Linnea Gebauer. Still image from her documentary about wildland fire.
High school student, Linnea Gebauer submitted a video for the national C-SPAN StudentCam competition. The prompt from C-SPAN was, “How does the federal government impact your life?” She chose to talk about wildland fire.
Having created and edited videos, to me it is obvious that Linnea put a great deal of time and effort into research, planning, interviewing subject matter experts, and editing the dozens of clips into the finished product. Excellent job, Linnea!
StudentCam is C-SPAN’s annual national video documentary competition that encourages students to think critically about issues that affect our communities and our nation.
This year the competition was open to students in grades 6-12. The submission deadline was Thursday, January 20, 2022. With cash prizes totaling $100,000 each year, C-SPAN awards prizes to the top 150 student documentaries and teachers that are identified as advisors.
Airport Fire, photo posted at 11:27 a.m. PT Feb. 17, 2022 by @captain2500agl
The growth of the Airport Fire slowed substantially by mid-day Thursday, judging from photos taken in the morning and afternoon. There are still a few residual smokes showing in the image shot by the camera on Marzano Peak at 1:56 p.m., but no dark gray columns.
Airport Fire, from the Marzano Peak camera at 1:56 p.m. Feb. 17, 2022 looking west-southwest.
Caltech, the operator of the Owens Valley Radio Observatory, said that as of Thursday morning at 11 a.m. personnel were reporting that a perimeter had been established around buildings and the main threat to the structures had passed. Assessment of instrumentation and antennas in the field surrounding the main facility structures, however, was ongoing.
The #AirportFire in California’s Eastern Sierra near the town of Big Pine is currently 3900 acres, 0% contained, and threatening the area near the Owens Valley Radio Observatory, a place near and dear to my heart. ? pic.twitter.com/BesGIxVrr5
CAL FIRE said at 9:53 a.m. Thursday that the Airport Fire had burned 3,900 acres.
Updated 9:47 a.m. PT Feb. 17, 2022
Map, Airport Fire. The red area shows the location of the fire mapped Wednesday afternoon by FIRIS. The red squares represent heat detected by a satellite at 8 a.m. PT, Feb. 17, 2022.
The map of the Airport Fire above is more accurate than our earlier map.
9:10 a.m. PT Feb. 17, 2022
Map of the Airport Fire showing heat detected by a satellite as late as 2:15 a.m. Feb. 17, 2022. The yellow dots exaggerate the extent of the fire, at least in its width. Many of the yellow dots are very questionable. The red dots appear to be more accurate. The gap between the yellow and red dots is likely the result of the light vegetation burning and cooling between the two satellite passes, which were about 11 hours apart.
The Airport Fire was very active Wednesday night. When the sun rose Thursday it spanned for about 13 miles from the airport in Bishop, California south to Big Pine. CAL FIRE reports that evacuations have been ordered for properties in Big Pine that are east of US Highway 395. The town has a population of about 1,500.
CAL FIRE dispatched six S-2 air tankers Thursday at about 8 a.m.
Areas that are threatened include two research facilities, White Mountain Research Center and Owens Valley (Caltech) Radio Observatory. Both were evacuated Wednesday.
The blaze started Wednesday afternoon near the Eastern Sierra Regional Airport at Bishop.
Photos taken from Marzano Peak early Thursday morning showed active fire near Big Pine. In the southernmost area of the fire dense, dark smoke was visible which could indicate heavy fuels, such as structures or vehicles burning.
Airport Fire, from the Marzano Peak camera at 6:15 a.m. Feb. 17, 2022 looking west-southwest.Airport Fire, from the Marzano Peak camera at 9:07 a.m. Feb. 17, 2022 looking west-southwest.
The wind, which on Wednesday was out of the north at 28 mph gusting up to 50 mph, slowed during the night but was still strong, 15 to 22 mph gusting at 26 to 32 mph with the relative humidity in the mid-30s. At 8:20 a.m. Thursday the Big Pine weather station recorded 15 mph north-northwest winds gusting to 21 mph while the relative humidity was 40 percent.
The forecast for Big Pine on Thursday is for 56 degrees, 16 percent relative humidity in the afternoon, and 10 to 14 mph winds out of the northwest gusting until noon at 20 mph. These conditions will be conducive to active spreading of the fire, as long as the fuel is continuous.
Resources assigned to the fire Thursday morning include 66 fire engines, 7 water tenders, 1 helicopter, 16 hand crews, and 7 dozers for a total of 432 personnel.
Map, Airport Fire at approximately 5 p.m. Feb. 16, 2022, looking north. By FIRIS aircraft, via Muni-Captain.
A fire in the northern end of California’s Owens Valley has burned about 2,156 acres, according to the FIRIS mapping aircraft at 4:45 p.m. PT Wednesday.
The incident is three miles east of Bishop and one mile southeast of the Eastern Sierra Regional Airport. Aircraft are having difficulty flying safely and dropping retardant accurately in the very strong winds gusting out of the north at 28 mph gusting at 32 to 50 mph while the relative humidity is 30 percent.
Map, Airport Fire, heat detected by satellite at 1:03 p.m. Feb. 16, 2022.
The wind is pushing it to the south. The CHP reports it has crossed Collins Road, which is five miles south of Bishop.
CAL FIRE reported at 5:38 p.m. that the town of Big Pine is being evacuated. The agency said the evacuation center is at the Bishop Senior Center, 506 Park Ave., in Bishop.
Airport Fire, posted by CAL FIRE BDU at 4:54 p.m. Feb. 16, 2022.
Below is video, visual and infrared, of the Airport Fire southeast of Bishop, California at 4 p.m. PT Feb. 16, 2022. Shot by the Orange County FIRIS aircraft, Intel 12. When in infrared mode, the bright white areas represent heat from the fire.
Airport Fire, posted by CAL FIRE BDU at 4:54 p.m. Feb. 16, 2022.Airport Fire, as seen from the Silverpeak 2 camera at 4:31 p.m. Feb. 16, 2022.
Numbers Fire, Nevada, July 6, 2020. Photo by Tallac Hotshots.
A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators has signed a letter urging the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) to expedite the handling of death and injury claims of federal firefighters “in advance of the 2022 wildfire season.”
As we wrote on December 14, 2021, the federal agency responsible for supporting firefighters when they are injured on the job too often fails to reimburse them appropriately for medical bills and death benefits. A December 13, 2021 article at BuzzFeed News described numerous examples of firefighters who were seriously injured while working, then confronted with huge medical bills. Some were being hounded multiple times a day from bill collectors demanding money that should have been paid by the OWCP. Firefighters’ credit cards have been maxed out and credit ratings destroyed. Injured firefighters have routinely been reduced to setting up GoFundMe pages and depending on grants from the Wildland Firefighter Foundation.
A spokesperson for the OWCP told BuzzFeed News that the agency was in the process of developing new procedures and modifying existing policies. For example, a “Special Claims Unit,” which usually handles nontraditional requests, will now adjudicate “all new incoming firefighter claims.”
The Special Claims Unit already existed. The agency’s manual states that one of its duties is handling death benefits for members of the Armed Forces who die “in connection with service with an Armed Force in a contingency operation.” All of these claims for a death gratuity “are to be transferred to [the unit] immediately upon receipt for handling and response.”
One of the causes for the slow response to firefighters’ injury and death claims is a reduction in the number of OWCP claims examiners due to a declining budget over the last few years. The letter signed by the Senators does not address their responsibility for appropriating adequate funds to accomplish the mission.
“Federal wildland firefighters have recently reported difficulty getting their medical treatment costs for work-related injuries covered by the government within a reasonable timeframe,” Feinstein wrote in a letter to Christopher Godfrey, director of the Labor Department’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs. “This is simply unacceptable – these firefighters put their lives at risk to defend American lives and property, and they deserve our support.”
Feinstein continued, “Your commitment to establish a special claims handling unit is an excellent first step to remedying this situation; we urge you to follow through expeditiously and to focus on handling the claims of both federal wildland firefighters and structural firefighters…Given the urgency of the wildfire situation in the western United States, we request an update as to the status of this special claims handling unit at your earliest convenience.”
In addition to Senator Feinstein, the letter was signed by Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine).
The complete text of the Senators’ letter is below:
February 14, 2022
Mr. Christopher Godfrey
Director, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs
Department of Labor
200 Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20210
Dear Director Godfrey:
We urge you to expedite the establishment of a special claims unit to handle firefighter compensation claims so that it can be in place before the start of the 2022 fire season. As you noted in your testimony before the House Committee on Education and Labor on December 2, 2021, federal firefighters who file claims with your office are facing many challenges, and it is our understanding that firefighters are sometimes unable to obtain compensation for their medical treatment, especially those who assert long-term illnesses attributable to their work.
As you know, wildfires in the West are becoming larger, more frequent, and increasingly hazardous. In 2021, the wildland firefighting national preparedness level was raised to its highest level on July 14 – the earliest date in a decade and the second earliest date in history – and required the active deployment of more than 80 percent of the nation’s wildland firefighting crews. We expect this trend to continue, requiring federal firefighters to be engaged for longer periods of time each year combating increasingly dangerous fires. As a result, firefighters will likely sustain more work-related injuries and will increasingly be exposed to conditions that can lead to long-term illness and injury.
Federal wildland firefighters have recently reported difficulty getting their medical treatment costs for work-related injuries covered by the government within a reasonable timeframe. These firefighters, facing bankruptcy, have been forced to seek assistance from the Wildland Firefighter Foundation or private fundraisers to pay their bills while they await reimbursement. We are similarly concerned that claims from firefighters diagnosed with certain cancers or other long-term illnesses associated with firefighting activities are simply refused. They are told that, because they cannot definitively prove the link between the illness and their job exposure, the federal government will not cover their medical expenses. This is simply unacceptable – these firefighters put their lives at risk to defend American lives and property, and they deserve our support.
Your commitment to establish a special claims handling unit is an excellent first step to remedying this situation; we urge you to follow through expeditiously and to focus on handling the claims of both federal wildland firefighters and structural firefighters. This new unit should ensure its examiners are aware of the particular risks facing firefighters and provide clear rationales for rejected claims to ensure that claims processing is efficient, accurate, and transparent. Given the urgency of the wildfire situation in the western United States, we request an update as to the status of this special claims handling unit at your earliest convenience. Thank you for considering our request, and we look forward to working with you to support the important work of our federal firefighters.
A pilot was killed in Australia February 14 when a helicopter crashed while working on a bush fire southeast of Pipers Brook, Tasmania. The accident was reported to the police and emergency services at about 3:20 p.m. The pilot was the only person on board.
From the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:
Tasmania Fire Service Acting Deputy Chief Jeff Harper said the northern Tasmanian man was an experienced pilot who had been assisting water-bombing activities as a subcontractor.
Mr. Harper said it was a tragic incident, and that the man had worked on multiple Tasmanian fires in the past.
Firefighting aircraft were grounded after the helicopter crash, and will all be assessed overnight before being deployed again.
The Tasmania Police said the pilot’s next of kin has been notified.
Since it started several days ago the fire has burned 1,660Ha (4,100 acres). Helicopters, fixed wing aircraft, heavy machinery, and firefighters on the ground have been working to control the blaze. A number of forestry plantations have been impacted and one structure has been destroyed.
The ABC reported that the bushfire had resulted from a registered burn that got away from the “very remorseful” owner, and it had been deemed accidental.
The Tasmania Police is asking that anyone with information who may have seen the helicopter near Pipers Brook just before the crash should call Launceston Police on 131444 or report it to Crime Stoppers on 1800333000 or crimestopperstas.com.au. Information can be provided anonymously.
On January 23, 2020 the three crewmembers of an EC-130Q, Air Tanker 134, were killed when the aircraft crashed while working on a fire in New South Wales.
Fire Aviation sends out our sincere condolences to the family, friends, and coworkers of the deceased pilot.
The make and model of the helicopter has not been released.
Wildfire in Mississippi burned more than 1,000 acres
Red Flag Warnings issued by the NWS, Feb. 14, 2022.
The National Weather Service has issued Red Flag Warnings for Monday February 14 for areas in New Mexico, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida.
It is not common to see Red Flag Warnings in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi. Take a look at the video below posted today of a fire in northeast Mississippi that burned 1,041 acres; it’s a very interesting burn pattern.
#MSforestry Commission Wildland Firefighters suppressed and contained this giant 1041-acre #wildfire in Tippah County. The fire, located in Tiplersville, MS, damaged pasture and woods.
As we head into our wildfire season here in MS, please be extra cautious with outdoor burning. pic.twitter.com/7hq31JJkRS
I checked with Tyler Thomas who is an Area Forester for the Mississippi Forestry Commission (MFC) who told us the fire occurred January 31 and February 1. In addition to the personnel from local fire departments, the MFC had five firefighters on it which included two dozers with swampers. When they arrived it had already burned about 1,000 acres and when the spread was stopped it was about three miles long.
I mentioned to Mr. Thomas what looked like in the aircraft video an unusual burn pattern, but he said it was all one fire and there was no major spotting out ahead of the main fire.
UPDATE Feb 19, 2022: The map below shows the estimated perimeter of the fire in NE Mississippi, based on imagery. The fire was named, 1686 County Road 202 Fire.
Fire in NE Mississippi, estimated perimeter Feb. 1, 2022.
