Wildfire Today

Seasonal wildland firefighters working for the federal government do not have access to federal health insurance. A group of them hope to change this, and have initiated a national petition which can be signed online. Presently they have 468 “signatures”, but they hope to ultimately get 100,000. The organizers emphasize that federal employees have the right to sign it.

The petition can be viewed and signed HERE — the text from it is below:

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The work that wildland firefighters perform is critical. Each year they are responsible for keeping tens of thousands of homes and businesses from being consumed, often protecting entire towns from the threat of fire.

Because wildfire is overwhelmingly more common between the months of May to October, the majority of firefighters are seasonally employed. More than 90% of these return to service year after year. They often work the equivalent of a full year’s worth of hours in six to seven months, but are never given the opportunity to buy into a government health care plan even at the most basic level, because they are classified as temporary workers.

There are many risks these brave men and women take in order to serve their community. Since the year 2000, 179 wildland firefighters have been killed in the line of duty, and the conditions of the firefighting environment have been linked to cancer and respiratory disease leading to permanent lung damage.

Seasonal federal wildland firefighters demonstrate a commitment to service equal to that of permanently employed firefighters and other emergency responders. It is only right and fair that they have access to a quality, affordable health plan for themselves and their families. I urge you to introduce legislation that makes seasonally employed federal wildland firefighters and their immediate families eligible for year-round health insurance coverage.

Federal Employees: You have a right to sign this. See [the petition site] for legal permission from the Office of Special Council…..

It is not that unusual for a hand crew to have to abandon their assignment and move to a safety zone when unexpected fire behavior begins to compromise their safety. But it IS unusual for crewmembers to be in a situation in which they have to remove their packs in order to lighten their loads so they can hike uphill more quickly to safety.

Below is the text from a Prescott National Forest news release about an incident that occurred on the Gladiator Fire in Arizona. Thankfully, no one was injured.

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Gladiator Fire Near Miss Statement

May 20, 2012 @ 3:15 pm

This morning at approximately 2 a.m. the Rincon Fire Crew was forced to move to a safe area due to threatening fire behavior. The crew, a Type 2 Initial Attack Handcrew, is from Kernville, CA, off the Sequoia National Forest.

The incident location was near the Division C/D break, north of the community of Crown King, on the Prescott National Forest. At the time, the crew was building handline downhill and burning out the line as it was constructed. The wind shifted and the fire began to flank the crew.

Observing that their position could soon be compromised, the crew exhibited good situational awareness and began moving uphill along their handline to a safe area. During this crew movement, the three crew members furthest downhill kept their tools and fire shelters but dropped their packs to hasten their ascent up the handline.

None of the crew members sustained injuries.

Notifications were made to the Incident Commander and Agency Administrators. The crew conducted an After Action Review and the incident is currently being reviewed.

A Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team has been requested.