Uncategorized Archives - Page 43 of 1618

Survey of spouses of wildland firefighters identifies issues facing families

Bill GabbertMarch 14, 2022March 15, 2022UncategorizedGrassroots Wildland Firefighters, pay9 Comments

60% report that their partners have been impacted by an incident at work that resulted in mental health challenges

The Grassroots Wildland Firefighters (GWF) group has released information about their latest effort to focus on the issues of mental health and comprehensive well-being of firefighters.

In the summer of 2021, GWF made an anonymous survey available to partners and spouses of federal wildland firefighters. In completing the survey, 1,841 respondents shared their experiences as the loved one of a federal wildland firefighter, shedding light on what it’s like to raise a family, manage a household, and support firefighters battling mental health issues.

The results were astounding, according to the GWF. They revealed that:

73.1% of respondents regularly worry about the possibility of a tragic accident on the fireline. And 65.4% lack confidence in the agency to take care of them if something were to happen to their partner while on duty.
60.2% report that their partners have been impacted by an incident at work that resulted in mental health challenges. Of those respondents whose partners reached out for help, only 2.8% strongly agreed that the agency’s Employee Assistance Program was helpful.
Extended absence physically and/or emotionally was the number one stressor reported as “extremely impactful” to respondents.
For suggested areas of future support, wildland firefighters’ partners indicated that the top three areas they’d rate as “extremely helpful” were: higher pay to reduce financial stress (88.0%), year-round access to health care for seasonal firefighters (80.2%), and access to mental health professionals who understand fire culture (58.3%).

When given the opportunity to comment freely, survey respondents said things like:

“It is really hard being a partner to a wildland firefighter; his mental health has really deteriorated in the last few years. More stress with his newer roles and very little pay to compensate for it. There really aren’t enough resources for him to find help with the mental health issues he’s been having.”
“The mental health issues seem to have compounded over time with the nature of the job but also the loss of friends and co-workers to fire related deaths and suicide.”

The GWF said as another fire season begins it is urgent that Congress move forward in the House of Representatives to pass the Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter Classification and Pay Parity Act. (H.R. 5631). The legislation bears the name of a firefighter who died while working on the Eicks Fire in New Mexico in 2021. It would address many of the heartbreaking issues wildland firefighters and their partners face, including raising firefighter pay, creating a wildland firefighter job series, providing health care and mental health services to temporary and permanent wildland firefighters, housing stipends, and other improvements. (More details are in the Wildfire Today article from October 19, 2021.)

“Tim would be humbled and honored to have this legislation be a part of his legacy,” said Smokejumper Tim Hart’s wife Michelle Hart. “These issues were deeply important and personal to him. Wildland firefighters deserve to be recognized and compensated for the grueling conditions in which they work and for putting their lives on the line every day. This legislation is a major step forward in achieving that goal.”

"We've given too much for too little for too long," said one survey respondent.

The video below has more information about the partners and spouses survey.

Members being sought for commission to evaluate wildland fire mitigation, management, and aircraft

Bill GabbertMarch 13, 2022March 13, 2022UncategorizedCommission4 Comments

Applications due March 25

Fire in Yukon Charley Rivers National Preserve, Alaska. NPS photo.

The Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and Homeland Security through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are now accepting membership applications for the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission.

The establishment of the commission was required by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, H.R.3684, signed by the President on November 15, 2021, which became Public Law Number 117-58.

The commission is tasked with recommending federal policies and strategies to more effectively prevent, mitigate, suppress, and manage wildland fires, including the rehabilitation of land affected by wildland fires. It will include representation from federal, state, Tribal, county and municipal governments as well as non-governmental stakeholders from private industry.

The new law is very specific and detailed in laying out the deliverables of the new Commission, perhaps worrying that if it was too vague not much would get done. The 27 members of the commission will have their work cut out for them — 9 from federal departments and 18 non-federal stakeholders, plus an Executive Director they can hire. They may also bring on staff if needed. The members will serve “without compensation” but can be reimbursed for travel expenses and per diem.

The appointments of the members of the commission were to be made no more than 60 days after the date the legislation became law, which works out to January 14, 2022. Their initial meeting was to be held within 30 days after all members have been appointed — no later than February 13, 2022. They are to meet at least once every 30 days, in person or remotely.

The first meeting is now being rescheduled for “late spring 2022,” after a failure to meet the first two of Public Law Number 117-58’s requirements.

Members will commit to serve for the life of the commission, which is estimated to be a year and a half. They should expect to devote between 10 and 15 hours a month to commission duties, which include attending meetings, strategic planning, and development of the reports. The Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and Homeland Security through FEMA will provide support and resources to assist members with coordination and facilitation of their duties for the duration of the commission.

The Department of the Interior Office of Wildland Fire distributed an announcement March 10 which said applications for membership must be submitted via the online form by 11:59 pm Pacific Time on March 25, 2022. To ensure the process is equitable for all applicants, those who have previously expressed interest in membership must still apply via the online form.

For more information, visit the commission website or email wildlandfirecommission@usda.gov.

In addition to establishing the commission, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides historic funding to address wildfire hazards, including $8.25 billion for a suite of programs aimed at reducing wildfire risks, detecting wildfires, instituting firefighter workforce reforms, and building more resilient infrastructure.

Deliverables

As of mid-March, the commission which does not yet exist, is already about two months behind the schedule required by the new law.

Their assignments fall into two broad categories; here are some of the highlights:

1. Develop recommendations to mitigate and manage wildland fires

By February 13, 2023 develop a report describing recommendations to prevent, mitigate, suppress, and manage wildland fires; consider protection of human life, short- and long-term forest management; wildland-urban interface; utility corridors; rehab after fires; streamlining environmental reviews; and, recommendations for modernizing and expanding the use of technology, including satellite technology, remote sensing, unmanned aircraft systems, and any other type of emerging technology to prevent, mitigate, suppress, and manage wildland fires.

2. Report on aerial wildland firefighting equipment, strategy, and inventory

By March 30, 2022 prepare an inventory of surplus cargo and passenger aircraft that may be used for wildland firefighting purposes.

By June 28, 2022 develop an assessment of the number of aircraft needed to fight wildland fires through 2030. The report will include an assessment of the federal government’s authorities to provide or sell surplus aircraft to Federal, State, or local organizations to be used for wildland firefighting, and, identify any additional authorities that are needed. The Commission is directed to consider all private and public sector options for accessing necessary aircraft and aircraft parts, including procurement, contracting, retrofitting, and public-private partnerships.

Estimated TOTAL cost of the Camp Fire was about $422 billion

Bill GabbertMarch 12, 2022UncategorizedCamp Fire, statistics6 Comments

The Camp Fire, November 8, 2018. NASA (Joshua Stevens) – NASA Landsat 8.

We often publish statistics about wildfires, such as acres burned, average size, number of fires, and average size by decade. Here are some examples. Others are at an article updated February 2, 2022.

Bankrate has assembled more data about wildfires in an article titled U.S. Wildfire statistics.

Such as:

A study of the 2018 Camp Fire reveals staggering facts and estimations:

Total 2019 claims from the Camp Fire: more than $12 billion
Total damage and economic losses: more than $400 billion
Total insured losses: estimated between $8.5 to $10.5 billion
Toxic debris removal: nearly $2 billion
Victim aid: $200 million

States most at risk from wildfires — From Bankrate.com

Bankrate also has wildfire data broken down for each state. It’s an interesting way to spend few minutes, perusing the numbers.

More information about the Camp Fire.

Federal government to spend $18 million to rebuild fire station destroyed by Dolan Fire

Bill GabbertMarch 8, 2022March 9, 2022UncategorizedCalifornia, Dolan Fire, injury, OWCP8 Comments

The federal government has balked at paying for the treatment needed by a firefighter who was severly injuried during the burn over

Dolan Fire deployment site. Engine & pickup. Image from the report

Congress has set aside $18 million to rebuild a US Forest Service fire station that was destroyed in the Dolan Fire in the Los Padres National Forest in Southern California in 2020.

The fire had been burning for weeks. The night before it reached Nacimiento station on Nacimiento-Fergusson Road 7 miles from the California coast highway on September 8, 2020, the fire ran for about three miles toward the station, burning 30,000 acres with spot fires three-quarters of a mile ahead. The fire personnel at the station during the burnover included two USFS engine crews, two dozers with operators, and the only Division supervisor working the night shift due to a shortage of personnel.

Below is an aerial photo of the Nacimiento guard station taken almost exactly two years before the burnover.

Fifteen firefighters deployed into only 13 fire shelters. Four were injured and three were hospitalized. One had very serious burns.

The Forest Service will use the funding to replace the fire station, barracks, engine garage, and pumphouse, as well as a water well, solar connections, and access roads.

These funds were provided as Supplemental Disaster Funding through the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act of 2021. The disaster assistance funding is a share of the $1.36 billion of supplemental appropriations provided to the Forest Service.

The federal government balked at paying for treatment for injuries to one of the firefighters

According to The Tribune of San Luis Obispo, California, one of the firefighters severly injured in the burn over is still dealing with not only his on-the-job injuries, but attempting to get the government to pay for his treatment:

Casey Allen said Monday that healing from his second- and third-degree burns is continuing, with only a few small wounds left on his ankles, and his Achilles tendon on his right foot is almost completely healed.

However, the news about Allen’s injured left hand wasn’t as good: Doctors may have to amputate his ring and pinkie fingers.

He credited U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal and his district representative Wendy Motta with finally breaking a stubborn repayment logjam so Allen and his wife Tina, who he called “my rock,” could be repaid for money they had to pay out of pocket toward his recovery.

Mr. Allen’s fiancée at the time set up a GoFundMe account for him. She wrote, “He will need hospital services for the next year at a minimum.”

Mr. Allen is suffering one of the ultimate indignities — being severely injured in a life-changing on-the-job incident, and your employer, the U.S. government, is balking at stepping up and providing the payment for your desperately needed medical treatment. The Office of Workers Compensation needs to be funded adequately by Congress so it can rebuild its staff and respond PROMPTLY to situations like this.

Wildfire potential will be above normal for southern and central plains in March

Bill GabbertMarch 1, 2022March 1, 2022Uncategorizedpotential, weather2 Comments

Expected to move west over the following 3 months

The forecast for wildland fire potential issued March 1 by the National Interagency Fire Center predicts that in March the potential for wildfires will be higher than average in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and the central and southern plains.

The data from NIFC shown here represents the cumulative forecasts of the ten Geographic Area Predictive Services Units and the National Predictive Services Unit.

Below:

Excerpts from the NIFC narrative report for the next four months;
Additional NIFC monthly graphical outlooks;
NOAA’s three-month temperature and precipitation forecasts;
Drought Monitor;
Keetch-Byram Drought Index;
Soil moisture.

“Most of the West, Plains, and Texas remain in drought, with abnormally dry conditions now across Florida and continuing in portions of the Carolinas.

“Climate outlooks through spring indicate areas receiving below normal precipitation will likely expand generally south to north across the West, with below normal temperatures likely continuing across the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies. Much of the Great Lakes and Northeast are forecast to have above normal precipitation through spring, with near to above normal temperatures across the central and eastern US. Additionally, there are indications for an active severe weather pattern this spring from eastern portions of the Plains into the Southeast and Ohio Valley. Critically dry and windy periods will accompany the severe weather for much of the Plains, especially the southern and central High Plains.

“Above normal significant fire potential is forecast to expand across Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas during March and April, with lingering above normal potential forecast to remain in Florida during May. Much of the central and southern Plains are expected to have above normal significant fire potential into April, while persisting on the High Plains and eastern slopes of the Front Range into June. Above normal potential is forecast in portions of south Texas and the Hill Country during March, with the westward retreat of above normal potential in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas following the expected green-up procession.

Most of the Southwest is forecast to have above normal significant fire potential in May and June, with potential increasing across southern and western Colorado and southern portions of the Great Basin. Central Oregon is likely to have above normal significant fire potential in May and June, with above normal potential forecast across much of coastal California by June. Alaska is forecast to have below normal potential in its panhandle through April, with below normal potential expected across large portions of the Interior in April and May.

Temperature & precipitation outlook, 1 and 3 month. Feb. 28, 2022.

Continue reading “Wildfire potential will be above normal for southern and central plains in March”

Report: some firefighters in Colorado do not have adequate personal protective equipment

Bill GabbertFebruary 26, 2022UncategorizedColorado, gear, safety8 Comments

Recent legislation could help provide the gear

Cherry Canyon Fire Colorado — Cherry Canyon Fire, 58 miles east-northeast of Trinidad, Colorado, May 24, 2020. Photo: Colorado Fire Prevention & Control.

A television station in Denver, 9News, reports that some firefighters in the state, especially volunteers, do not have the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce their risks when fighting fires.

A bill recently passed by the legislature that appropriates $5 million to help provide the gear is waiting on the Governor’s desk for a signature.

A 9News video on YouTube has more details.

The additional funding will most likely address PPE for all types of fires, including self contained breathing apparatus for hazardous material incidents and structure and vehicle fires. As Wildfire Today reported December 22, 2021, a recent survey conducted by the NFPA asked 26,000 fire departments of all sizes about their readiness and capability for suppressing wildland fires. Here are three of the questions.

NFPA Needs Assessment wildland fire — Excerpt from the Wildland Fire section of the NFPA Needs Assessment.

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