I just discovered this 2 minute video about Ellreese Daniels’ April 29, 2008 plea agreement. It is a news segment produced by KXLY television in Spokane, Washington. It has some B-roll footage of the Thirtymile fire scene that was new to me and also gives the local perspective of the case.
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Ellreese Daniels' attorney requests support
Ellreese Daniels was the Crew Boss and Type 3 Incident Commander on the Thirtymile Fire near Winthrop, Washington in 2001 on which four members of his crew were overrun by fire and died. On January 30, 2007 the U.S. Attorney in Spokane, Washington charged him with eleven felony charges– four counts of involuntary manslaughter and seven counts of making false statements, which could have led to 56 years in prison.
On April 29 the U.S. Attorney reduced the eleven felony charges down to two misdemeanor charges of making false statements to investigators, to which Ellreese pled guilty.
Sentencing will occur August 18 and could result in probation or up to six months in jail.
Wildfire Today has posted about this case eight times.
Ellreese’s attorney, Tina Hunt, is requesting that:
“…if anyone would like to write a letter of support for Ellreese or to write a letter letting the court know how this case has affected them, I would be more than happy to collect those. I would rather they come directly to me so that I may make certain that the Court receives them.”
Her address is:
Christina Hunt
Federal Defenders of Eastern WA and ID
10 N. Post St., Ste. 700
Spokane, WA 99201
If you have been following this case on Wildfire Today, you know how I stand. I was not on the Thirtymile Fire, so all I know is what I read in the report and from talking with some people very close to the situation.
Ellreese may have made some mistakes on the fire… a fire that exhibited extreme fire behavior. He and his crew had been on their shift for 24-36 hours with little or no sleep. He met all of the training and experience qualifications. I have to assume that he did the best that he possibly could with all the tools he had at his disposal. He only wanted the best for his crew.
Any firefighter in a supervisory or leadership capacity, wildland or structural, can make mistakes. If they are subject to felony charges, decades in prison, losing their job, their retirement, and their livelihood, and ruining their lives and the lives of their families, many are not going to accept this additional risk.
Structural firefighters should be very concerned about this. Now that Ellreese has pled guilty to two misdemeanors, has that already set a precedent to a certain extent? (Any attorneys out there?) And, if he receives any kind of jail or prison sentence, will all firefighters then be subject to this procedure which will no doubt spread from wildland fire out into the larger structural fire community? Some say the U.S. Attorney that brought the 11 felony charges forward is seeking a better, higher-paying position. There are lots of District Attorneys out there that may also be looking to get their names in the paper or run for higher office.
The job has plenty of risks we can do little about. This is a risk we CAN do something about through legislation and other means.
Firefighters are now being advised by their peers to “lawyer up” if they are involved in a serious on the job accident. They will be very hesitant to say ANYTHING about it if they feel their lives could be ruined. Lessons will not be learned from mistakes. More people may be exposed to hazardous situations that could be prevented if we could talk about previous close calls or accidents.
Here is what you need to do. Take 15 minutes and invest it in your future and the safety of your fellow firefighters. Write a letter as Tina suggested, explaining how you feel about this, and how it affects you…and your family.
Tractor plows
Tractor plows are heavily used in the southeast, but many firefighters in other parts of the country are not familiar with this type of equipment. A plow can rapidly construct a fireline 6-8′ wide in almost all fuel conditions as long as it is not steep or rocky–which eliminates much of the western United States. Some plows are mounted on the front of a dozer, but many are rear-mounted.
And then there is the substantial disturbance to the ground with which many jurisdictions have a problem. It can be difficult to rehab a tractor plow fireline. It’s not exactly a “light hand on the land”.
Here are a couple of photos I took while assigned to the Blackjack Bay fire on the Okeefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia and Florida in 2002.
The photo below show a rear-mounted unit that has wheels which can be raised when plowing operations begin.
The front of the plow. Those tires look like they lead a hard life.
Tractor plows have not changed a lot in the last 50 years. Here is drawing for patent #2990632 filed in 1958.
Fire in Germany burning near unexploded munitions
A 395-acre fire 31 miles south of Berlin is burning at a military base that was first established by the Prussian government in 1870. It was used as a training area for the Nazis, and later, Soviet tanks and airplanes, from 1935 until 1994. Unexploded munitions in the area require that all firefighting be done from roads or the air.
It reminds me of when we used to go to “fire school” for live fire training at Camp Pendleton in southern California. Instructors would light fires in grass or brush and then dispatch engines and hot shot crews to suppress them. The area was also used by the marines for training, and it was common for the fire to cause M-16 ammunition to explode. We were told that they were all blanks, but the empty cartridges whizzing past your head were, at best, extremely distracting while you were fighting a vegetation fire.
NC Evans Road fire maps
The fire in eastern North Carolina continues to spread to the north and east. It is now 35,691 acres and has moved into the “Hollow Ground Swamp” in the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. But just judging from the heat detected by satellites, the swamp must be fairly dry, since the fire has burned quite a few acres within it.
The temperature at the fire today should be in the mid 90’s, the RH in the low 40’s, with the wind 7-11 out of the south and southwest.
The map below shows heat detected by satellites last night. Click on the images to see larger versions.
The map below is provided by the Incident Management Team and shows the fire progression.
In the photo below, Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge Manager Howard Phillips (far right) looks over high-volume pumping operation while George Constantino (back to camera) discusses the Water Handling Operations with the Rowan County Assistant District Forester.
Helicopter saves tractor
In Florida yesterday, in Sarasota county, a sheriff’s department helicopter helped keep an entrapped Division of Forestry tractor from being burned over in a fire. The operator made it to safety while the helicopter saved the $100,000 tractor by dropping four bucket-loads of water on it. The fire was contained at 480 acres.
