Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge conducted a 704-acre prescribed fire April 4, 2014 in the southeast corner of the refuge near I-75 and SR 29. Firefighter Connor Bowden uses a drip torch to ignite a portion of the project. Photo Credit: Paul Stevko – USFWS
A survey was conducted in January, 2021 to assess the state of both National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) and non-NWCG prescribed fire training in the Southern geographic area. It was developed, distributed, and analyzed by a work group formed by the Southeast Regional Strategy Committee of the Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy and the Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability.
The online survey was completed by 955 practitioners, private landowners, and others within all 13 Southern states.
The complete 34 page analysis of the responses is posted, but below are some observations and recommendations.
Results from a January, 2021 online survey to assess the prescribed fire training needs in the Southeast.
Wildland firefighters are at high risk for cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, and other conditions
6:48 a.m. PDT Nov. 3, 2021
Firefighters near the site of a venting propane tank on the Dixie Fire. Posted Aug 6, 2021. Lassen National Forest photo.
The Parliament in Victoria, Australia has passed legislation that extends the presumptive disease program to wildland firefighters. It also includes “surge firefighters” who are government employees normally in other roles, but who perform firefighting duties during the fire season as part of their agency’s surge capacity as needed.
The presumptive disease program ensures that if a firefighter is diagnosed with any of the 12 listed cancers, they will not have to prove that it was caused by their employment, and it will be considered an on the job injury.
The cancers covered are brain, bladder, kidney, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, leukemia, breast, testicular, multiple myeloma, prostate, ureter, colorectal, and esophageal. The employee must have been on the job for 5 to 15 years, depending on which disease they have.
The presumptive right will apply to individuals diagnosed on or after June 1, 2016 if the diagnosis occurs during the course of a person’s service as a firefighter or within 10 years after they have ceased to serve.
Lily D’Ambrosio, the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, explained the program in detail during the second reading of the bill. Here is a link to the legislation.
Wildland firefighters are at high risk for cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, and other illnesses, including chronic conditions in their knees, shoulders, and backs.
This is an important issue that should also be addressed for federal firefighters in the United States. The Grassroots Wildland Firefighters organization endorsed this type of a program in a position paper.
Today’s announcement by the US Fire Administration about the line of duty death of retired US Forest Service firefighter Allen Johnson provides information that previously had not been widely known.
Allen Johnson was a retired 40-year Forest Service veteran serving as a Liaison Officer on the French Fire in California when he contracted COVID. He was working as an Administratively Determined (AD) employee on the Incident Management Team. On September 8, 2021 the Forest Service confirmed his death but with few other details.
The USFA announcement states that Allen was exposed to COVID-19 on the French Fire, tested positive August 24, placed in isolation at the incident, and transported to the hospital on Aug. 31, 2021 where he passed away that day.
That was not a typo. After testing positive he was in isolation at the incident for eight days, then transported to a hospital where apparently he died within a matter of hours.
The U.S. Fire Administration has received notice of the following firefighter fatality:
Allen Johnson
Liaison Officer
United States Forest Service, Stanislaus National Forest, Sonora, CA
While assigned to the French Fire near Kernville, CA, Liaison Officer Allen Johnson became ill and tested positive for COVID-19 on Aug. 24, 2021. There were other confirmed cases of the virus on the French Fire. Liaison Officer Johnson was placed in isolation at the incident and transported to the hospital on Aug. 31, 2021 where he passed away.
Age: 68
Gender: Male
Status: Wildland Part-Time
Years of Service: 49
Date of Incident: August 24, 2021
Date of Death: August 31, 2021
Allen began working for the Forest Service as a seasonal employee in 1972 on the Angeles National Forest. In 1975 he received his first permanent appointment on the Cleveland National Forest as a firefighter before becoming superintendent on the El Cariso Interagency Hotshot Crew. He finished his career as district fire management officer on the Stanislaus National Forest, from which he retired in March 2010. Throughout his career he was a well-known incident commander and liaison officer assigned to two different California Incident Management Teams.
The Union Democrat, based in Sonora, CA, has a very good article about Allen.
We are thankful that the US Fire Administration has released facts on wildland firefighter line of duty deaths that have not been disclosed by the federal land management agencies.
A firefighter was killed in Colorado last week after he diverted to suppress a fire while he was traveling to attend the funeral of another firefighter.
Larry Wyant of Joes Volunteer Fire Department was attempting to suppress a fire in a cornfield on October 26 about 120 miles east of Denver, Colorado while the firefighters faced a 30 mph wind gusting to 60 mph. Mr. Wyant was out of his truck when the fire burned over his location. He passed away at the scene.
Our sincere condolences go out to Mr. Wyant’s family, friends, and co-workers.
Larry Wyant fatality notification. US Fire Administration, October 29, 2021.
He contracted COVID-19 on the Dixie Fire, tested positive there, and died three days later
Marcus Pacheco, Assistant Fire Engine Operator for the Lassen National Forest in California, with his three daughters. He passed away September 2, 2021 after testing positive for COVID-19 on the Dixie Fire.
More information has come to light about the death of US Forest Service firefighter Marcus Pacheco who died September 2, 2021 after working on the Dixie Fire in California. For weeks after the fatality the FS would only say that he died of an unspecified illness. As far as we can tell the agency never issued a formal, complete, accurate announcement of the death, unlike other line of duty deaths.
On October 29, 2021 the US Fire Administration, which tracks firefighter fatalities, issued a notice confirming that Mr. Pacheco had close contact with a COVID-19 positive individual while he was assigned to the Dixie Fire August 10 through 29, 2021. He tested positive on August 29 and passed away due to complications from the virus on Sept. 2, 2021.
Marcus Pacheco fatality notification. US Fire Administration, October 29, 2021.
After an internet search we found information about Mr. Pacheco’s death on an obscure US Forest Service web page, “Inside the FS,” which said he died “due to COVID-19 on Sept. 2 after returning home from the Dixie Fire.” It did not include the facts that he was exposed and tested positive while assigned to the fire, which makes it a line of duty death. The page was published September 15, 2021 according to the embedded meta information.
Marcus Pacheco, Assistant Fire Engine Operator for the Lassen National Forest, in California. He passed away September 2, 2021.
On September 7 Anthony Scardina, Deputy California California Region Forester for State and Private Forestry, told Wildfire Today about his policy for releasing information about firefighters who die in the line of duty after contracting COVID-19. We had asked him about the deaths of Mr. Pacheco and also Allen Johnson, a semi-retired 40-year FS veteran who passed away approximately August 31 after contracting COVID-19 on the French Fire.
“I’m not going to report fatalities of our employees when it comes to personal illnesses and other privacy matters in terms of deaths at this point in time,” he said. “We’re taking a look at those situations, what the review process will be to make sure we understand the facts. And it’s just simply too early out of respect for the family of being appropriate for us to comment at this point in time on those situations.
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Below is a biography of Mr. Pacheco found on a memorial page.
Marcus was an Assistant Fire Engine Operator with the USDA Forest Service. He started his firefighting career working for the California Department of Forestry in 1988 in the small northern California town of Bieber where he met his wife Gwen. During his time with the California Department of Forestry (also known as CAL Fire) he worked at many stations including Bieber, Happy Camp, Alturas, Deer Springs, Garden Valley, and Forest Ranch. After trying out a few other jobs including being a garbage collector, being a camp caretaker, doing highway maintenance for CALTRANS (which included driving a snowplow), and driving school buses, he started working for the Forest Service in 2001 as a seasonal firefighter and received his permanent appointment in May 2005.
Marcus was father to three girls and was active in many other youth focused organizations in Susanville including the Girl Scouts, Campfire, Toys for Tots, Susanville Youth Softball, Boy Scouts (he was an Eagle Scout), and the annual Children’s Fair. Marcus was an active member of the Susanville community. He could often be found at the top of the tall ladders changing the lights for local theater productions, working as security at the Lassen County Fair, or helping serve pancake breakfast at the local Masonic Lodge. He volunteered for several volunteer fire departments including Susan River, Lake Forest and Standish-Litchfield. He was also a 20-year member of the Lassen County Search and Rescue team. Marcus was continually working to improve his skills as a wildland firefighter by getting his EMT certification, his State Fire Marshall I and II certifications, and attending as many courses and training opportunities as possible.
He leaves behind wife Gwen, mother, two brothers and three daughters.
The icons represent heat detected by satellites from a wildfire in the Hirschwant region in Austria between Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, 2021 local time. The icons represent the approximate locations.
A wildfire in Lower Austria has grown to become the largest in recorded history of the country. It started on Monday October 25 and quickly grew to 100 hectares (247 acres) but has not spread much since then.
“The emergency services can still limit the fire area to 115 hectares (284 acres),” said Franz Resperger from the Lower Austria fire brigade on October 29. A total of 500 helpers were called in.
The fire is about 62 kilometers (38 miles) southwest of Vienna.
Still image of the wildfire in the region of Hirschwang in Austria, October 30, 2021, from the video below.
On October 29 the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Center mobilized to the fire two Canadair CL-415 air tankers based in Italy, part of the EU’s rescEU transition fleet. Helicopters also responded from Germany, Italy, and Slovakia.
The CL-415s are scooping water from the New Danube River.
According to the state fire brigade commander Dietmar Fahrafellner, around 750,000 liters (198,000 gallons) of water were dropped on Saturday.
It has been extremely dry in the country, especially in Lower Austria. The last time it was this dry was 35 years ago, in September and October of 1986.
