The funeral arrangements have been announced for the two Florida Division of Forestry firefighters that were killed on the Blue Ribbon fire in Hamilton County, Florida Monday. Both funerals will be at the Christ Central Ministries Church, 217 S.W. Dyal Road, Lake City, Florida (map), phone 386-755-2525. Josh Burch’s will be Friday June 24 at 10 a.m. and Brett Fulton’s will be Saturday June 25 at 10 a.m.
The Division of Forestry is accepting letters of condolence on behalf of the families of Burch and Fulton. Please mail correspondence to: Family of Josh Burch or Family of Brett Fulton c/o Director Jim Karels, Division of Forestry, 3125 Conner Boulevard,Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1650
The Preliminary Summary Report about the fatal incident is posted at the Wildfire Lessons Learned Center.
Firstcoastnews.com has a video report featuring tractor plow operator Mark Reddish who wore a helmet camera while fighting fires for the Florida Division of Forestry.
DC-10 dropping on the Wallow fire near Greer, AZ, June 11, 2011. Photo, Kari Greer, USFS
From reading the report that came out of the Aerial Firefighting Conference held in Washington, DC May 25-26, it must have been a very interesting gathering. Organized by Tangent Link, it assembled many of the movers and shakers in the field that work in the United States.
Discussion topics on the agenda included:
How do we calculate and what are the real costs in tackling wild land fires in the USA?
Should there be a new Federal lead agency in prioritizing and resolving wild land fire assets, resources and funding?
Is there a need for more research and development activities in finding better solutions for combating ‘Mega’ wild land fires?
Which aircraft are in development that could be used to combat these fires?
Would the use of Military technologies enable for a more direct and responsive approach to combating fires, including night time operations?
Technical advances and solutions in development
What is the correct mix of aerial assets in combating fires and should there be a centralized aerial firefighting squadron?
What is the best approach in training aerial firefighting teams in new tactics and technologies?
Confirmed Speakers included:
Tom Harbour – Director of USDA Forest Service Fire & Aviation Management
Ray Chaney – Battalion Chief, CAL FIRE – Aerial Firefighting Airborne Sensor Down Linking
Frank M. Gladics, Minority Professional Staff, U.S. Senate Energy & Natural Resource Committee, USA – The Budgetary and Political Realities of replacing the existing fleet of large fixed-wing tankers
Norman Christensen, Professor of Ecology, Duke University, North Carolina: Fire Management- Past, Present & Future
William Derr, Special Agent in Charge of California Region, US Forest Service (Retd): The Elements of Success & Measurement in Aerial Fire Fighting
Rick Hatton – CEO, 10 Tanker Air Carrier – Raising the Bar in Fixed Wing Air tanker Operations
Mark Bickham, National Program Manager (Ret’d) Bureau of Land Management, USA – Single Engine Air Tankers
Area Commander Jim Loach, on the left, briefs Rep. Jeff Flake, Sen. John McCain, and Tom Harbour, Director of Fire and Aviation for the USFS. June 18, 2011. Photo by USFS.
Managers of the Wallow fire spent parts of Saturday and Monday briefing dignitaries that visited the fire area.
Sen. John McCain, Thomas Tidwell (Chief of the Forest Service), and Tom Harbour (Director of Fire and Aviation, USFS). June 18, 2011. Photo by USFS.Norm Walker, one of the four Incident Commanders on the Wallow fire, briefs Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar on June 20, 2011. Photo: US Army Pfc Danielle J. Sargent AZNG
Monument fire at 3:11 p.m. 6-19-2011. Photo: Northern Rockies IMTeam
Sierra Vista, Arizona, a city near the Mexican border with a population of 43,000 people has been heavily impacted by the Monument fire looming just south of the city. (Scroll down to see a map of the fire.) Some of the city’s employees are among the 10,000 people that are still evacuated from their homes but many of them are still staffing call center phone lines and performing their regular jobs while smoke from the fire that has destroyed 58 homes drifts over the city.
Bill Paxton, the Information officer for Greg Poncin’s Type 1 Northern Rockies Incident Management Team, has praised the city for their preparedness and for having trained their employees in the use of the Incident Command System. Here is an excerpt from an article in the Sierra Vista Herald/Review:
SIERRA VISTA — While the City of Sierra Vista’s role in responding to the dangers posed by the Monument Fire has been secondary to federal agencies, by all accounts the city’s approach has been exceptionally proactive. Among its most important duties has been getting vital information to those who need it, most importantly to area residents.
The Northern Rockies Incident Management Team is leading area efforts and Bill Paxton, who is working as the public information officer, has never been so impressed with a city’s preparedness in all 40 years of his experience dealing with emergencies.
“This is the most organized city that I have met in my entire fire career, in terms of the management of the emergency response to this wildland fire incident,” Paxton said. “I’ve been with a lot of cities and usually you have to bring them along in the process. It’s a learning experience; it takes about a week to get them where you want them.”
When he walked into the Sierra Vista City Hall that was simply not the case. Instead Paxton said, “It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.”
The city’s staff is trained in the National Incident Management System and that showed immediately.
“It’s almost like having a little incident management team already set up here … and I’m just a cog in something that’s already running,” Paxton said. “This is the first city I’ve ever been to that I’ve seen this. I’ve been in all the corners of the country.”
He hopes other cities use Sierra Vista as a model for emergency response in the future.
Paxton is heading the team’s Joint Information Center, which is tasked with providing timely and accurate information to the public as its four phone lines literally average a phone call every 15 seconds when it is needed most.
