When a news van from NBC4 in Los Angeles caught fire yesterday while the crew was covering a wildfire in Placerita Canyon, it seemed likely that the two events were related, but “it appears” they were not, according to the TV station.
In this very interesting video posted on June 22, 2017 several firefighters in the southwest part of Utah (where the Brian Head Fire is burning) talk about the current weather and vegetation conditions and how they deal with the extreme heat as they battle wildfires in the Southwest United States. It was produced by Community Education Channel, which “provides students of Dixie State University hands on learning experiences while producing quality Television and LIVE stream community content”.
The spread of the Brian Head Fire east of Cedar City, Utah slowed on Sunday adding only 636 acres which was much less than in recent days. It has now burned a total of 43,436 acres.
The fire was still advancing Sunday on the north and south sides. The east flank has moved into lighter fuels (vegetation) which offers less resistance to control than heavier fuels found on the north and south sides. The west flank in the Brian Head area has been fairly stable for a couple of days except for an area northeast of town inside the Dixie National Forest.
The weather will change on Monday, with Red Flag Warnings in effect for southwest winds gusting up to 39 mph in the afternoon while the relative humidity bottoms out at 12 percent. This could challenge firefighters on the north side and test the contingency lines constructed in that area on Sunday.
Evacuations are still in place for many areas. Highway 143 is closed from the cemetery in Parowan to milepost 50 outside of Panguitch. Mammoth Creek Road is closed at the junction with Highway 143.
The National Weather Service has issued Red Flag Warnings for areas in California, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, and Montana. A Fire Weather Watch is in effect for some areas in Colorado.
The area where the Brian Head Fire is burning east of Cedar City, Utah could see southwest winds gusting up to 39 mph Monday afternoon while the relative humidity bottoms out at 12 percent. This could challenge firefighters and test the contingency lines constructed northeast of the fire on Sunday.
The map was current as of 9:50 a.m. MDT on Monday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts.
Rowdy Muir’s Area Command Team (ACT) has been mobilized to the Coronado National Forest. This is somewhat surprising because ACT’s have, in my opinion, been significantly underutilized for the last several years.
The June 26 National Situation Report listed two large fires on the Coronado.
The Saddle Fire, not listed above, has burned almost 5,000 acres 19 miles northeast of Douglas since it started June 24.
In the 24 hour period that ended Sunday morning approximately 392 lightning strikes were detected in the Forest.
Map showing the Coronado National Forest in southeast Arizona and the other Forests in the Southwest Geographic Area.Even last year when there were many large fires burning in Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina, no ACT’s were mobilized. You might wonder if any of the fires would have turned out differently if there had been a group of highly skilled personnel looking at the big picture, helping to obtain resources, analyzing the weather forecast, and utilizing short and long range fire behavior predictions.
An ACT may be used to oversee the management of large incidents or those to which multiple Incident Management Teams have been assigned. They can take some of the workload off the local administrative unit when they have multiple incidents going at the same time. Your typical Forest or Park is not usually staffed to supervise two or more Incident Management Teams fighting fire in their area. An ACT can provide decision support to Multi-Agency Coordination Groups for allocating scarce resources and help mitigate the span of control for the local Agency Administrator. They also ensure that incidents are properly managed, coordinate team transitions, and evaluate Incident Management Teams.
National ACTs are managed by the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group (NMAC) and are comprised of the following:
Area Commander (ACDR);
Assistant Area Commander, Planning (AAPC);
Assistant Area Commander, Logistics (AALC);
Area Command Aviation Coordinator (ACAC); and
Two trainees.
They usually have an additional 2 to 15 specialists, including Fire Information, Situation Unit Leader, Resource Unit Leader, and sometimes others such as Safety, and Long Term Planning, or assistants in Planning, Logistics, or Aviation.
In 2015 the number of ACT’s was cut from four to three.
The brain uses a quarter of the body’s entire energy supply, yet only accounts for about two percent of the body’s mass. So how does this unique organ receive and, perhaps more importantly, rid itself of waste? New research suggests it has to do with sleep.
In the TedMed video above, neuroscientist Jeff Iliff explains the connection between sleep and brain function.
A study of almost 7,000 firefighters from municipal fire departments found that 37 percent screened positive for common sleep disorders, including obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, restless leg syndrome, and shift work disorder.
The researchers found that compared with sound sleepers, those with a sleep disorder were about twice as likely to have a motor vehicle crash, to nod off while driving, and to have cardiovascular disease or diabetes. They were more than three times as likely to suffer from depression and anxiety.
Wildland firefighters usually work 8-hour shifts — except when they don’t. While on fires their shift schedules and sleep routines are often disrupted. The 8-hour shift can be extended to 12 to 16 hours, and their usual sleeping and waking times may be changed and sometimes shortened; not unlike the jet lag of traveling to a different time zone. The first shift on a fire may be longer than 16 hours and a crew used to working during the day can be placed on a night shift.
A firefighter sleep study conducted by the Missoula Technology Development Center between 2006 and 2008 found that sleep deprivation contributed to fatigue, stress, and impaired performance of Incident Management Team members.
I talked with pilots and other personnel that traveled with an air tanker to a new assignment. Depending on their original location, they flew across two to four time zones and after arrival, they started work about two hours earlier than usual. So the net change was four to six hours worth of jet lag when taking the new work schedule into account. After a couple of days at the new site two crewmembers told me that they were really tired, even though they were not physically working much harder than normal. Their supervisor eventually recognized this and made sure they got a day off.
That kind of disruption in a work/sleep/wake schedule is common among wildland firefighters, especially those that travel long distances to an assignment. It is possible that wildland fire managers do not recognize this and the negative effect it can have, or if they do, may feel there is little they can do to mitigate the problem.
Crew supervisors and incident management teams should at least strive to give firefighters an opportunity to get an adequate amount of quality sleep.
