The pilot of a helicopter that crashed while fighting a fire in Alberta, Canada was killed when the Bell 212 went down Monday evening. It occurred on a fire near the community of Evansburg. The body of the pilot, the only person on board, was recovered Monday.
The pilot’s family has been notified.
From CBC news:
Emergency crews were called to the scene around 6:30 p.m. after RCMP received a 911 call reporting the crash. Evansburg RCMP, EMS, firefighters and Alberta Wildfire responded to the site in a remote area west of Highway 22 and north of Highway 16 in Yellowhead County.
The location is not accessible by road and police were brought to the scene by aircraft.
Logan said the terrain of the remote crash site was “difficult” but witness accounts helped first responders narrow their search for the wreckage.
“It wasn’t an exhaustive search because many eyewitnesses saw the helicopter go down,” Fraser said.
RCMP are cooperating with Transportation Safety Board (TSB) investigators who are taking charge of the investigation, Logan said.
Our sincere condolences go out to the pilot’s family, friends, and co-workers.
Chris French recommended an increase in pay for firefighters and boosting fuel management projects by 200% to 400%
Chris French, Deputy Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, testifies before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources June 24, 2021.
It is not often that I watch a Senate or House committee hearing in which wildland fire was a topic and later feel positive about what I heard. The June 24 hearing before the full Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources was different. Chris French, Deputy Chief of the U.S. Forest Service gave citizens of the United States hope that the agency has a realistic view of the world for which the agency is responsible, and most importantly, can speak honestly to Senators about what they can do to help.
Mr. French answered questions about wildland fire and other topics from several Senators during the two-hour session. You can see the entire hearing at the Committee’s website — it begins at 32:50.
One of the most interesting topics to firefighters was the discussion about pay. Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico spoke in clear text when he asked about pay — “How much should we be paying our entry level firefighters? And clearly it’s not $11 it’s not $13.”
“Well, I think clearly enough to support a family,”, Mr. French said, “And to compensate the risk that they take on behalf of the entire American public…. At the end of the day we’re training firefighters at the entry level and then losing them to other firefighting organizations because they are paying double or triple amounts.”
“What is the delta between what you’re paying and what CAL FIRE pays,” Senator Heinrich asked.
“Almost three times, at times”, said Mr. French.
Mr. French was very eloquent, answered questions clearly and concisely, and didn’t ramble on about personal issues. He mentioned that he started his FS career as a GS-4 firefighter in 1994. He should be invited back.
Here is an index of topics in the hearing that wildland firefighters might like to check out.
56:20: Firefighters’ pay and a more professional workforce.
1:45:10: “Quite frankly Senator, we haven’t had the resources to carry out [prescribed fire] work at the scale needed.”
1:50:20: To deal with the backlog of fuels projects, “We have to scale up our work by at least two to four times what we’re doing right now.”
2:19:20: How much should we be paying our firefighters?
Randy Moore, 20th Chief of the U.S. Forest Service.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that Randy Moore will serve as the 20th Chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service.
“Randy Moore has been a catalyst for change and creativity in carrying out the Forest Service’s mission to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations,” said Secretary Vilsack. “In his role as Regional Forester, Randy has been a conservation leader on the forefront of climate change, most notably leading the Region’s response to the dramatic increase in catastrophic wildfires in California over the last decade. His proven track record of supporting and developing employees and putting communities at the center of the Forest Service’s work positions him well to lead the agency into the future at this critical time in our country.”
Upon swearing in, Moore will serve as the first African American to hold the role of Chief of the Forest Service.
Current Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen will step down from her role on July 26. Chief Christiansen and Regional Forester Moore will continue to collaborate on an intentional leadership transition between now and then as the Forest Service gears up for a tough summer of predicted elevated fire activity across the Western United States.
Background:
Randy Moore has been serving as Regional Forester in the Pacific Southwest Region in California since 2007 where he has responsibility for 18 national forests, covering one-fifth of the state on 20 million acres of land. Additionally, he oversees State and Private Forestry programs in Hawaii and the U.S. affiliated Pacific Islands.
Previously, Moore served as the Regional Forester for the Eastern Region, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for five years.
Moore started his career in conservation in 1978 with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in North Dakota. His Forest Service career began on the Pike and San Isabel National Forests in Colorado and the Comanche and Cimarron National Grasslands in Kansas. He served as Deputy Forest Supervisor on the National Forests of North Carolina and the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri before serving as Forest Supervisor of the Mark Twain National Forest. Moore also has national-level experience in Washington, D.C., serving as acting Associate Deputy Chief for the National Forest System and the National Deputy Soils Program Manager.
Moore earned a bachelor’s degree in plant and soil science from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He and his wife Antoinette have two sons, a daughter-in-law, and two grandsons.
Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Jim, Shannon, and Tom.
Many areas will experience temperatures above 100 degrees for the next several days
Hot Dry Windy Index, central Oregon.
The extreme heat that is gripping the Northwest this week is establishing weather conditions that are favorable for wildfires to spread more rapidly than usual. The Hot Dry Windy Index for Central Oregon on Monday and Tuesday is far above the 95th percentile. Other locations in Oregon and Washington also show the HDWI at high levels this week, generally above the 90th percentile and higher. (We first wrote about the HDWI in 2019.)
Many areas in the Northwest will have high temperatures above 100 degrees for the next several days. Here is an excerpt from an article published Monday at Oregon Public Broadcasting:
Seattle, Portland and other cities broke all-time heat records over the weekend, with temperatures soaring well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Forecasters said Monday would be worse, with the mercury possibly hitting 110 F in Seattle and 115 F in the Portland area before it begins to cool Tuesday.
In Eugene, the U.S. track and field trials were halted Sunday afternoon and fans were asked to evacuate the stadium due to extreme heat. The National Weather Service said it hit 110 F in Eugene, breaking the all-time record of 108 F. Portland reached 112 F Sunday, breaking the all-time temperature record of 108 F, which was set just a day earlier.
The temperature hit 104 F in Seattle. The weather service said that was an all-time record for the city better known for rain than heat and was the first time the area recorded two consecutive triple digit days since records began being kept in 1894.
The heat wave stretched into British Columbia, with the temperature in Lytton, a village in the Canadian province, reaching 115 F Sunday afternoon, marking a new all-time high recorded in Canada.
Red Flag Warnings June 28, 2021.
Red Flag Warnings are in effect Monday for a number of areas in California, Washington, and Oregon. The Fire Weather Watch areas on the map above for locations in California and Nevada are for thunderstorms and strong outflow winds Tuesday afternoon through late Tuesday night.
So far the extreme heat has not led to large fires in Washington and Oregon. Monday’s Situation Report does not include any that are less than 95 percent contained. However the 1,446-acre Lava Fire near Weed, California, 37 miles south of the Oregon Border, bears watching. Started from lightning on June 25, it will be subject to winds gusting to 26 mph Monday afternoon.
Map showing the perimeter of the Lava Fire. Mapped by a USFS Cobra Firewatch helicopter at 1:44 p.m. PDT June 27, 2021.
The Lava Fire three miles east of Weed, California was mapped by a US Forest Service Cobra Firewatch helicopter at 1:44 p.m. PDT Sunday and determined that the fire had burned 410 acres.
(To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Lava Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.)
The high temperature at a weather station northwest of the fire at about the same elevation recorded a high temperature as of 3:53 p.m. of 93 degrees, but still appeared to be rising. The relative humidity in the afternoon was in the teens, the wind speed was 2 to 5 mph, and the direction, as predicted, was all over the place.
Lava Fire, smoke column topped by pyrocumulus cloud, June 27, 2021. InciWeb photo.
Sunday afternoon the Lava Fire was putting up an impressive pyrocumulus-topped convection column. The light wind allowed the column to build directly over the fire.
On Monday that breeze will be replaced in the afternoon by strong winds out of the south at 17 mph gusting to 28 while the temperature rises to 96 degrees with 15 percent relative humidity…. a recipe for significant fire growth unless firefighters can get a line around the fire before noon.
Updated at 8:12 a.m. PDT June 27, 2021
3-D map showing the APPROXIMATE perimeter of the Lava Fire at 3:18 a.m. PDT June 27, 2021. Looking east.
The Lava Fire near Weed, California was active all night Saturday. A satellite overflight at 3:18 a.m. Sunday showed that it had spread approximately 1 mile further to the south in the previous 12 hours making the overall length about two miles. (See the map above)
Saturday evening the Incident Management Team reported it had burned 220 acres. The heat signatures detected by the satellite at 3:18 a.m indicated that it had grown to at least 400 acres.
Firefighters gather for a briefing on the Springs Fire on the Boise National Forest near Banks, Idaho, August 12, 2020. Kari Greer photo for U.S. Forest Service.
CNN has joined the chorus of news organizations covering the deteriorating status of Federal wildland firefighting crews. A lengthy article published today describes the pay discrepancy between federal crews and personnel in other jurisdictions as “staggering”.
From CNN
The CNN reporters interviewed several current and former federal wildland firefighters. Aaron Humphrey, who is known as “Hump”, quit after 25 years, leaving the position of Superintendent of the Eldorado Hotshots, becoming “just the latest mentally fried, underpaid hotshot veteran to leave, at a time when California wildfires are at their worst.”
From CNN:
I needed to be home with my family,” Hump told CNN. “The level of stress I was bringing home (from massive fires) — I didn’t even recognize myself anymore.”
Hump, a married father with three children — ages 12, 10 and 8 — now works for Pacific Gas and Electric, as a lead on the utility’s safety infrastructure protection team.
Hump says he’s paid at least $40,000 more annually than what he made before as a hotshot supervisor. The money comes with peace of mind, as he now attends all of his children’s events, even coaching some flag football.
CNN also interviewed a Captain on the El Dorado Hotshots, D.J. McIlhargie.
“I have five irons in the fire right now,” McIlhargie told CNN. “I’m looking for something that will work for my family more. And my wife knows that I’m tired of waiting for the Forest Service to give me a commensurate salary to what other departments pay.”
The father of two boys, 7 and 10, McIlhargie lives an hour outside Sacramento. He described feeling “wiped out” and “frustrated” by battling the recent streak of super fires.
McIlhargie, 39, says there are just not enough firefighters to take on massive blazes such as the ones that ravaged Northern California last year.
The article also states “15 California Interagency Hotshot Crews don’t have enough members to activate as a full firefighting unit. CNN obtained a CIHC document that confirms that number.”
Four Senators, Dianne Feinstein, Alex Padilla, Kyrsten Sinema, and Steve Daines, wrote a letter asking a subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee to include language in its fiscal year 2022 funding bill directing the Office of Personnel Management to implement a plan to raise federal firefighter pay. They are requesting that the following language be included in the bill:
“The Director of the Office of Personnel Management ….not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, submit to Congress a plan to establish comparable rates of pay payable to wildland firefighters employed by the Federal Government, as compared to the rates of basic pay payable for similar work by wildland firefighters employed by State and local governments in each jurisdiction identified by the Departments of Interior and Agriculture…Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, fully implement any necessary regulation or OPM authorized changes to establish the new position classification and qualification standards—for employees across the Federal Government, the job responsibilities of whom involve wildland firefighting; which shall reflect the comparable rates of basic pay established in the plan submitted.”
Opinion
When CNN, NBC, LA Times, and USA Today point out that the pay structure of Federal wildland firefighters is far out of line with what it should be, maybe there is a problem that needs addressing. Senators write letters and ask softball questions of Forest Service officials testifying in hearings, but nothing is getting done to improve the working environment of Federal wildland firefighters.
They need a new Wildland Firefighter job series with pay commensurate with those in agencies and organizations that are poaching trained and experienced employees from the Federal land management agencies.
