Bark beetles and fire, recent research

The Joint Fire Science Program has published a report that collects some findings from recent research about the relationship between bark beetles and wildfire. Here are some excerpts from the 1.4 MB document:

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Bark beetle researchBark beetles are chewing a wide swath through forests across North America. Over the past few years, infestations have become epidemic in lodgepole and spruce-fir forests of the Intermountain West. The resulting extensive acreages of dead trees are alarming the public and raising concern about risk of severe fire. Researchers supported by the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) are examining the complicated relationship between bark beetles and wildfire, the two most influential natural disturbance agents in these forests. Are the beetles setting the stage for larger, more severe wildfires? And are fires bringing on beetle epidemics? Contrary to popular opinion, the answer to both questions seems to be “no.”

[…]

In a 2011 paper published in “Ecological Monographs” (Simard et al. 2011), Simard, Turner, and their colleagues present the startling results: a wildfire that burns in a beetle-damaged stand will probably be no more intense—that is, no more likely to develop into a crown fire—than one that burns in a green stand. In fact, the fire’s behavior in a red-stage stand may be less intense under intermediate weather conditions, because needles have already fallen from the dead trees, reducing canopy fuels significantly.

“We were surprised by this,” Turner says. The shock of seeing a red canopy may cause people to overestimate its flammability. But the modeling results showed that, while beetles and fire are linked in complicated ways, the one does not cause the other. In fact, wrote the authors, “contrary to conventional wisdom, the interaction was a negative feedback in which the probability of active crown fire appeared to be reduced.”

[…]

The few burn trials conducted in Canada have yielded no conclusive answers. Dave Schroeder of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (wildfire operations) and Colleen Mooney of FP Innovations Wildland Fire Operations Research Group simulated a mountain pine beetle infestation by girdling jack pines at Archer Lake in northeastern Alberta in May 2007 (Schroeder and Mooney 2009). In July 2008 they burned two of the experimental stands along with control stands of green trees. In two side-by-side comparisons, crown fire developed in both the experimental stand and the control stand within seconds of each other, making it impossible to detect any significant difference in firebehavior.

[…]

When faced with uncertainty, scientific disagreement, and millions of dead trees, what’s a manager to do? “From the standpoint of active crown fire or severe fire,” says Turner, “I think what our results would say is, you certainly don’t have to go in and cut big trees. No evidence from our work suggests that salvage logging following beetles will reduce fire risk.” There may be other good reasons for taking out the wood, she says, “but if it’s justified by saying we’re going to reduce the risk of fire, I would say our data don’t support that.”

Yet some clearly have a different view. “Maybe not fire risk,” argues Battaglia, “but how about fire severity? Fire growth? Fire extent? These are just as important to consider.”

[…]

The biggest wild card in the fire-beetle relationship is climate. “A warming climate,” says Turner, “is almost certainly why we’re seeing such a big infestation now.” Warmer temperatures bring drought, which stresses trees and makes them more susceptible to beetles, and warmer winters enable more beetle larvae to survive and breed.

 

Evacuations in progress due to fire in Davis Mountains in west Texas

UPDATE at 5:07 p.m. CT, April 29, 2012:

There are two fires burning in the same general area west of Fort Davis, Texas. Below is information from the Southern Area Coordination Center, updated this morning:

Livermore Ranch – This fire is burning 18 miles west of Fort Davis, TX. Values at risk are the community of Davis Mountain Resort (approximately 120 homes) and a repeater site. Evacuations are in effect for Davis Mountain Resort community with shelter set up. Control issues include windy conditions, rugged terrain and drought stricken fuels. Today fire personnel will continue to build fireline and provide structure protection. Growth potential for this fire is report as high.

Spring Mountain – This fire is burning 25 miles west of Fort Davis, TX. Values at risk are ranch community building near the fire area. Difficult terrain and drought stricken fuels are contributing to fire growth. Texas Forest Service personnel will assist local jurisdiction with aerial suppression resources again today. Growth potential is reported as high.

Tony Wilder’s Type 1 Incident Management Team is responding.

According to Marfa Public Radio, updated at 12:30 pm., the Livermore Ranch Fire has burned 10,246 acres and the Spring Mountain fire is 9,580 acres.

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A large fire has resulted in evacuations in a rural area of west Texas between Fort Davis and Valentine in Jeff Davis county near the Davis Mountains Resort. Fire Marshall Stewart Billingsley asked the National Weather Service to transmit the following message via the Emergency Alert System. It was sent out at 7:24 p.m. CDT on Saturday:

RESIDENTS OF JEFF DAVIS COUNTY IN AND AROUND THE DAVIS MOUNTAINS RESORT…THERE IS A WILDFIRE SLOWLY APPROACHING THE DAVIS MOUNTAINS RESORT FROM THE NORTHWEST. DUE TO THE DANGER POSED BY THIS FIRE… DAVIS MOUNTAINS RESORT RESIDENTS ARE URGED TO EVACUATE IN A CALM AND ORDERLY MANNER. THERE IS TIME BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF THE FIRE TO EVACUATE SAFELY. PLEASE TAKE ANY NECESSARY ITEMS WITH YOU…ESPECIALLY MEDICATION.

ONCE YOU HAVE EVACUATED…YOU CANNOT RETURN UNTIL THE EMERGENCY HAS PASSED. SOMEONE WILL BE AT THE CATTLE GUARD TO CHECK YOU OUT SO WE CAN ACCOUNT FOR AS MANY RESIDENTS AS POSSIBLE. AGAIN…ONCE YOU HAVE DEPARTED THE DAVIS MOUNTAINS RESORT…YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RETURN UNTIL THE EMERGENCY HAS PASSED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION.

Click on the maps below of the fires to see larger versions.

 UPDATED information, April 30, 2012

 UPDATED information, May 1, 2012

Paratroopers hung up in trees are rescued by fire department

Smokejumpers occasionally get hung up in trees, but they are trained to use the rope they carry to lower themselves to the ground. But two military paratroopers had to be rescued by fire departments after they landed in trees near Rainier, Washington Thursday afternoon. Neither was injured. Here is an excerpt from an article in The News Tribune:

The Joint Base Lewis-McChord fire department used a ground ladder to retrieve a male paratrooper who was stuck more than 30 feet in the air. But they had to wait for the Thurston County Special Operations Rescue Team to rescue the female paratrooper, who was between 70 and 75 feet off the ground, Lacey fire battalion chief Steve Crimmins said. The team includes firefighters from six fire agencies equipped and trained for rescues on steep slopes and in trenches, collapsed buildings and trees.

Firefighters were able to position a ladder truck close enough to get the female paratrooper.

I have never heard of a smokejumper that was rescued by a ladder truck.

And speaking of smokejumpers, the U.S. Forest Service smokejumpers who have always used the traditional round parachute, are transitioning to the square chute like the Bureau of Land Management has been using for a long time. Some jumpers are receiving training now on the “new” chute in preparation for the upcoming fire season.

Hastings fire in Alaska, May 31, 2011. Two smokejumpers approach landing zone. Photo: Mike McMillan

Secretary Salazar says prescribed fires can be conducted safely

Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar on Thursday said prescribed fires can be conducted safely because there is a “very careful, meticulous process” for planning each project. The Secretary was responding to a question during a media conference call about a letter that Colorado Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet sent to the heads of the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and the Fish and Wildlife Service. The senators asked the agencies to review their prescribed fire procedures in light of the fatal Lower North Fork escaped prescribed fire on state land in Colorado. The Secretary said:

Both the Forest Service and the BLM and the Interior agencies have a very careful, meticulous process for determining whether a prescribed fire should be ignited. And we as a whole of the federal government feel very confident that if the process is followed we will be able to achieve a successful prescribed fire and thereby reduce hazardous fuel accumulation to make communities safer from the effects of a wildfire. So our history has shown that with all the prescribed fires that we do have around the country that we can do it in fact safely. So we will be responding to both Senator Udall and Senator Bennett because I think they are correct in terms of raising the issue just to make sure that we have all the appropriate protocols in place so that we can do prescribed fire burning safely.

In addition to Secretary Salazar, other federal officials on the conference call to discuss wildfire preparedness included Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture; Craig Fugate, FEMA Administrator; Tom Tidwell, Forest Service Chief; and Ed Delgado, National Interagency Fire Center.

In response to a question about the diminished fleet of air tankers, Chief Tidwell said there could be up to three more large air tankers brought on this year and as many as ten more next year.

We’ll bring on probably another three [large air tankers] this year through additional contracts along with one very large air tanker that we also have on contract and then this year we will continue to rely on the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve to provide up to eight of their C-130s. We can slip in a retardant system into those aircraft and within a few hours have another eight aircraft that can respond to fires…So that’s what we have for this year. Next year we plan to probably bring on maybe up to another 10 additional large air tankers through this request for proposals to be able to augment our current fleet.

Actually, the interagency agreement requires that Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems (MAFFS) C-130s be operational within 48 hours. However, MAFFS aircraft have routinely responded within 36 hours of the initial request.

The Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture issued a news release on Thursday about the 2012 wildfire season.

USDA & DOI issue statement about wildfire season

Today the Secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Interior released a joint statement about the 2012 wildfire season which has already made its early impacts known in New England, the east coast, the southeast, the southwest, as well as South Dakota, Colorado, and Montana.

The news release does not contain any earth-shattering information, in fact it looks like it could have been a copy from a previous year with few facts added to make it appear current.

There is no mention of how the funding for this year compares to previous years, or that the number of large helicopters has been cut by 12%, down to 30 compared to 34 last year, or that the number of large air tankers is about 25% of what we had 10 years ago.

Below is the complete text of the news release. If you have trouble falling asleep at night, try reading this just before your bed time… it should work like a charm.
Continue reading “USDA & DOI issue statement about wildfire season”

Man ordered to pay $2.7 M for New Mexico fire

GavelA Texas resident has been ordered to pay $2,700,000 in restitution for starting a wildfire in New Mexico in April of 2011. Rodrigo Ulloa-Esquivel of El Paso admitted that he lit toilet paper on fire after relieving himself. He explained that he did not want to leave litter behind. The Last Chance fire burned 53,342 acres in the Lincoln National Forest and damaged four structures in the Sitting Bulls Falls Recreation area. U.S. Forest Service officials said it cost $2,300,000 million to suppress the fire and the damages to the structures amounted to $67,500.

He was also sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.