The Hot Springs Fire Department annually conducts a prescribed fire along the Fall River flood channel in Hot Springs, South Dakota. This prevents woody vegetation from growing and clogging the waterway. The reeds and grasses grow back quickly.
Today the weather was almost perfect to reduce the fuels along the river and it burned very well. During the project the Red Canyon weather station about 14 miles to the west recorded the following conditions at 10:57 a.m. MT: 64 degrees, 28% relative humidity, and a south wind at 8 mph. Last year they conducted the burn on April 9. At that time the weather at the Hot Springs Municipal Airport was 43 degrees, with a relative humidity of 93%. And there was occasional drizzling rain.
Power company and contractors agree to pay nearly $30M for fires
Federal prosecutors in California have reached agreements with a power company and two tree-trimming contractors over two fires in 2004. One burned 7,700 acres in the Eldorado National Forest and the other burned 3,300 acres in the Six Rivers and Shasta-Trinity National Forests. Federal officials said the fires were caused by power lines brought down by falling trees.
Western Environmental Consultants Inc. will pay $11.4 million to cover damage from the fire in the Six Rivers and Shasta-Trinity National Forests. Davey Tree Surgery Co. will pay $12 million for its role in the in the Eldorado National Forest fire. Pacific Gas and Electric Company has agreed to pay $6.1 million.
These are not the largest settlements in California for starting fires. In 2008 the Union Pacific Railroad Company agreed to pay $102 million for starting a fire north of Sacramento in 2000 that burned 52,000 acres of the Lassen and Plumas national forests. Sparks from welders repairing tracks caused the Storrie Fire on August 17, 2000, in Plumas County.
The U. S. Department of Justice and the state of California’s CalFire have been very successful with their Fire Recovery Litigation Teams, assigned to investigate and prosecute individuals and companies who start wildland fires.
Wisconsin Supreme Court awards double damages for 2003 fire
Former Supreme Court Justice Jon Wilcox and 18 other plaintiffs were awarded double the $568,422 that was the result of a 2006 court decision over damages from a 2003 fire started by a negligent camper. The award was handed down by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, five members of which served on the Court with former Justice Wilcox.
I don’t remember seeing Red Flag Warnings covering such large areas, so frequently, and this early in the fire season. What’s going on here? Is it possible that there really is something to this Climate Change stuff (he said, with tongue planted in cheek)?
Here is a very well done video put together by the Toronto Police Department to encourage parents to teach their children when, and when not to call 911.
A jury in Oregon is deliberating, after a week-long trial, a case related to the crash of a helicopter on the Iron Complex (or Iron 44) fire in northern California in 2008 that killed nine firefighters and crew personnel. The lawsuit was initiated by the surviving co-pilot, William Coultas, and the estate of the pilot who died, Roark Schwanenberg. They are suing the maker of the helicopter’s engines, General Electric, for $177 million, claiming there were problems with a fuel control valve and that the specifications on the fuel filters were inadequate to remove contaminants.
GE’s position agrees with the findings of the NTSB which determined that the owner and operator of the Sikorsky S-61N helicopter, Carson Helicopters, under-stated the weight of the helicopter and over-stated its performance in the documents they provided to the U.S. Forest Service when bidding on their firefighting contract. The NTSB estimated that the actual empty weight of the helicopter was 13,845 pounds, while Carson Helicopters stated in their contract proposal that the weight was 12,013 pounds. For the purpose of load calculations on the day of the crash, the pilot assumed the weight to be 12,408 pounds, which was 1,437 pounds less than the actual weight estimated by the NTSB. According to their findings, for the mission of flying the firefighters off the helispot, the helicopter was already over the allowable weight even without the firefighters on board.
Mr. Coultas has long claimed that Carson Helicopters and the two pilots were not at fault for the accident and that the engines did not provide full power as they lifted off the helispot that day with a load of wildland firefighters. The NTSB disagreed, saying that the engines were operating at full power when the rotors clipped trees as it tried but failed to gain adequate altitude.
Killed in the crash were pilot Roark Schwanenberg, 54; pilot Jim Ramage, 63; Shawn Blazer, 30; Scott Charlson, 25; Matthew Hammer, 23; Edrik Gomez, 19; Bryan Rich, 29; David Steele, 19; and Steven “Caleb” Renno, 21.
The jury began their deliberations on Thursday, March 15. We will update this article when they return a verdict.
Arkansas Fire Chief rolls truck, receives written warning from State Trooper
Pea Ridge Fire Chief Frank Rizzio failed to negotiate a corner and rolled a water tender while responding to a structure fire on Wednesday. The Chief crawled out of the shattered windshield 4,000-gallon truck which was totalled. An officer from the Arkansas State Police issued Chief Rizzio, who was treated and released at a hospital, a written warning for failure to maintain control.
NASA awards grant for monitoring wildfires
NASA has awarded a 10-year grant totaling $32 million to Cal State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) to continue research on wildfire monitoring, agricultural water management, flood forecasting, and crop yield predictions. CSUMB’s Vince Ambrosia has done pioneering research previously on the use of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, to monitor and map wildfires, at times using NASA’s aircraft.
NASA's Predator B, called the Ikhana; NASA photo
Firefighters resign over poisoning another’s canteen water
Two firefighters in Titusville, Florida have resigned after admitting that they were involved in putting a poisonous substance into another firefighter’s canteen that he would have used on a brush fire. Police said the substance was Gunk, a cleaning product.
Randy Moore, 40, driver and operator, resigned Tuesday. Rod Donhoff, firefighter and paramedic, resigned Feb. 29. Moore faces charges of poisoning water/food and aggravated stalking. Donhoff was charged with stalking and petty theft of government property.
USFS Fire Chief “cautiously confident” about aerial firefighting capability
Tom Harbour, Director of Fire Aviation Management for the U.S. Forest Service, was quoted by the Mountain-News regarding the air tanker fleet:
I’m feeling cautiously confident about our capabilities nationally…
Mr. Harbour is “cautiously confident” in spite of the fact that the air tanker fleet is only 25% of the size of the 2002 fleet.
The Hot Springs Fire Department annually conducts a prescribed fire along the Fall River flood channel in Hot Springs, South Dakota. This prevents woody vegetation from growing and clogging the waterway. The reeds and grasses grow back quickly.
