a solution to meet the new USFS requirements without overburdening their aircraft with additional weight or complexity or stacking single system costs onto their budgets,” said Todd Powers, GPMS VP of Sales. “What we have created here with Flightcell and Blue Sky Network is a lightweight, economically efficient solution to bring aircraft into compliance and allow operators to compete for this new contract.”
It puts Flightcell’s DZMx Plus and Smarthub cockpit audio visual recording onboard and, using Blue Sky Network’s connectivity service and SkyRouter™ fleet management platform, data is ported via a dual Satellite/LTE modem, where operators get comms, ATU data, and flight following in real-time together with downloadable audio/video recording.
Completing the solution, GPMS’s Foresight MX system provides the in-depth flight and machine monitoring that are part of the MATOC’s modern aircraft requirements for HUMS. Foresight provides engine and airframe vibration monitoring, engine performance monitoring and cycle counting, flight data monitoring with exceedance alerting, as well as rotor track and balance monitoring and adjustment solutions.
Elevated or critical fire danger predicted Tuesday and Wednesday for the Central Gulf Coast vicinity
Updated at 4:21 p.m. CDT Sept, 27, 2022
Wind forecast for noon CDT, Sept. 28, 2022. Windy.comIt turns out that one of the reasons for the elevated fire dangers and the strong north winds in Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama is the counter-clockwise rotation around Hurricane Ian. This wind forecast for noon CDT on Wednesday shows the northerly flow in those states which is similar to the winds on Tuesday, but the speeds will be higher Wednesday.
The colors on the map represent wind speed, not precipitation. The legend for wind speed is at bottom-right (in knots).
Updated at 4 p.m. CDT Sept, 27, 2022
Red Flag Warnings, 4 p.m. CDT Sept 27, 2022The National Weather Service has modified this fire weather forecast repeatedly on Tuesday afternoon for the Central Gulf Coast vicinity, possibly due to complications caused by Hurricane Ian which is headed to the west side of Florida near Tampa.
The map above was current Tuesday at 4 p.m. CDT. There will be some Red Flag Warnings in the area on Wednesday, but we’ll wait until Wednesday morning to post the map, after the forecast settles a bit.
Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches, 11:10 a.m. CDT Sept 27, 2022.Low humidity and strong wind predicted on Tuesday and Wednesday for the Central Gulf Coast vicinity brings elevated fire danger to areas of Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.
A Red Flag Warning is in effect Tuesday afternoon for southwest Alabama and southeast Mississippi.
Fire weather Sept. 27, 2022 for central MS, northeast LA, and southwest AR.Weather forecasters expect the relative humidity will be in the low 20s across much of the area or even the high teens near the Gulf Coast. Afternoon wind gusts will be greater than 20 mph.
The forecast for Wednesday is for the critical fire weather to expand further into Alabama, the Florida panhandle, and Georgia.
Fire Weather Outlook, Sept 28, 2022.Forest Service seized PG&E equipment during investigation of Mosquito Fire
The fire has burned 76,781 acres and destroyed 78 structures near Foresthill, California
Continue readingNBC News: smokejumper seriously injured on the job, diagnosed with cancer
Ben Elkind and familyBen Elkind was seriously injured during a training parachute jump on May 15. During his ninth year as a smokejumper (with six years before that on a hotshot crew) he sustained a dislocated hip and pelvic fracture during a hard landing. During surgery at the hospital they found six fractures and placed three plates and 10 screws to repair the damage.
While Ben is unable to fight fires for an extended length of time, he will not be able to supplement his base income with the usual 1,000 hours of overtime each year which in the past he has depended on to support his wife and two small children.
And then during a full body CT scan a nodule was discovered on his thyroid — meaning, cancer. Ben told Wildfire Today the cancer was caught early and is very treatable.
We have written about Ben previously, but that was before we were aware of the cancer. And the other reason we’re bringing it up now is that yesterday NBC News published a nearly four-minute video story about Ben and other similar examples of injured wildland firefighters.
For more than the last year Ben has been very involved working to improve the working conditions of federal wildland firefighters, being proactive in educating the public and other firefighters about what they can do to improve the pay, classification, health, well-being, and processing of worker’s compensation claims (see photo below). In 2021 he wrote an article that was published in The Oregonian and Wildfire Today. And now he finds himself as one of the examples of what can happen on the job to a wildland firefighter that can seriously affect them and their family.
NFFE meets with Secretary of Labor in Washington, DC, March 16, 2022. L to R: Max Alonzo (NFFE), Bob Beckley (NFFE), Hannah Coolidge (USFS Hotshot), Marty Walsh (Sec. Of Labor), Dane Ostler (USFS – Prevention), Ben Elkind (USFS – Smokejumper), Randy Erwin (NFFE – President), and Jeff Friday (NFFE).There has been some progress during the last year in establishing a list of presumptive diseases for firefighters.
Pending legislation would create the presumption that firefighters who become disabled by certain serious diseases, contracted them on the job, including heart disease, lung disease, certain cancers, and other infectious diseases. The bipartisan Federal Firefighters Fairness Act, H.R. 2499, passed the House in May and is now in the Senate.
In April the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP), in FECA Bulletin No. 22-07, established a list of cancers and medical conditions for which the firefighter does not have to submit proof that their disease was caused by an on the job injury.
Consider telling your Senators and Representative to pass the Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter Classification and Pay Parity Act, H.R.5631. The name of the bill honors smokejumper Tim Hart who died after being injured on a fire in New Mexico in 2021. (More about the bill.) And ask your Senators to pass the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act, H.R. 2499.
You may want to make a donation to the gofundme account set up by the Redmond Smokejumper Welfare Organization to assist Ben and his family.
The Staging Area, September 24, 2022
Staging area at the Valley Fire near Pine Valley, CA, Aug. 22, 2022. CAL FIRE photo.This weekend we are continuing an occasional weekend feature we started a few months ago. This post can serve as the beginning of an open thread where our readers can talk about issues that we have, or have not, gotten into yet. This is literally an off-topic thread. You have the floor.
The usual rules about commenting apply. And remember, no personal attacks or politics, please.
Let’s enjoy a wide-ranging conversation!
Fire Traffic Area, September 24, 2022
San Diego County Sheriff helicopter 12 drops on a wildfire in Oceanside, CA June 29, 2022. Photo by Ryan Grothe.Today we are continuing an occasional weekend feature called Fire Traffic Area. This post serves as the beginning of an open thread where readers can leave comments about issues not yet covered — or maybe they have been covered. This is literally an off-topic thread. What do you think needs to be pointed out, asked, or discussed within the fire aviation community? You have the floor.
The usual rules about commenting apply. And remember, no personal attacks or politics, please.
De Havilland to build large aircraft manufacturing complex east of Calgary, Alberta
They will produce the DHC-515 water scooping air tanker, DHC-6 Twin Otter, and Dash 8-400 (Q400)
Continue readingLegislation could lengthen allowed federal wildland firefighter retirement break in service
It also addresses in a very limited way the rental rates of government housing
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