In Big Basin State Park south of San Francisco — may be a holdover from the fire 9 months ago
Basin Fire at 12:25 PDT May 2, 2021. From PG&E camera.
On Monday firefighters suppressed a fire that burned within the perimeter of the CZU Lightning Complex of fires. The blaze was in Big Basin Redwoods State Park south of San Francisco and could be a holdover from the 86,502-acre blaze from August, 2020.
When firefighters hiked into the fire it was less than two acres, but with the assistance of aircraft they stopped the spread after it burned about seven acres.
In January several other holdover fires were found in the footprint of the same fire.
Map of Fires in San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties, Jan. 19, 2021.
There is a chance that considering the numerous very large fires that spread through California and Oregon last year, and with lower than normal precipitation during the winter, other similar holdover fires will be discovered. In many cases since they are within the burn perimeter, they may not be a serious problem. But if they are in a large unburned island, burning embers lofted into the air could ignite spot fires some distance away, perhaps outside the perimeter where there is an abundance of available fuel.
The Park has been closed for the last 9 months after the fire destroyed most of the infrastructure. On August 28, 2020 the Park released a list of the structures that were known to have been destroyed at that time:
Historic Park Headquarters
Historic (Main) lodge
Ranger Station
Nature Museum
Store
Maintenance Shop
Multiple park residences, including some Saddle Mountain Property structures
Multiple campground bathrooms
Gatehouse
Bridge between North Escape Road and Gazos Creek Road
It is also predicted to be above normal in much of the Great Basin through August
The forecasts for wildland fire potential issued May 1 by the National Interagency Fire Center for May through August predict wildfire potential will be higher than normal in the Southwest until the monsoons arrive in July. Fire potential is also expected to be high in much of the Great Basin for the entire period and will be increasing in the mountains of California from June through August.
The Great Plains and Northern Rockies are slated for normal conditions but Central Oregon and Southeast Washington will be above normal beginning in June.
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:
An excerpt from the NIFC narrative report for the next several months;
More of NIFC’s monthly graphical outlooks;
NOAA’s three-month temperature and precipitation forecasts;
Drought Monitor;
Keetch-Byram Drought Index.
“Climate outlooks indicate warmer and drier than normal conditions are likely for much of the Plains and West into summer continuing and exacerbating drought there. A Fuels and Fire Behavior Advisory is in effect for North Dakota, eastern Montana, and northwest South Dakota due to drought and continuous fine fuels. Near normal timing and precipitation are expected with the Southwest Monsoon in July, which will help alleviate drought and significant fire activity.
“Near normal significant fire potential is forecast across the northern Plains into the Great Lakes for May, but dry periods followed by strong winds could increase fire activity above normal. Outside of increased fire potential in western Oklahoma and west Texas, Southern area is likely to have near normal fire potential with elevated activity possible in and around northern Florida in May.
“The Southwest is forecast to have above normal significant fire potential through June before the Southwest Monsoon arrives. Above normal significant fire potential will expand northward into the Great Basin and Rocky Mountain Geographic Areas through August with areas closer to the monsoon likely returning to near normal significant fire potential in July and August. Central Oregon into southeast Washington are likely to have above normal significant fire potential beginning in June with portions of the Coast Ranges, Sierra, and Cascades in California increasing to above normal in June and July and continuing through August. Leeside locations of Hawaii are likely to have above normal significant fire potential in July and August due to heavier fuel loading and forecast warm and dry conditions, while Alaska should have near normal significant fire potential through summer.”
Temperature outlook May-July, 2021Precipitation outlook May-July, 2021
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has recently awarded millions of dollars through their Disaster Mitigation Grant program.
Boulder County, Colorado
Boulder County will receive a $1.2 million Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant for two wildfire mitigation actions. The first is to create defensible space for approximately 500 properties. The second is hazardous fuels reduction in an area of about 160 acres that will provide further protection on 27 properties where defensible space creation was previously completed.
Homeowner efforts to create defensible space will not just be a one-time effort. They will join the county’s wildfire mitigation program, Wildfire Partners, to support continued maintenance of defensible space over the long-term and conduct comprehensive mitigation efforts to effectively reduce wildfire risk in a community that has been severely affected by wildfire.
FEMA is providing 75 percent of the project costs, a total of $1,215,630. Funding is provided through FEMA’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program, which is designed to assist states, U.S. territories, federally-recognized tribes, and local communities in implementing a sustained pre-disaster natural hazard mitigation program. The goal is to reduce overall risk to the population and structures from future hazard events, while also reducing reliance on federal funding in future disasters.
Ashland, Oregon
The city of Ashland, Oregon will receive a $3 million Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant to create wildfire defensible space around 1,100 homes and to replace 23 wood shake roofs with ignition-resistant roof material.
The City of Ashland in Oregon’s Jackson County is in a high wildfire risk zone. In the fall of 2020, neighboring communities of Talent and Phoenix were devastated by the Almeda Fire, which burned 2,977 acres and destroyed over 2,300 structures.
This mitigation project will help protect structures from wildfires and will help homes in the Ashland area comply with recommended local best practices for wildfire risk reduction. Replacing wood shake roofs and providing defensible space to structures reduces the risk of wildfire spread and diminishes the likelihood of wildfires starting from embers. Once these highly flammable roofs are replaced, these types of roofs will no longer be allowed in Ashland.
The City is contributing a $1 million cost-share, making the total value of this grant $4 million.
The project includes hiring a project manager, preliminary assessments of identified homes, surveys for vegetation removal, scheduling and training of pre-approved contractors, removal of vegetation, and reconstruction of roofs.
Rolling Hills, California
A $1.1 million grant is going to the Los Angeles community of Rolling Hills. The funds will replace overhead power lines and poles with nearly 2,000 feet of underground cables and relocate transformers to an area with less wildfire risk. The Los Angeles Fire Department identified the area as a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, the highest designation with the greatest fire risk.
The $1.5 million project includes a $1.1 million grant from FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), with the remaining $381,000 from non-federal sources.
Our take
As we wrote last September, grants to mitigate wildfire risk and improve community resiliency is a worthwhile investment:
Provide grants to homeowners that are in areas with high risk from wildland fires. Pay a portion of the costs of improvements or retrofits to structures and the nearby vegetation to make the property more fire resistant. This could include the cost of removing some of the trees in order to have the crowns at least 18 feet apart if they are within 30 feet of the structures — many homeowners can’t afford the cost of complete tree removal.
But the limited amount of Federal taxpayer funds available must be distributed where they can get the most bang for the buck and assist a significant number of residents.
Rolling Hills is a gated community of private roads on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Los Angeles where the median household income is $239,375 and the poverty rate is 1.6%. The project will reduce wildfire ignitions along 2,000 feet of power lines.
Boulder County has a median household income of $83,019 and a poverty rate of 10.7%. Their grant will mitigate hazards on 527 properties.
Ashland, Oregan has a median income of $56,315 and a poverty rate of 18.4%. More than 1,100 homes will be affected by the project.
Putting 2,000 feet of power lines underground in Rolling Hills could reduce the chance of poorly designed or maintained electrical lines starting fires. But a case could be made that the project should not rank high enough nationwide to prevent other grants from being approved that would have a much greater beneficial effect on larger numbers of people with far less disposable income. In this affluent Los Angeles community improvements on the electrical lines, in this case, should be funded by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
There is probably more than one resident in Rolling Hills who could write a check for the project then go into the backyard and finish their game of tennis.
Victor Serriteno, was arrested for starting the Markely Fire in 2020 that killed two people in their homes. Photo: Vacaville Police Department.
A person accused of starting the Markely fire in Northern California in August of 2020 has been arrested for arson and three counts of murder.
The fire started August 18 near the southeast end of Lake Berryessa and grew large quickly during during hot, dry, windy weather. It merged with the Hennessy, Gamble, Green, Spanish, 5-10, and Morgan Fires which were managed under the LNU Lightning Complex.
Investigators say Victor Serriteno murdered Priscilla Castro, a 32-year-old from Vallejo, who he had arranged to meet after finding her on an online dating app.
“We believe Serriteno deliberately set the Markley fire in an attempt to conceal his crime,” Solano County Sheriff Tom Ferrara said at a news conference Wednesday.
The Markley Fire killed two people in their homes, Douglas Mai, 82, and Leon Bone, 64.
Mr. Serriteno was arrested by Vacaville Police in September and charged with the murder of Ms. Castro. Wednesday the Solano County district attorney’s office added three additional charges, arson and two counts of murder for the two fire victims’ deaths.
Some of the fires that were part of the LNU Lightning Complex in 2020.Markley Fire August, 2020, showing the locations of the deaths of the two people who were killed in their homes.
Riva Duncan testifies remotely during Congressional hearing, April 29, 2021. Still image from live video.
In the oversight hearing today before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands a former U.S. Forest Service firefighter spoke truth to power.
Riva Duncan, who recently retired from the Fire Staff Officer position on the Umpqua National Forest in Oregon, testified remotely about job classification, pay disparity, employee health and wellbeing, recruitment, size of the workforce, and fire seasons transforming into fire years.
I have watched many Congressional hearings about wildland fire and the agencies that manage them, and this is the first time I can remember that a firefighter who had worked their way up from an entry level position and had not been tainted by serving time in the Washington Office, testified about firefighting conditions. In 2016 Kelly Martin, then Yosemite National Park’s Chief of Fire and Aviation Management, testified about sexual harassment, but she was not asked questions about pay, hiring, and retention.
Ms. Duncan, now the Executive Secretary of the Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, submitted 13-pages of testimony, but the last portion of her five-minute opening oral remarks had a memorable impact on the politicians. Toward the end she choked up a little — you can probably guess which section provoked that response.
“I am not here to disparage the US Forest Service,” she said, bringing her formal remarks to a close. “These issues are larger than any one agency and will take complex, and expensive, solutions. It truly was my honor to serve the US Forest Service and the American people. I loved working in fire, but I love the people I worked with even more. I have grown weary of losing amazing friends and colleagues, and I have grown impatient with inaction. The US is burning, wildland firefighters are struggling, and some are even dying. The time for reform is now. Thank you.”
Not only were her words powerful, but her delivery got the attention of the politicians — a category of humans not generally known for their compassion and empathy. During the rest of the hearing many of the Representatives used a little of their allotted time to tell her how much they appreciated her participation.
“I want to thank you for your testimony and your service, said Rep. Joe Neguse (CO), Chair of the Subcommittee. “It’s incredibly powerful and certainly resonated with me and every member of our committee on both sides of the aisle.”
In her written testimony Ms. Duncan said, “Our inability to hire and retain wildland firefighters has become readily apparent with record setting fire management vacancy rates through the federal service. Hiring managers are finding themselves unable to fill empty positions, and lacking compensation is a primary contributing factor.”
The hearing was titled, Wildfire in a Warming World: Opportunities to Improve Community Collaboration, Climate Resilience, and Workforce Capacity.
Chairperson Neguse began the hearing by proposing a new “Climate Corps to address immediate restoration needs and create rural jobs… a pipeline for careers in land management and conservation.”
“We need more well paid, permanent opportunities to grow the federal land management workforce,” the Chairperson continued. “As the budget has shifted toward wildfire suppression, there has been a corresponding reduction in non-fire personnel costing us land managers, biologists, other scientists with the expertise for planning for fire to improve the resiliency of the landscape in the first place… While the fire funding fix ended the practice of fire borrowing it did virtually nothing to improve the health care, pay, or general well being of those on the front line of these climate-driven disasters — our Federal wildland firefighters.”
Rashida Tlaib (MI) asked about pay and transitioning to a full time workforce.
Ms. Duncan replied in part, “We can’t fix anything around the fire workforce without adequate pay, a decent living wage.” Later she talked about how funding has been cut across the Forest Service, not just in fire.
Rep. Tlaib said, “I truly believe it is unacceptable that we are asking Federal wildland firefighters to protect the vast territories for just pennies on the dollar and I’m hoping that we can take action in this committee to raise pay and benefits to support our firefighters as the professionals that they are.”
One Representative has a wildland fire background
“I know wildland firefighting well, said Rep. Teresa Fernandez (NM). “I was the first young woman hired to assist the State of New Mexico Forest Service during fire season. All five of my brothers fought forest fires. As noted earlier there is no such thing as fire season anymore.”
When Rep. Fernandez asked what Congress can do to help, Ms. Duncan did not pull any punches and laid the responsibility where it rightly lies– with the people she was testifying to and their colleagues:
“We really need legislators like you all and the administration to take the lead to pass real meaningful reform to make these agencies work with the Office of Personnel Management and Office of Management and Budget to work very directly and quickly to move forward with a new [job] series and then tie additional pay to that,” Ms Ducan said. “I think most people would be shocked to know an entry level wildland firefighter makes less than $14 an hour. That’s embarrassing and it’s amazing what these people, who risk their lives, make for a living. It’s a travesty.”
Why would anyone want to be a Federal wildland firefighter?
Rep. Katie Porter (CA) asked Ms. Duncan: “Why would anyone want to be a Federal firefighter and get paid $13.45, below what we have been pressing for as the minimum wage for jobs that don’t require the kind of training and risk to your person? Why would anyone become a federal firefighter instead of a state firefighter where the pay is nearly double?”
“That’s the million-dollar question and we’re struggling to hire people now into those entry level positions”, Ms. Duncan replied. “We’re struggling to staff our engines and our crews because of that. For some of them it’s a summer job, to put themselves through college. They’ve grown up in a community where there is a Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management office, so it’s an easy jump for them to get into that. But they get bit by the fire bug, they love the career, and then find themselves making it difficult to meet financial goals.”
“Let’s get the classification going”
Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, chair of the full Natural Resources Committee said to Ms. Duncan, “We [have been] working on legislation in a couple of Congresses now on reclassifying our Forestry Technicians into Wildland Firefighters… Let’s get some more folks on board and get it through this time. Let’s get the classification going and then we can start remedying the pay schedule as well, too. So I think, one step at a time around here.”
After talking about efficiencies in the federal agencies, he told Ms. Duncan, “Please contact our office with ideas. We’re just trying to find ways to move more effectively within the law or change the law where needed. Because we want to be streamlined in what needs to be done.
Other topics
Of course it was not all about firefighters. Courtney Schultz, an Associate Professor for Forest and Natural Resource Policy told the committee, “In addition to supporting agency research, Congress should consider restoring full funding for the Joint Fire Science Program, the biggest and most effective program that addresses agencies’ priorities for fire research.”
Later Ms. Schultz said capacity is the greatest barrier to making progress in fuel management.
Several of the Representatives mentioned reducing or eliminating regulations to make conducting projects easier.
Should local government or industry manage National Forests?
Rep. Tom Tiffany (WI) said we have too much preservation: “I think we have a fundamental question here between management and preservation and the west has suffered under preservation for about the last three decades.”
He asked one of the other panelists, California rancher Dave Daley, about local management of National Forests — “Would local government or industry be more successful in managing these wildfire risks and just managing the resources generally?”
Mr. Daley talked about the Good Neighbor Authority which allows the Forest Service to enter into agreements with state agencies to do forest management work on National Forests, saying it has been used in California.
Rep. Tom McClintock (CA) used all of his allotted time to talk about the benefits of logging. He did not ask any questions.
Rep. Blake Moore (UT) emphasized the importance of post-fire management.
The video of the hearing below should be cued up to begin about 10 seconds before Ms. Duncan’s opening remarks. If it does not start there, you can skip to 36:00.
The President raised the minimum wage for Federal contractors to $15/hour, which is more than the starting pay for Federal wildland firefighters
Firefighters hold a road on the Cedar Fire in Nevada, July 20, 2020. Photo: Mike McMillan/BLM Elko District.
The President signed an Executive Order yesterday requiring Federal contractors to pay a $15 minimum wage to hundreds of thousands of workers who are on Federal contracts.
From a statement issued by the White House:
These workers are critical to the functioning of the Federal government: from cleaning professionals and maintenance workers who ensure Federal employees have safe and clean places to work, to nursing assistants who care for the nation’s veterans, to cafeteria and other food service workers who ensure military members have healthy and nutritious food to eat, to laborers who build and repair Federal infrastructure.
“I believe no one should work full-time and still live in poverty,” President Joe Biden said in a Twitter post announcing the move.
Raising the minimum wage to $15 for all workers in the United States is long past overdue. The last time it was changed was 13 years ago when it increased from $5.15 per hour to the current rate of $7.25 per hour.
The cleaning professionals and cafeteria workers mentioned in the statement from the White House as examples of Federal contractors who will be covered by the new minimum wage need this new policy. It is extremely difficult to support a family while making less. If they receive a bump in pay when the policy goes into effect January 30, 2022, that’s great for them. And the pay will be adjusted annually based on the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.
But let us consider who will not be receiving the minimum pay of $15 an hour — Federal wildland firefighters, roughly 15,000 employees who work under the ridiculous titles of Forestry or Range Technician. Most of them start at the GS-3 level which this year is $13.45 an hour. Many of them will remain a GS-3 for years. When they become a highly skilled firefighter a few years later they might be promoted to a GS-4 making $15.20 an hour, which is less than the starting pay at some McDonald’s outlets.
From the Sisters, Oregon McDonalds Facebook page, April 22, 2021.
The only way these professional firefighters can even begin to support a family is to work 1,000 hours of overtime each year. This is a physically and emotionally demanding job. Shifts on a going fire are typically 14 to 16 hours leaving only 8 to 10 hours each day when they are off the clock, which is not enough time to rest, recuperate, and take care of personal needs.
Federal wildland firefighters travel across the country going state to state wherever the fires are. When the largest blazes need 5,000 personnel, they may be staffed with individuals from nearly every U.S. state. Being away from home and family for extended periods of time every year puts stresses on the firefighters and their households.
Our opinion
Federal wildland firefighters need to be paid at least as much as cafeteria workers. Men and women defending our country by suppressing fires are grossly underpaid and deserve a large boost in salary. This could slow down the hordes that are quitting to seek a living wage, moving to city, state, and private organizations. Their pay needs to be competitive and commensurate with wages that could be earned doing the same job with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and Pacific Gas and Electric.
Last week the McDonalds in Sisters, Oregon was seeking new employees, offering starting pay of $15.50 to $18.25 and a hiring bonus of $1,000.
These extraordinary employees also need to be reclassified correctly as actual Firefighters, not forestry technicians.
Some efforts are underway, such as the request by nine U.S. Senators for the Government Accountability Office to conduct an assessment of hiring and retention of Federal wildland firefighters at the five Federal agencies responsible for wildland fire.
Tomorrow, April 29 at 1 p.m. EDT, the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands, led by Chair Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), will host an oversight hearing titled Wildfire in a Warming World: Opportunities to Improve Community Collaboration, Climate Resilience, and Workforce Capacity. Riva Duncan, now retired from the Fire Staff Officer position on the Umpqua National Forest in Oregon, is scheduled to testify. This could be interesting. You can watch it live, or replay it later.
The video below is the daily White House Press Briefing from April 27, 2021. The first item covered by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki is the Executive Order about the new minimum wage for contractors.
