Civilian badly burned in fire department’s prescribed fire in Whiteclay, Neb.

Whiteclay Nebraska
Whiteclay, Nebraska as seen in Google Maps Streetview

A man that was apparently not directly involved with a prescribed fire was entrapped and badly burned on March 7 in Whiteclay, (map) a very small town in the northwestern part of Nebraska. The articles in the Omaha World-Herald and Indian Country are not super clear on how Bryan Blue Bird Jr., 51, of Pine Ridge, SD came to be in the project area, but said the incident occurred in a vacant lot, “where drinkers often end up after buying beer in the unincorporated village”. The volunteer fire department from Rushville, Nebraska, about 15 miles south of Whiteclay, was conducting the prescribed fire, according to both news articles.

I have never heard of an incident like this, in which a civilian is seriously burned during a small prescribed fire conducted by an organized fire agency.

Here is an excerpt from the article in the Omaha World-Herald.

A Lakota Sioux man was seriously injured in a recent controlled burn of vacant lots in Whiteclay, Neb., and family members and friends question whether firefighters were negligent in not checking the area before igniting the blaze.

Bryan Blue Bird Jr., 51, of Pine Ridge, S.D., was hospitalized with burns over 25 percent of his body after the March 7 incident.

Volunteer firefighters from Rushville had been burning off thick grass from vacant lots to reduce fire risks to local businesses when Blue Bird was spotted amid the flames, according to Sheridan County Sheriff Terry Robbins.

He said firefighters doused the unemployed military veteran with water and then pulled him from the fire area.

Blue Bird is in the intensive care unit of a Greeley, Colo., hospital, where he is scheduled for a skin graft on his hands Thursday. He also has burns on his face and back, family members said.

His longtime girlfriend, Patricia White Bear Claw, said firefighters should have more thoroughly checked the vacant lots, where drinkers often end up after buying beer in the unincorporated village.

“They know they sit down there and drink. They know that. They should have checked,” White Bear Claw said.

UPDATE at 12:15 p.m. MT, March 26, 2012:

After a person calling themselves “Felix” made an accusation in a comment on this article that the Bureau of Indian Affairs was responsible for the prescribed fire in White Clay, I heard today from Dave Martin, an Assistant Regional Fire Management Officer for the BIA. He said they looked into this, and confirmed that the BIA was not involved in any way with the incident. The volunteer fire department from Rushville, Nebraska conducted the prescribed fire, not the BIA. Mr. Martin also said the account of the incident in the Omaha World-Herald is essentially correct.

Thanks go out to Mark

Wildfire news, March 22, 2012

Doug Erskine passes away

Doug ErskineDoug Erskine, former National Park Service Director of Fire Management Operations at the National Interagency Fire Center passed away Wednesday night. He had been dealing with the effects of emphysema/COPD for the last eight years. In September the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center posted a 4-minute video featuring him speaking about an intercommunication skill and tactic that worked for him throughout his career. He leaves his wife Margaret, who said there will be a memorial service but not for at least a few weeks.

Civilian fatalities and injuries

Three stories about civilians being killed or burned in fires are in the news:

  • The initial reports were that James Alex Cefaloni, 64, died in a brush fire near Lake Hartwell in Townville, South Carolina. However the Anderson County Deputy Coroner said Thursday that Mr. Cefaloni died of a heart attack after a fire spread from the pile of leaves he was burning.
  • A medical examiner has determined that a woman found dead after the Washoe fire near Reno, Nevada on January 20, 2012 died of smoke inhalation. Both a son and daughter of June Hargis, 93, called her and frantically tried to get her to evacuate, but she did not think the fire was a threat and stayed in her home, which later burned. Wildfire Today covered this tragic story on January 22.
  • Dannie Withrow, 72, suffered burns over 20 percent of his body while trying to put out a fire that escaped while he was burning trash. He was taken off a ventilator Wednesday morning but is listed in critical condition.

Nebraska fire burns nearly 7,000 acres

And speaking of escaped fires, a prescribed fire on private land near Mullen, Nebraska (map) got out of control and burned 6,700 acres on Wednesday. KNOP-TV reports that 20 fire departments responded as well as a “crop sprayer”. The prescribed fire began at 10:30 a.m., it was reported to the fire department as escaped at noon, and was contained at 5:30 p.m.

Early fire season in plains and upper midwest

A story from the AP is being widely circulated. Here is an excerpt:

…The region’s early start to wildfire season was brought on by a “vicious cycle” of weather patterns, explained Beth Hermanson of the South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression Division. Three years of excessive snow and rain fed grass growth before this winter’s relatively light snowpack, which left grass standing 4 or 5-feet tall in some areas dried out – creating perfect fuel for wildfires.

“This time of year that’s very unusual because normally we get that snow cover and it lays (the grass) down,” Hermanson said.

“There’s a lot of fuel to burn out there, which is a recipe for disaster as far as fires go,” added North Dakota Forest Service fire specialist Ryan Melin.

Melin said North Dakota averages about 500 grassfires a year, but he expects far more this season considering dozens have already been reported. He also noted that two consecutive springs of heavy rain and flooding dampened grassfires but also spurred excessive vegetation growth.

“This year, my gut feeling is we’re going to be quite a bit above that,” Melin said, adding that about 90 percent of such fires are sparked by humans. “We’ve had a ton of fires and multiple large-scale events of over 1,000 acres.”

Federal land management agencies advertise thousands of seasonal jobs

An article in the Washington Post covers the tens of thousands of seasonal jobs that the federal land management agencies are advertising, including 12,000 U.S. Forest Service positions.
Thanks go out to Dick

Followup on firefighter burned on Colorado’s Heartstrong fire

Heartstrong fire
Heartstrong fire, March 18, 2012. Photo by Tony Rayl / Yuma Pioneer, used with permission

The firefighter that was burned after being entrapped on the Heartstrong fire in northeastern Colorado on March 18 is in a burn center in Greeley, Colorado. Jennifer Struckmeyer is being treated in the Western States Burn Center at North Colorado Medical Center for 3rd degree burns.

On Monday when we heard that a firefighter was hospitalized with burn injuries we notified the Wildland Firefighter Foundation (WFF), a non-profit organization that provides assistance to firefighters and their families after accidents or fatalities on wildfires. Today we talked with Vicki Minor, the Executive Director and founder of the WFF, who told us that Ms. Struckmeyer is listed in critical condition and that the burn injuries to her feet and hands are of the most concern. Thankfully she does not have any respiratory damage, but is expected to be in the hospital for four to six weeks. The WFF has contacted her family and offered the services that they can provide.

Firefighters with the Greeley Fire Department are also assisting the family, giving them some gift cards and taking them out to dinner. Along with the WFF, the Greeley FD folks also provided a great deal of assistance to the family of Austin Whitney, one of the firefighters that was burned on the Coal Canyon fire in South Dakota in August, 2011 who was also treated at the Greeley Burn Center. His fellow crew member, Trampus Haskvitz, was killed during that burn over.

If you are wondering how you can help Ms. Struckmeyer, or other firefighters that are seriously injured on a wildfire, consider making a donation to the WFF. They do great work for injured firefighters and their families. A few weeks ago I re-upped my membership in the 52 Club, a $52 donation which represents a dollar for each week of the year.

Heartstrong fire

These two photos were taken by Tony Rayl of the Yuma Pioneer on March 18, the day the fire started, and are used here with his permission.

The photos remind me of one that was taken in Australia in 2009 that we turned into a caption contest.

CAL FIRE letter to USFS about air tanker strategy

The letter below that Ken Pimlott, the Director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection wrote to the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, Tom Tidwell, states unequivocally that CAL FIRE is not pleased with the current state of the large air tanker fleet which has disintegrated by 75 percent over the last 10 years to only the 11 we have today. They also point out that the recent USFS Large Air Tanker Modernization Strategy is insufficient to meet the needs of the combined federal, state and local wildland firefighting missions.

CALFIRE air tanker letter

CALFIRE air tanker letter

Soldiers and volunteers help fight fire in Kenya

Lori Helicopter dipping
Caption from the Lori Helicopters' Facebook page: "How about that!! Dipping your water bucket into a pool, at the base of a narrow necked, 40ft gorge, in a 25 knot crosswind and all at altitude. Wow, that's certainly some incredibly controlled flying... you go Shawn!— at Mt Kenya Forest. (photo used with permission. Credit: Teeku Patel / Sokomoto.com) "

Updated at 9:22 a.m. March 21, 2012

Soldiers from the Kenyan and British armies along with 500 local residents and volunteers are helping to slow the spread of a large wildfire burning in Kenya on Mt. Kenya. They are assisting the Kenya Forest Service and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) on the fire that is burning indigenous and bamboo forest and moorland.

An article at allafrica.com said helicopters from the KWS and the British Army have been joined by a “volunteer” helicopter from Lady Lori, a company that provides helicopter services out of Nairobi, Kenya. We contacted the company and learned that initially they did volunteer the use of the helicopter, but now they are “on the clock”. Lady Lori’s Facebook page has some additional photos of the Eurocopter AS350 B3 which has been working on the fire for five days.

Lori Helicopter dropping fire Kenya
Photo used with permission. Credit: Teeku Patel / Sokomoto.com

Here are some excerpts from a blog on the Lady Lori web site, dated March 20, which also has copies of the photos:

========================================================

Yesterday afternoon Shawn Evans, our Canadian Long-lining specialist, his Lady Lori AS350B3 and the heroic ground team were battling to save a school that was being threatened to be engulfed by flames.

It concerns one of the largest forest fires in Kenya’s history and the first time a Kenyan fire has been fought by air. The photo’s describe how Lady Lori’s people are trying hard to get the fires under control:

1. As darkness fell it appeared that we might have succeeded, however moments later the wind picked up and once more the fire took hold of the tinder dry trees. We’re all just praying that the school was somehow spared and we’ll find it still in tact this morning.

2. Shawn and his Lady Lori Eurocopter are operating at between 6,000 and 13,000ft, right on the outer limits of man and machines capabilities.

3. How about that!! Dipping your water bucket into a pool, at the base of a narrow necked, 40ft gorge, in a 25 knot crosswind and all at altitude.Wow, that’s certainly some incredibly controlled flying… You go Shawn!

4. It’s now the fifth day since we took-off from Wilson in response to the Chief Park Warden, Simon Gitau’s, request for assistance with the herculean efforts up on Mount Kenya. Simon Gitau is heading up the efforts in an attempt to seize back control from the forest fires. It’s all very much touch and go at the moment, however he did receive the incredibly welcome addition of 30 British soldiers, who have been dispatched to camp out on the mountain and assist the KWS and Police personal already there fighting the fires.

5. Much more is needed though and whilst Lady Lori are certainly proving their worth, helicopters can only assist in reducing fires to a manageable size, it’s the people on the ground that actually put fires out. Here’s hoping for less wind, some heaven sent rain and a few more additional firefighters on the ground.

Written by Ian Mimano on 20.03.12
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North Carolina’s CL-215 being sold by company featured on reality show

You may remember when Wildfire Today told you last year that the state of North Carolina sold their CL-215 water-scooping air tanker on eBay for $445,099. Money was cited as the reason for unloading the aircraft, and at the time the state government was not overflowing with cash. David Lane, head of the forest protection for the state’s Division of Forest Resources, said it cost up to $1.2 million a year to operate, which was 35 percent of the division’s aircraft budget and they did not have the funding for an estimated $1.5 million needed for repairs and FAA-required maintenance.

North Carolina's CL-215 before it was sold in March
North Carolina's CL-215 before it was sold in March. State of NC photo.

There are several twists to this story.

The aircraft is now listed for sale by the new buyer for $3.5 million, almost eight times North Carolina’s selling price, but it remains to be seen if anyone will pay that price. The state bought the aircraft, which was manufactured in 1969, for $4 million in 1998.

North Carolina sold the air tanker a month before the 20,000+ acre Pains Bay fire started. Fire managers in the state loved the aircraft, and for 14 years had counted on the quick turn-around 1,400-gallon water drops it could make. It was replaced with some contracted single-engine air tankers that could also scoop water.

The company that bought the CL-215 on eBay, Buffalo Airways of Yellowknife, Northwest Territory, Canada has their own reality show on the National Geographic and History Channels called “Ice Pilots”. Buffalo has owned other CL-215s. We wrote about the show in August of last year when they aired a series of episodes in which the company had sold two of them to the Turkish government and were attempting to deliver them to the buyer, flying them across Canada, the north Atlantic, and Europe. (I never heard if they made it all the way to Turkey.) The Weather Channel has picked up “Ice Pilots” and is showing season three at 9 p.m. ET on Mondays. A fourth season is currently in production. You can watch full episodes of the show online at History Television (update, but it appears that only Canadians can view the online episodes).

The Charlotte Observer has more details about the saga of North Carolina’s CL-215.