The Administration’s budget outlook for the Forest Service, next fiscal year.
On Wednesday Tom Tidwell, Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, testified before the House Committee on Appropriations’ subcommittee, the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee. The primary objective of the hearing was to discuss the budget for next year, Fiscal 2017. The text of the Chief’s prepared testimony is here, wherein he outlines some broad points about budget trends that the administration expects. Of course if or when Congress approves a budget the final version could be very different.
During the hearing there were naturally many questions from the representatives about the budget, but there were also discussions about grazing fees, transferring federal land to the states or other entities (spoiler alert, Chief Tidwell is opposed), initial attack of fires, the safety of using C-130 air tankers, and two representatives encouraged the Forest Service to take advantage of drone technology to provide real time intelligence about ongoing wildfires.
Benjamin Cunha had worked for CAL FIRE and volunteered for other fire departments.
On Tuesday a former firefighter for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Diamond Springs Fire Protection District was sentenced for wildland fire arson a second time, this time for five years. Benjamin Cunha, 33, of Placerville, California had previously admitted starting at least 30 fires from August 2005 through September 2007 in the El Dorado/Amador area.
Benjamin Cunha, after his arrest in 2007.
Two of those fires, the Mine and Palmer Fires, burned onto federal land. Mr. Cunha confessed he used a distinctive time-delay incendiary device, which he had also used to start many of his other fires.
Mr. Cunha, who came from a family of firefighters, was a seasonal firefighter for CAL FIRE from 2001 to 2003. According to the agency when the 2005-2007 fires were set he was a volunteer for the Diamond Springs Fire Protection District in El Dorado County.
He indicated that his motivation for setting the fires was to overcome boredom, to earn overtime pay for fighting the fires, and to impress his peers. Even though he was a volunteer, he could have been eligible for payment during busy periods, said Robert Combs, chief of the Diamond Springs district.
In 2008 he was sentenced to 365 days in jail, which he was allowed to serve in a program that allowed him to leave the jail each day for work and return for sleep. Mr. Cunha was also sentenced to 72 months of probation. The terms of probation included GPS monitoring during the fire season. He completed his term of probation in the summer of 2012.
The next summer, July and August of 2013, authorities investigated two new suspected arson fires in the El Dorado/Amador area. Law enforcement determined that at least one of the fires was started using a time-delay incendiary device similar to the devices Mr. Cunha had admitted to using in the 2007-2008 series of El Dorado/Amador county fires and he emerged as a primary suspect in the 2013 fires. Rather than continue the investigation of the 2013 fires, and to curb the risk of any additional fires in the meantime, he was charged for the 2007 Mine Fire that the government alleged burned onto federal land in El Dorado County. Cunha had admitted to setting the fire in a 2008 videotaped interview with local law enforcement. As part of the bargain struck in the written plea agreement in this latest case, the U.S. Attorney’s office agreed not to prosecute the two 2013 fires.
“Benjamin Cunha set over 30 fires in El Dorado and Amador Counties. ATF worked with our local partners and utilized several resources to perfect an investigation for federal prosecution,” said Special Agent in Charge Jill A. Snyder.
In addition to the five year prison sentence, on Tuesday U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez also ordered Mr. Cunha to pay $246,862 in restitution to CAL FIRE for the cost of fighting the 2007 Mine Fire. Prosecutors had requested the judge sentence him to 7.5 years behind bars because he acknowledged that he is a serial arsonist and “there is a high need to protect the community from Cunha.”
This case was the product of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with assistance from CAL FIRE.
Above: an Aircrane helicopter battles spot fires on a bushfire near Mt. Bolton in Victoria, Australia. Photo provided by the Country Fire Authority.
On Tuesday we had some photos and information about smoke plume research going on at the fire near Mt. Bolton in Victoria, Australia. The Country Fire Authority recently distributed this photo. There’s a lot going in that picture. It looks like that Aircrane has its hands full. I wonder if it was able to pick up that spot fire across the road, but the structures on the right side were probably a higher priority.
Later the CFA said the fire had been contained. A satellite photo of the fire’s location showed that it was in a hilly forested area surrounded by treeless pastures and agriculture fields.
The first wildfire in Alaska this year occurred Monday south of Delta Junction.
Tim Holoday of the Delta Wind took this photo of the fire south of Delta Junction on February 22, 2016.
In a part of Alaska that would normally be covered with snow on February 22 a wildfire burned about two acres yesterday.
Live-fire training by military personnel in the Donnelly Training Area approximately 10 miles south of Delta Junction (map) started the blaze. Firefighters from the Fort Greely Fire Department responded to the fire that was burning in open tundra and driven by 25 mph winds, according to Branden Petersen, assistant fire manager for the Alaska Fire Service’s Military Zone.
The absence of snow in the area allowed the fire to spread, Mr. Petersen said.
The Alaska Fire Service, the fire suppression agency responsible for protecting military lands in Alaska, mobilized four personnel to respond to the fire but they were released after the Fort Greely firefighters responded.
In June, 2015 the Card Street Fire burned three residences and 8,876 acres in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge 54 air miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released a report evaluating the effects of preexisting fuel treatments on the spread and control of the fire. Below is an excerpt from the summary:
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“The fire intersected two separate fuels treatment projects. Portions of the northeastern flank of the fire were stopped and ultimately controlled in part due to the change in vegetation types created by these treatments. The first unit is a 672 acre parcel completed in 1984, and the second is a 124 acre unit completed in 2009. Both areas were treated mechanically.
The 1984 unit was treated by tree crushing machines. The 2009 unit was completed by a combination of hydraulic axe and feller buncher machines. The feller buncher created several large slash piles throughout the unit, which were later burned. The area was also opened to firewood cutters after completion. The firewood cutters further removed some of the slash left over from the treatment. Effectively, both units were “clear cut”, leaving only a small amount of seed trees scattered throughout the units.
Key points:
Both treatments had some effect on lessening fire behavior and spotting potential at the head of the fire which ultimately aided in the control of the Card Street Fire.
The 2009 unit provided firefighters with an anchor point and safety zone for their operation on the northeastern flank of the fire due to the lower fire intensities, lower rates of spread, and the lack of fuels and snags.
The burning conditions exceeded the upper prescription limits set by the Skilak Loop Burn Plan, and therefore the majority of seed trees left on the 2009 treatment were killed.
The high intensity fire sustained within the 2009 unit is expected to stimulate new growth from the deciduous trees and shrubs found inside the unit, as well as provide an acceptable seed bed for conifer regeneration.”
The researchers below are studying extreme fire weather using portable radar. This is part of the Bushfire Convective Plume Experiment (BCPE) associated with the University of Queensland in Australia.
Victoria’s Country Fire Authority distributed the image below earlier on Tuesday (U.S. time) — the photo is from the Bolton Fire, the same one being studied by the researchers above:
It’s been a big day for our emergency management family! 400+ incidents, including over 50 grass and scrub fires, 300+…
The photos below are also from the Bolton Fire. The CFA is saying the fire is now contained. A satellite photo of the fire’s location showed a hilly forested area surrounded by treeless pastures and other agriculture.
Photos from the front line…These photos were taken at the Mount Bolton fire earlier today by Waubra Fire Brigade…
