Josh Brolin before the interview, October 10, 2017. He was wearing an Eric Marsh Foundation shirt.
It might be easy to think of an actor as a person who memorizes lines and then stands in front of a camera to repeat them. But when you learn more or talk with them you might find that they can be more complex.
When I met Josh Brolin before the premier of “Only the Brave” to interview him about playing the role of Eric Marsh, one of the 19 firefighters that were killed on the Yarnell Hill Fire, I came away thinking that he was self aware, empathetic, intelligent, and thoughtful. I began following him on Instagram which only confirmed that first impression especially Saturday when he posted his feelings about the just-released movie “Joker”. What he wrote was, yes, intelligent and thoughtful.
I have not seen the movie, but descriptions usually include the words “dark” and “disturbing”. Fearing that something unpleasant could happen, some theaters banned any customers wearing masks.
Here is the brief description of the film written by the movie’s producers:
Forever alone in a crowd, failed comedian Arthur Fleck seeks connection as he walks the streets of Gotham City. Arthur wears two masks — the one he paints for his day job as a clown, and the guise he projects in a futile attempt to feel like he’s part of the world around him. Isolated, bullied and disregarded by society, Fleck begins a slow descent into madness as he transforms into the criminal mastermind known as the Joker.
Some people have a knack for looking at an issue and exposing the core. Josh wrote about the “awful little clicky kids” in middle school that “breed an evil in someone that rages much later”.
Some of those awful kids don’t change when they become adults and can still foment hate and ostracize those who are not the same as them. Not only do those kids need counseling, but they may also need it as adults, as do their victims.
I have, thankfully, only met a few people in my life that I would describe as evil — someone who intentionally and maliciously strives to inflict harm on others, emotionally or physically, for reasons known only to them. There may not be a conventional reason or motivation for their behavior. It could be a baked-in reflex in response to a long ago, even forgotten, trauma, or bad wiring in the brain.
Regardless of the origin, we need to do more to make mental health treatment more accessible and affordable.
Screenshot from Part 7 of the Santa Fe NF series of videos on fuel management.
Here are parts seven and eight in the series of 12 videos produced by the Santa Fe National Forest on the topic of fuel management and forest restoration.
Fuel Management is defined as:
An act or practice of controlling flammability and reducing resistance to control of wildland fuels [vegetation] through mechanical, chemical, biological, or manual means, or by fire, in support of land management objectives.
Forest Restoration:
Actions to re-instate ecological processes, which accelerate recovery of forest structure, ecological functioning and biodiversity levels towards those typical of climax forest, i.e. the end-stage of natural forest succession.
It could be used to pretreat areas at high risk of fire ignitions to make them fire resistant
Overhead time-course images of 3 m × 3 m unmowed (standing) grass plots that were untreated or treated with different coverage levels, dried, weathered, and allowed to dry again over time in the environment prior to burning. The normalized area burned over time demonstrates that CL2 (coverage level 2, or 2 gallons per 100 square feet) is sufficient to preclude spreading of the fire. Air tankers use the same unit of measurement, coverage level, to specify how much retardant will be dropped. Figure from the research.
A group of scientists and engineers have developed a new fire retarding chemical, actually a gel in this case, that they say can be effective for months after being applied to vegetation.
The millions of gallons of red fire retardant that air tankers drop every year is usually made from ammonium phosphate or its derivatives. It has been called “long term fire retardant” because even after it dries, the chemical can interfere with the combustion process and may still retard the spread of a vegetation fire to a limited degree. However research and experience in the field has shown some formulations can be toxic to fish.
Gels have been used by firefighters for several decades on structure fires occasionally on vegetation fires. The products can be more effective than plain water due to their ability to stick to a vertical surface or vegetation. Water can remain in the gel for an hour or more depending on the ambient temperature, wind, and humidity. GelTech Solutions recently received a contract from the Oregon Department of Forestry to supply a blue-colored version of FireIce HVB-Fx gel to be used in air tankers. The company says the product passed the U.S. Forest Service’s newly revised, more challenging requirements for wildland fire chemicals. But the safety data sheet for the product says, “Titanium dioxide [a component of the product] has been classified by IARC as a possible carcinogen to humans (Group 2B) through inhalation of particulate dust.” The safety data sheet goes on to say, “This classification is based on inadequate evidence for carcinogenicity in humans, but sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in animals (rats). It should be noted that recent studies have demonstrated that the rat may be particularly sensitive to high levels of toxicity dusts such as titanium dioxide. Epidemiology studies do not suggest an increased risk of cancer in humans from occupational exposure to titanium dioxide. The conclusions of several epidemiology studies on more than 20,000 TiO2 industry workers in Europe and the USA did not suggest a carcinogenic effect of TiO2 dust on the human lung.”
This is not the first time blue gel has been used in air tankers. The photo below was taken in the Black Hills of South Dakota August 15, 2006.
A single engine air tanker drops blue gel on a fire near Shep’s Canyon in the Black Hills of South Dakota August 15, 2006. Photo by Bill Gabbert.
The scientists who developed the new fire retarding gel that they claim has “persistent retention”qualities said their formulation is environmentally benign, nontoxic, and will “biodegrade at desired timescales.” After application, it will retain its ability to prevent fires throughout the peak fire season, even after weathering that would sweep away conventional fire retardants. The cellulose-based gel-like fluid stays on target vegetation through wind, rain and other environmental exposure, they said.
“This has the potential to make wildland firefighting much more proactive, rather than reactive,” said Eric Appel, the study’s senior author and an assistant professor of materials science and engineering.
Treating wildfire prone areas prophylactically could provide a highly targeted approach to wildfire prevention, but, until now, long-lasting materials have not been available.
The researchers have worked with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) to test the retardant materials on grass and chamise — two vegetation types where fire frequently starts. They found the treatment provides complete fire protection even after half an inch of rainfall. Under the same conditions, a typical commercial retardant formulation provides little or no fire protection. The researchers are now working with the California Department of Transportation and CAL FIRE to test the material on high-risk roadside areas that are the origin of dozens of wildfires every year.
“We don’t have a tool that’s comparable to this,” said Alan Peters, a CAL FIRE division chief in San Luis Obispo who monitored some of the test burns. “It has the potential to definitely reduce the number of fires.”
The Stanford-developed treatment contains only nontoxic materials widely used in food, drug, cosmetic and agricultural products, according to the developers. The unique properties of these gel-like retardant fluids allow them to be applied using standard agricultural spraying equipment or from aircraft. It washes away slowly, providing the ability to protect treated areas against fire for months as the materials slowly degrade.
Christian Johnson, 55, was severely burned on the Spring Coulee Fire in Washington
Christian Johnson, Assistant Chief of the Okanogan Volunteer Fire Department.
A firefighter who received second and third degree burns over 60 percent of his body September 1, 2019 while battling the Spring Coulee Fire in Okanogan County, Washington passed away yesterday, October 2, 2019. Christian Dean Johnson, 55, of Okanogan was surrounded by his wife Pam, family, and friends at Harborview Medical Center.
From the GoFundMe page that was created September 3:
Christian has served his country as a sergeant in the Us Army, and was deployed with the Washington State National Guard from November 2003-May 2005 in Baghdad. He retired after 22 years of service and has volunteered for the Okanogan Fire Department for 20 years.
Christian is a selfless man, who is always willing to help those in need, and never ask for anything in return. We are now asking for your help to make this long journey a little easier for him and his family. Any amount of donations are greatly appreciated and will go towards helping his wife (Pam Johnson) with travel, housing, food, etc.
Our sincere condolences go out to Mr. Christian’s family and friends. May he rest in peace.
Smoke from the Decker Fire west of Colorado Springs will affect areas southwest of Denver
Above: Smoke forecast for 8 p.m MDT October 3, 2019, near surface and vertically integrated.
These maps were generated by NOAA at 6 a.m. MDT October 3, predicting the distribution of smoke. The forecast below indicates that near surface smoke from the Decker Fire south of Salida will be affecting the Denver area as well as locations southwest and north of Denver on Thursday.
Forecast for smoke created by the Decker Fire that will be near the Earth’s surface in the Colorado area at 8 p.m MDT October 3, 2019.
