Families of firefighting pilots killed in the line of duty in California have filed a lawsuit charging that officials in the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) intentionally misinformed them of their entitlement to death benefits.
According to the Sacramento Bee,
They “intentionally misrepresented to the survivors that the only available death benefit they might apply for was those available from” the federal government, the claim states. “Cal Fire executives made these representations knowing them to be false, and at the time they were well aware of the existence of benefits required to be paid under (state law).”
The lawsuit lists 14 pilots that were killed while fighting fires in California. Two of those were employees of DynCorp which has a contract to provide pilots and maintenance for the state’s S-2 air tankers. The other 12 worked for air tanker companies under contract to the U.S. Forest Service…
Yarnell residents burned out of their homes in 2013 have no right to sue Arizona for their losses, lawyers for the state are arguing.
In filings with the state Court of Appeals, Assistant Attorney General Brock Heathcotte acknowledged the state did attempt to fight the blaze that destroyed more than 120 homes and resulted in the deaths of 19 firefighters. But he said that was only done to protect the state’s own land, “not to provide fire-suppression services to the private-property owners to protect their property.”
“The Yarnell Hill Fire was a natural consequence of natural conditions,” he wrote. “It was naturally ignited (by a lightning strike) on wildland, was fueled by natural vegetation, and spread in response to hot, dry, and windy conditions.”
And what all that means, Heathcotte argued, is there is no right to sue the state even though the fire on state land spread to private property and was not contained there.
The filings come in response to a bid by homeowners to have their day in court. Attorney Craig Knapp, representing the plaintiffs, contends the state is liable because it undertook the chore of defending the community but was negligent in that performance…
Teen who started wildfire to meet with homeowners affected
The Corvallis teen who admitted to starting the Chip Ross Park Fire in September 2014 is set to meet face-to-face with the homeowners and tenants affected by the fire.
Salem-based Neighbor to Neighbor Inc., a mediation company, has been contracted by the Benton County Juvenile Court to facilitate the process between Dawson DeWolfe and the victims of the September 2014 brush fire that destroyed 86 acres south of Chip Ross Park.
In January, Dawson DeWolfe, 16, admitted to misdemeanor charges of reckless burning, reckless endangerment and second-degree criminal mischief in a disposition — the juvenile equivalent of sentencing — in front of Benton County Judge Matthew Donohue. As part of the disposition, DeWolfe was required to attend restitution mediation.
Charlie Ikard, Neighbor to Neighbor executive director, said the mediation process could take several months. Neighbor to Neighbor representatives recently sent out letters to homeowners and tenants who experienced financial loss and direct damage to their properties as a result of the fire. Pre-mediation interviews with the homeowners are scheduled between Nov. 16 and Dec. 4…
Volunteers build sheds for wildfire victims
Building a storage shed for a fire victim in Okanogan County, Washington. Screen shot from KXLY.
Some residents whose homes burned in the Tunk Block Fire in Washington are receiving recovery assistance from volunteers. A group from Veteran Community Response, working through Foursquare Church, so far have constructed eight storage sheds for fire victims that they can use while rebuilding their homes.
Tom Harbour at the Little Bear Fire, Lincoln National Forest, New Mexico, June, 2012. USFS photo.
Tom Harbour, the National Director of Fire and Aviation for the U.S. Forest Service has announced that he is going to retire after serving in the position for 11 years. He plans to leave the agency in January after a 46-year career.
Mr. Harbour headed the wildfire organization during challenging times. Fires continued the ongoing trend of becoming larger (most likely due to climate change and increasing fuels), they consumed more of the USFS budget, and the air tanker fleet decreased by 80 percent following accidents and contracting issues until it started to be reconstructed again during the last two years.
Mr. Harbour spent much of his career in the Pacific Southwest, Southwestern, Intermountain and Northern Regions. His early assignments were on the Stanislaus National Forest in California, the Challis National Forest in Idaho, and the Apache National Forest in Arizona. He later worked as District Ranger on the Modoc National Forest and was the Forest Fire Management Officer on the Angeles National Forest in southern California. He served as Deputy Director of Fire and Aviation in the Northern Region, and Regional Director, Fire and Aviation in the Intermountain Region. In 2001, he moved east to Washington D.C. to become the Deputy Director of Fire and Aviation at the agency headquarters. In 2004 he was named National Director.
Dan Olsen, currently the Deputy Director, Fire and Aviation, will serve as Acting Director after Mr. Harbour retires until the position is permanently filled.
Lynn Robert Biddison, one of the legends in wildland fire, passed away October 19, 2015 at the age of 88 as a result of injuries sustained in a vehicle accident in Albuquerque on October 11, 2015. His fire career with the U.S. Forest Service began in 1943 on the Angeles National Forest in southern California, and he retired in 1982 as Regional Fire Director in California.
When I worked in that Region I heard his name referenced many times, always in a positive way, but I did not meet him until after he retired and was working as a representative for the fire retardant company Fire-Trol. I ran into him several times at meetings and he was always friendly and interesting to talk to. He has been mentioned at last five times on Wildfire Today — three times when we asked fire leaders our 12 Questions, once in regard to the first actual use of a fire shelter, and another time when we wrote about the 1970 Laguna Fire.
The family requests that memorial gifts be sent to the National Museum of Forest Service History, P.O. Box 2772, Missoula, MT, 59806. Dedicated gifts can be sent online at www.forestservicemuseum.org by clicking on the “programs” and “ways to help” links. Online condolences can be left for Mr. Biddison at www.FrenchFunerals.com.
Below is a summary of Mr. Biddison’s USFS career, from the 2003 interview:
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“Lynn Biddison started as a firefighter in 1943 on the Angeles National Forest. He volunteered for the Marine Corps and the Navy, but colorblindness kept him out of both services. He was drafted in early 1945. At the induction station he volunteered for the paratroops, but was assigned to the Navy Seabees and served in the Philippines until the end of the war in the Pacific. Once out of the Navy, he went back to work for the Angeles National Forest in 1946 as the TTO (Tank Truck Operator) at Oak Flats. In 1947, he became the Tanker Foreman at the District Ranger Station in what is now downtown Newhall. That job also included spending two days a week as the district dispatcher. During that fire season he witnessed the first time a helicopter was used on a fire, it was the Bryant Fire in Big Tujunga Canyon. In order to keep working in 1948, he had to join the engineering crew building water tanks on the Arroyo Seco Ranger District. He began college that same year at Berkeley studying forestry and spent much of the summer in 1949 at forestry camp on the Plumas National Forest.
In 1950, Biddison was assigned to the newly formed Chilao Hotshots as one of the Crew Foremen. That was the second year of the crew and he was in charge of a 10-man crew, one of three that made up the full 30-man hotshot crew. His crew was made up of Navajo and Hopi Indians from the Sherman Institute at Riverside, California. Then in 1951, the Superintendent left and he was promoted into that position. During his stint running the Chilao Hotshots, Biddison graduated from forestry school in 1951. He took the Forest Service Junior Forester (JF) exam and flunked, but had passed the State Assistant Ranger exam with a score of 95. All through 1952 and part of 1953 he couldn’t get a JF appointment, but was getting offers from the California Department of Forestry. However, being third generation Forest Service, he had his sights set on a professional career with the Forest Service, so he took the JF exam again and with his Veteran Preference he passed. Finally, he got a Junior Forester appointment in 1953. Leaving the hotshots, he became the Assistant Ranger on the Arroyo Seco District and also spent a year as the acting District FCO (Fire Control Officer).
In 1956, Biddison went to the Cajon District on the San Bernardino National Forest as the District Ranger. He kept active in the fire world as a District Ranger and was selected as one of the Region 5 representatives to the first national fire behavior training course (a five week session) held at Missoula, Montana in 1958.
During the Spring of 1960, Biddison moved to the Cleveland National Forest to take the Fire Control Officer position. Again, he remained very active on the national fire scene, attending the first Fire Generalship and Command course held at Marana, Arizona in 1962. Biddison came back to the San Bernardino as the Fire Control Officer in 1964. This job was graded as a GS-13 and along with the Angeles FCO, these were the first GS-13 Forest FCOs in the Forest Service (it wasn’t until the 1970s that Fire Control Officers became Fire Management Officers). During his tenure as a Forest FCO, Biddison was instrumental in establishing the first standing forest overhead teams. By this time in his career, he was being sent as a Fire Boss to large fires all over the country, including a Zone Fire Boss assignment on the infamous Sundance Fire in 1967.
Then in 1968, Biddison went to Region 3 as the Chief of Fire Protection and after 2 years he was promoted to the Assistant Regional Forester for Fire (a position now called the Regional Fire Director). When he arrived in Region 3 they had a fire budget of $2 million and no hotshot crew program. When he left 12 years later, the fire budget was $30 million and there were 13 hotshot crews in the region. Biddison’s last posting for the U.S. Forest Service was back to Region 5 as the Regional Fire Director where he pushed for a back-to-the-basics (1982 letter by Biddison) firefighting ethic. He retired from that position in 1982, nearly 40 years after he started with the Forest Service.”
The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry will hold a hearing at 10 a.m. ET, November 5 to hear expert testimony about the impact of the federal wildfire budget on natural resources. The list of people who will provide advice to the committee primarily includes individuals from organizations involved with animals and water.
Dan Dessecker, Director of Conservation Policy, Ruffed Grouse Society/American Woodcock Society, Rice Lake, Wis.
William R. Dougan, National President, National Federation of Federal Employees, Washington, D.C.
Ken Stewart, Chair, Board of Trustees, American Forest Foundation, Marietta, Ga.
Chris Treese, Manager, External Affairs Department, Colorado River Water Conservation District (Colorado River District), Glenwood Springs, Colo.
Chris Wood, President & CEO, Trout Unlimited, Arlington, Va.
The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for areas north of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara on Thursday night and Friday. Strong northeast winds are expected at 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 through passes, canyons, and ridgetops.
The map was current as of 5 p.m. MDT on Thursday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts and maps. For the most current data visit this NWS site or this NWS site.
