Here is an excerpt from a U. S. Forest Service news release about a simulation study of more than 45,000 forest stands which provides a scientific basis for fuel reduction guidelines.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2011 – In the largest ever study of fuel treatment effectiveness, U.S. Forest Service researchers have found that intense thinning treatments that leave between 50 and 100 trees per acre are the most effective in reducing the probability of crown fires in the dry forests of the western United States.
The study, the results of which are published in a recent issue of the Canadian Journal of Forest Research, provides a scientific basis for establishing quantitative guidelines for reducing stand densities and surface fuels. The total number of optimal trees per acre on any given forest will depend on species, terrain and other factors.
“This study proves once again that an ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure,” said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell. “Thinning dense forests reduces the impacts of the catastrophic wildfires we’ve already seen this year and expect to see more and more of in the future. This work helps protect communities, provides jobs and promotes overall better forest health.”
This year, Arizona and New Mexico have already experienced the worst fires in the states’ histories. The importance of thinning was illustrated by the recent Wallow fire in Arizona, which burned more than 538,000 acres. Although 38 structures burned, a system of fuel treatments developed cooperatively by federal, state and local governments, as well as private citizens, successfully reduced fire behavior and allowed firefighters to protect thousands of structures and, in many places, halt the spread of the fire.
A Conair ground crewperson attaches a hose to the tank of a Lockheed L-188 Electra airtanker at their base in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Photo: Andy Clark.
Conair, a Canadian company that currently has 12 large air tankers and 3 Canadair CL-215’s, has introduced a new system for delivering water or fire retardant from the tank of a Lockheed L-188 Electra. The constant-flow system, developed in cooperation with British Columbia’s Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, has the following features:
12,490 Litre (3,300 US Gallon) capacity Retardant Delivery System;
Efficient lower volume, higher coverage level application of retardants for improved lightning strike fire containment and effectiveness;
Increased capability for higher coverage level application of retardants through dense forest canopies;
Increased capability and efficiency for more uniform line building qualities;
Incorporates new retardant delivery system data tracking capability allowing real time access to all aspects of the drop events – information is transmitted via satellite downlink.
Here is a video, uploaded July 26, 2011, that I believe is a demonstration of the new system. The formatting is very strange, but check out the length of the drop. It must be a very light coverage level.
Conair, according to their web site, has 10 Convair CV-580 air tankers, a twin-engine aircraft, but they only have one four-piston-engine L-188 Electra, which was produced from 1957 until 1961.
The air frame of the L-188 was used as the basis for the Lockheed P-3 Orion. Six of Aero Union’s P-3 air tankers were shut down a few days ago when the U.S. Forest Service cancelled their contract due to the company’s inadequate participation in a continued airworthiness program, which included a Fatigue and Damage Tolerance Evaluation and structural inspection program. This leaves 11 large air tankers on federal exclusive use contracts in the United States, compared to the 44 that were on contract in 2002 and the 19 that were on contract earlier this summer. But not to worry. Tom Harbour, director of the Forest Service’s Fire and Aviation Management program said, “This contract termination notwithstanding, we possess the aircraft support needed for this year’s fire season.”
Three Convair CV-580 air tankers are currently in Boise jumping through the contracting hoops. If everything is approved, this would bring the total number of large air tankers on exclusive use contracts up to 14. If the predicted wildfire potential for August through November turns out to be correct, 14 may be adequate. If the fire occurrence in August and September turns out to be average, all bets are off.
In January we wrote about a study which concluded that increasing an engine crew from three to four firefighters improves the efficiency in laying 1,200 feet of hose by 41 percent, or 8.5 minutes. Now that CalFire has reduced the staffing on their engines from four to three, the results on at least one incident appear to corroborate the study.
Here is an excerpt from an article in the Fresno Bee, titled “Firefighers put in harm’s way with fewer people, fewer resources”:
…But, under state budget cuts, Cal Fire was battling the blaze with three firefighters per engine instead of the normal four-man crews used in the wildfire season. They couldn’t get water around the fire in time. It jumped the ridge and devoured the next canyon.
The incident on what one fire captain called “a standard wildfire” stoked fear over whether staffing cuts are affecting first-strike capabilities of firefighters to stave off severe wildland events.
“I really thought we could catch it,” Cal Fire Capt. Doug Freeman said. “Basically, with the fatigue factor [of using a three-man crew], we just couldn’t.”
Freeman summoned reinforcements as the blaze that he thought could have been kept to fewer than 10 acres spread to 133 acres and cost $300,000 to put out.
As California closed a gaping budget deficit this year with sweeping cuts to numerous agencies, it saved $34 million by cutting 750 seasonal Cal Fire firefighters. That means one fewer person per engine unit to haul thousands of feet of hose lines and share the exhausting physical rigors of battling wildfires.
In the Sacramento region, the cuts mean a total of 29 fewer Cal Fire firefighters in El Dorado and Amador counties and 44 fewer firefighters assigned to the Nevada, Yuba and Placer County region.
Cal Fire’s Madera, Mariposa and Merced county region lost 37 seasonal firefighters, and Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties are operating with 50 fewer firefighters in the peak fire season.
The Predictive Services section at the National Interagency Fire Center has issued their National Wildland Significant Fire Potential Outlook for August through November, 2011. According to their prediction, most of the western United States is in for a quiet late summer and fall, with the exception of Texas and Oklahoma in August, and most of the southeast except for Florida from September through November.
Remember the huge battles to get the bill passed to provide health care for the firefighters that were suffering from medical issues after working in the debris from the towers that fell during the 9/11 attacks? Most of us felt a huge relief when the “S. 1334: James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2009“ was finally passed. We wrote about it several times, with the latest being HERE.
It turns out that the bill, or at least the way the provisions are being interpreted, does not cover the treatment of cancer for the firefighters that worked on the debris pile. Cancer — you would think this would be close to the number one condition covered for the people that worked in that toxic environment.
John Howard, the World Trade Center Health Program administrator, said in a statement that cancer would not be covered because there is not adequate “published scientific and medical findings” that a causal link exists between September 11 exposures and the occurrence of cancer in responders and survivors. So if we wait, and study the link for another, what, 20 or 30 years we can prove it then?
This is a disgrace.
Jon Stewart of the Daily Show, in a piece named “I Thought We Already Took Care of This S@#t”, expresses his opinion on the issue. The clip has profanity, but it is bleeped out.
NorthJersey.com has more details about this development.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government has a vastly different approach. For years the provinces of Alberta and Manitoba have had presumptive coverage for a list of conditions for firefighters. If they are diagnosed with one of the cancers on the list, it is considered an occupational disease and they may be eligible for workers compensation benefits. In fact, Alberta expanded their list in May to include prostate, breast, skin and multiple myeloma, bringing the total to 14 types covered under the Workers Compensation Board. Their government acknowledges that firefighters are at a greater risk of contracting cancer than the general public, and it can be difficult or impossible to prove that a particular case of cancer was caused by a specific incident or exposure, on or off the job.
P-3 Orion, making a low drop on a fire near Cedar City, Utah, in 2006. From zionhelitack.blogspot.com
The U. S. Forest Service has cancelled their contract for six large air tankers. Due to Aero Union “failing to meet its contractual obligations” their P-3 air tankers are no longer available for wildfires. In April, 2011 the company had eight P-3 air tankers that were grounded for a few days because of “issues found during aircraft inspection on one of the P-3s”. Since then it appears that two of their eight P-3’s were removed from the contract, leaving the six that today’s announcement said are now off contract as well. The air tankers that are now out of service are T-17, T-21, T-22, T-23, T-27 and T-00.
This leaves 11 large air tankers remaining on exclusive use contracts, all P2V’s. With all of the eggs now in the same basket, if a problem is found that grounds all P2V’s, we are down to zero air tankers under federal exclusive use contracts. Contrast that with the 44 that were on contract in 2002. Nine of the eleven remaining P2V’s are operated by Neptune out of Missoula, MT. Minden Air out of Minden, NV has two P2V’s under contract.
The USFS has refused to put the very large air tankers (VLAT) under exclusive use contracts, and only offered call when needed (CWN) contracts, with no minimum hour or day guarantee, for the DC-10’s and the 747, operated by 10 Tanker Air Carrier and Evergreen. 10 Tanker reluctantly signed the CWN contract with the USFS, but Evergreen did not. As we wrote only yesterday, both companies have told Wildfire Today that they will have difficulty continuing to operate their very large air tankers if they are only occasionally used on fires. They are large, complex, single-purpose aircraft and can’t be diverted like helicopters can, to other uses such as law enforcement or news. CalFire’s CWN contract for the DC-10’s specifies a 5-day minimum.
To summarize, the USFS now has only 11 large air tankers under exclusive use contracts, 33 fewer than we had in 2002. The two DC-10’s are under a CWN contract.
We have ranted on several occasions about the sad state of the aging air tanker fleet. It has been nine years since two very old military surplus air tankers literally fell apart in mid air in 2002, killing five crew members, prompting the permanent grounding of about 57% of the ancient large air tankers. You would think that the US Forest Service and the other federal land management agencies would have immediately taken steps to reconstitute the large air tanker fleet. Well they did take steps, but not enough to lead to any action other than commissioning study after study. The issue has been studied to death. It is long past time to make a damn decision and do something. SOMETHING!
The last study that was commissioned was due in January, 2011, but the Rand Corporation did not deliver it on time. Now it is expected in August, and we’ll see if it spurs action, or if like the others, it collects dust on a shelf.
Most firefighters, and especially higher level fire managers, are genetically programmed to evaluate facts and to be decisive. This appalling situation leads me to believe that firefighters are not a significant part of this decision making process.
Analysis Paralysis is the total inability to reach a decision. Found often in the business and corporate setting. Usually a condition caused by nit picking managers and owners. The primary source is management/owner requests for more information, reports, studies, statistics, evaluations, opinion, and research on a subject. All of this requested research and study is accompanied by endless, mindless, discussions in multiple meetings regarding the subject and the compiled information. The end result is no decision is made because the efforts placed to garner information and hold endless meetings and discussions are viewed as progress on the subject matter.
Hey did management ever decide if we were going to get extra donuts on donut day? Are you kidding me? They spent $2,000 on a cost analysis, accounting is still crunching cost figures and they have been discussing it for 9 months. It is in the company’s usual state of total analysis paralysis.
At the Aerial Firefighting Conference held in Washington, DC last May, Frank Gladics, professional staff member with the U.S. Senate energy and natural resources committee, addressed the report that some in the USFS would like to replace the aging fleet of large air tankers with 20 to 30 C-130Js at a cost of $80 to $85 million each. Gladics said funding is not available for such a massive purchase, and…
We need a more diverse fleet. . . . Go back and look at alternate aircraft, including water-scooping aircraft. Our forests, the resources and communities can’t wait another 10 years while you wait for the existing fleet to become inoperable in hopes Congress will be forced to buy you that Ferrari you want.
US Forest Service Cancels Airtanker Contract with Aero Union
California company did not meet agency’s safety standards
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2011–The U.S. Forest Service announced today that it has terminated its contract with Aero Union of Sacramento, Calif., because the company failed to meet its contractual obligations. The company was providing six airtankers under exclusive-use contracts to the Forest Service.
“Our main priority is protecting and saving lives, and we can’t in good conscience maintain an aviation contract where we feel lives may be put at risk due to inadequate safety practices” said Tom Harbour, director of the Forest Service’s Fire and Aviation Management program. “This contract termination notwithstanding, we possess the aircraft support needed for this year’s fire season.”
The Forest Service has access to additional aviation assets to meet operational needs. Two other private companies provide 11 large airtankers under exclusive-use contracts. In addition, there are two very large airtankers available through a “call when needed” contract, as well as eight military firefighting aircraft.
The five-year contract the Forest Service signed with Aero Union in 2008 required participation in a continued airworthiness program, which included a Fatigue and Damage Tolerance Evaluation and structural inspection program. In April 2011, Aero Union informed the Forest Service that the Federal Aviation Administration found the company was not in compliance with its mandated structural inspection program requirements.
More information about the aging air tanker fleet on Wildfire Today:
