News and opinion about wildland fire
The city of Ventura, California, recently sent 1,252 homeowners who live near brush-covered areas bills for $99 . The fee, which is not a tax, city officials claim, is to cover the cost of inspections to ensure they are in compliance with weed-abatement laws. The fire marshal said this is an attempt to recover the cost of hundreds of person-hours to do the inspections.
This is the first I have heard of fees to do weed-abatement inspections.
On the Spade fire in 2000 in the Bitterroot Valley south of Missoula, Montana, firefighters ignited a backfire in order to keep the fire from jumping a highway and possibly entrapping firefighters on other fires and threatening other homes and property. In 2002, 114 families filed a $54 million lawsuit against the federal government claiming that the backfire burned their property and homes.
In a very important decision that will affect wildland firefighters, a Court of Appeals just affirmed a District Court judge’s opinion that the actions of the firefighters was within their “discretionary function”. More information is at The Missoulian.
Firefighter burned on wildland fire in North Dakota
From MSNBC today:
Burke County, North Dakota, authorities say a firefighter has been flown to a Minnesota burn center with injuries after battling a blaze that burned nearly 1,500 acres near Columbus.
The sheriff’s office says 28-year-old Mitchell Strom of Columbus suffered burns to his face and other extremities. Sheriff Barry Jager says the fire started Saturday afternoon when a man used a torch to cut a swather to fit on a trailer.
Thirty-three-year-old Cory Klitzke of Stanley was cited for violating Burke County’s burn ban. The violation carries a $500 fine. A barn and a garage were destroyed but the house on the farm was saved.
Firefighter entrapped and burned in Virginia
A firefighter with the Virginia Department of Forestry was badly burned on Saturday when he was overrun by a fire while operating a dozer. Steve Morris has third-degree burns and is being treated at the University of Virginia Medical Center. Two other firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation injuries.
New Mexico and Arizona wildland fires
The 4,130 acre Trigo fire, on the Cibola National Forest southeast of Albuquerque, has burned nine homes, nine outbuildings and two recreational vehicles. Evacuations have occurred around the towns of Manzano and Torreon. Containment is reported to be 27%.
The Alamo fire, 13 miles west of Nogales, Arizona, has burned 5,072 acres in the United States and Mexico; 300 acres are on the Mexico side of the border. According to a report on InciWeb:
Mexican bomberos (firefighters) from the national commission of forestry, as well as the chief of civil protection for the City of Nogales, Sonora, are working closely with an Arizona incident management team and interpreters. Officials from both countries have established a unified operations effort, which entails a joint planning process.
California teenagers plead guilty to starting wildland fire
Two teenagers from Julian, CA yesterday plead guilty of starting a campfire that escaped and ignited the 850-acre Angel fire in September. The fire destroyed one house and part of a church retreat. From the San Diego Union:
Francisco Javier Abarca, 19, and Mario J.W. DeLuca, 18, pleaded guilty in El Cajon Superior Court to one misdemeanor count of letting a fire escape, Deputy District Attorney Gordon Paul Davis said.
In addition, DeLuca pleaded guilty to an unrelated residential burglary charge, Davis said.
Judge Peter C. Deddeh sentenced DeLuca to three years’ probation on the fire charge, and he faces up to six years in prison on the burglary charge at a hearing May 19, Davis said.
Judge DeAnn M. Salcido placed Abarca on three years’ probation and fined him $500, Davis said.
The two also may face a $3 million bill at the May 19 hearing from Cal Fire for the costs of battling the blaze, Cal Fire Battalion Chief Jim Garrett said.
North Carolina wildland fire
An 800-acre fire in the Pisgah National Forest north of Marion in western North Carolina is 50% contained. A backfire or burnout planned could increase the size to 2,000 acres. Resources from Idaho, Arkansas, and Oklahoma are assisting on the fire.
The Firegeezer blog, which always has excellent information about the broad topic of firefighting, had a recent post about a cancer cluster in Queensland, Australia. In part:
” […] Firefighters assigned to the station have a 62% higher rate of brain cancer than the rest of the state.”
Coincidentally, two days ago there was a news story containing preliminary research findings that linked brain cancer with polluted air, and specifically diesel exhaust. Firefighters have a hard time avoiding both.
Here is an excerpt from the story about the research:
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Dr. Julia Ljubimova found something disturbing when she probed the brains of rats exposed to air pollution: The dirty air appeared to trigger changes indicating the earliest stage of brain tumors.
Ljubimova, an oncologist and researcher at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, stressed that she is not ready to say air pollution is a cause of brain cancer.
“I don’t want to scare anyone, because this is preliminary data,” she said. “But we found something very important.”
Her work suggests that fine particles like those found in diesel soot can switch on 
the tumor genes that many people inherit, jump-starting the disease process that results in brain tumors.
Hundreds of studies have linked air pollution to early deaths, heart attacks, reduced lung function, lung cancer and various other health problems. Ljubimova is among a handful of scientists who are focused on finding out what air pollution does to people’s brains.
Photos by Bill Gabbert
Information about the final services for the two firefighters who died at the fire near Ordway, Colorado on April 15 is now available.
A joint memorial service for John Schwartz, 38, and Terry DeVore, 30, will be held at Crowley County High School on Saturday, at 602 Main Street in Ordway at 10:00 a.m. (See the map below.)
DeVore and Schwartz were volunteer members of the Olney Springs Volunteer Fire Department.
Anyone planning to attend the joint service should arrive at least one hour before it starts. The road damage on Highway 96 has been temporarily repaired, but an alternate route is strongly recommended.
The officers died when their engine crashed on a collapsed bridge on Highway 96 while responding to the fire near Ordway. Two other vehicles also crashed at the same location but their occupants were able to walk away.
As far as we know, information about the services for Gert Marais of Fort Benton, Montana, the pilot of the single engine air tanker who died when his air tanker crashed on the TA25 fire in Colorado on April 15, have not been released. We will post the information here when it becomes available.
The map below shows the location of the joint memorial service for the firefighters from the Olney Springs Volunteer Fire Department:
