Wildfire Today

Memorial planned for victims of MAFFS air tanker crash

Bill GabbertApril 25, 2013August 29, 2022Uncategorizedair tanker, C-130, lodd, MAFFS, South Dakota, White Draw Fire1 Comment

Plans are underway to construct a memorial to honor the aerial firefighters killed in South Dakota July 1, 2012 when a military Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS) C-130 aircraft crashed while dropping retardant on the White Draw Fire. Four members of the six-person air crew died when strong winds out of a thunderstorm caused the air tanker to impact the ground on a ridgetop northeast of Edgemont, South Dakota.

The aircraft that crashed was MAFFS #7 from the North Carolina Air National Guard’s 145th Airlift Wing based at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. Killed were Lt. Col. Paul Mikeal, 42, of Mooresville; Maj. Joseph McCormick, 36, of Belmont; Maj. Ryan David, 35, of Boone; and Senior Master Sgt. Robert Cannon, 50, of Charlotte. Two survived but were seriously injured — Chief Master Sgt. Andy Huneycutt and Sgt. Josh Marlowe of Boiling Springs.

The memorial will be approximately 6.5 miles northeast of Edgemont on Highway 18 near the point of origin of the fire (map), where the motor home that started the blaze caught fire while pulling the grade between Edgemont and Hot Springs. During May and June workers will construct a parking area and make room for interpretive signs that will tell the story of the fire and the fatal accident. Visitors at the memorial may be able to see the ridge which was the site of the crash. The construction is being coordinated by the South Dakota National Guard, according to Scott Jacobson, Public Information Officer for the Black Hills National Forest.

The dedication of the memorial is scheduled for July 1, 2013, exactly a year after the accident. There are reports that some family members of the victims from North Carolina will attend.

More information about the cause of the crash.
Photos of the White Draw and other fires in the Black Hills in 2012.

South Dakota fire crews clear ice storm debris

Bill GabbertApril 24, 2013August 25, 2019UncategorizedPhoto by Bill G, South Dakota1 Comment

The video above features two South Dakota Type 2 hand crews that are assigned in the Sioux Falls area to clear trees that fell or were damaged during a recent ice storm.

The Black Hat and the Bear Mountain crews work for the South Dakota Division of Wildland Fire. According to the Bear Mountain crew’s web site:

The crew’s primary function is that of hazardous fuels reduction on state and private lands within the Black Hills. The crew is available for both in-state and out-of-state dispatch assignments, and has responded to various all risk incidents throughout the U.S. since its inception.

The photo above shows the Black Hats on May 7, 2004 walking to the fire below, which started in a structure south of Hot Springs, South Dakota and spread into the wildland. Firefighters stopped it at the top of the ridge.

Tanker 910 at Rapid City

Bill GabbertApril 23, 2013April 24, 2013Uncategorizedair tanker, DC-10, Photo by Bill G, Rapid City, South Dakota9 Comments

Tanker 910 lands at Rapid City, April 23, 2013. — Tanker 910 lands at Rapid City

One of the DC-10’s, Tanker 910, visited Rapid City today. On the way back from scheduled maintenance in Michigan, they still have two more stops scheduled for Wednesday, April 24, before they head home to California. These times are approximate and subject to change.

Billings, Montana, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Missoula, Montana, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

These photos were taken by Bill Gabbert. Click on them to enlarge.

Continue reading “Tanker 910 at Rapid City”

Bobcat rescued by fire crew released to the wild

Bill GabbertApril 23, 2013April 25, 2013Uncategorizedbobcat

Chips bobcat rescued — Mad River crew Superintendent Tad Hair holds Chips, a rescued bobcat. Photo by US Forest Service

You may remember when Wildfire Today told you about “Chips”, the injured bobcat that was found last year on a wildfire and rescued by the Mad River Hand crew. Chips has recovered from her burned paws and infected eyes and has been released back into the wild.

The bobcat was nursed back to health and prepped for release by a volunteer at the Sierra Wildlife Rescue in Placerville, California.

Chips was found August 24 by the crew on the fire that inspired the name of the bobcat, the Chips Fire, burning on the Lassen and Plumas National forests in California. Not wanting to disrupt a natural process, the crew tried to walk away but the bobcat followed them. When they stopped it curled up on the boots of crew superintendent Tad Hair. They searched for tracks that belonged to its mother and found none. A closer assessment revealed that the kitten had burned paws and eye injuries so they rescued it and contacted Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, a nonprofit organization that rehabilitates injured or orphaned wildlife and returns them to the wild.

Here is a link to a story about another bobcat that was rescued on the Jesusita fire near Santa Barbara, California in 2009.

Ranchers donate hay to victims of escaped prescribed fire

Bill GabbertApril 23, 2013August 25, 2019Uncategorizedescaped prescribed fire, South Dakota

Ranchers in western North Dakota will be donating hay to their fellow ranchers whose grazing lands burned April 3 after a prescribed fire escaped on the Grand River Ranger District of the Dakota Prairie National Grasslands in South Dakota. The prescribed fire conducted by the U.S. Forest Service was supposed to have been a 130-acre project, but it escaped control on a windy day and burned 10,800 acres southwest of Lemmon, South Dakota.

Some of the ranchers who will be donating hay received similar donations after a massive 1999 wildfire in McKenzie County and have not forgotten that kindness. They are also making arrangements to help rebuild some of the 64 miles of fence that was damaged in the fire.

Here is an excerpt from an article at FarmAndRanchGuide:

…There were 11 ranchers affected by the fire, some more than others and one who lost all his grass.

Frank Carroll, a retired Forest Service employee who specializes in filing damage claims, met with them this week to get the process started. The Forest Service has said it’s up to ranchers to pay their own damages and then file claims, a process that will take up to two years.

Carroll said one rancher lost 26 calves because cows had to be pushed from a burned hay yard out on to stubble, though other losses were less dramatic. He said fence damages alone tallies around $1.4 million and replacement hay and feed will be another cost.

The Grand River Grazing Association paid Carroll to spend Thursday and Friday with affected ranchers as a group and one on one, said secretary Cathy Evans.

A review of wildfire ignitions

Bill GabbertApril 23, 2013April 23, 2013Uncategorizedresearch

Researchers have released a report titled Wildfire Ignitions: A Review of the Science and Recommendations for Empirical Modeling. It summarizes the state of knowledge regarding the underlying causes and the role of wildfire prevention efforts on all major categories of wildfires, including findings from research that have sought to model wildfire occurrences over fine and broad spatial and temporal scales. The report also describes a conceptual model of wildfire ignitions, which is designed to provide a modeling framework for analysts who seek to better understand wildfire ignition processes or develop statistical models that can predict wildfire occurrences across any spatial or temporal scale.

Below is a chart from the report. (Click the image to enlarge.)

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