News and opinion about wildland fire
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized3 Comments on Accidental discharge of flare launcher in Dirty Jobs TV show We updated our post about the TV show Dirty Jobs that informed you about the upcoming episode that featured Mike Rowe doing some prescribed burning in Florida. The program aired tonight.
There was one exciting portion when “Jim” accidentally discharged a FireQuick flare launcher into an air boat containing at least 4-5 people. We even have a photo of the discharge captured off a television.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized1 Comment on Helicopter shot while working on prescribed fire A Bell Jet Ranger was shot twice with a high powered rifle while it was flying under contract to do aerial ignition using a heli-torch on a prescribed fire in Idaho. The pilot was 69-year old Vietnam War veteran Earl Palmer, operating the ship for Hillcrest Aircraft Company out of Lewiston, Idaho.
Mr. Palmer says there were four shots, two of which struck the helicopter. The pilot was quoted as saying that a control tube was struck and cracked by a bullet. He said the helicopter was “within minutes of coming apart at which point the helicopter would have wrecked.”
The last time he was shot down was in Vietnam when the gunship he was flying sustained a bullet through the engine, and he ended up in a rice paddy.
Several people heard the shots and a suspect was identified within 24 hours. The FBI is working with local authorities to determine what charges will be filed.
The prescribed fire was on land owned by Potlatch Corporation near Clarkia, Idaho. Check out the video below.
The wildfire season is drawing to a close in parts of the western United States. Here are some reports that we ran across:
Is the fire season still going or ending where you live?
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized2 Comments on Advisory Commission evaluates Texas Forest Service After studying the Texas Forest Service, the Texas Legislature’s Sunset Advisory Commission has identified five issues and made numerous recommendations. Here is a copy of part of the table of contents from a report they just issued:
The purpose of the Sunset Advisory Commission:
In 1977, the Texas Legislature created the Sunset Advisory Commission to identify and eliminate waste,duplication, and inefficiency in government agencies. The 12-member Commission is a legislative body that reviews the policies and programs of more than 130 government agencies every 12 years. The Commission questions the need for each agency, looks for potential duplication of other public services or programs, and considers new and innovative changes to improve each agency’s operations and activities.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized1 Comment on Marathon runners suffer temporary heart damage A recent study concluded that marathon runners suffered temporary damage to their hearts. It was a small sample size but of the 20 runners studied that ran in the 2008 Quebec City Marathon, 19 of them lost cardiac function in over half of the 17 segments of the heart. The good news is that when the runners were evaluated three months later their hearts had completely recovered.
There were at least two factors that affected the amount of damage to the heart function. The runners who were most fit, as measured by a VO2max test before the race, had the least damage. And dehydration was associated with greater damage.
Does this apply to wildland firefighters?
I am certainly no exercise physiologist, but I can’t help but wonder if any of this is applicable to wildland firefighters, for example working on a hot shot crew, performing extremely strenuous work for 8 to 16 hours. When a hot shot crew member is cutting fireline while carrying 20-30 pounds of gear thousands of feet above sea level, their heart rate is likely to be quite a bit above a resting heart rate. I have hiked up steep hills on fires when I was sure that my heart was working at close to its maximum capacity.
Between 1990 and 2006, 22% of the wildland fire fatalities were due to heart attacks. Training or testing can be hazardous or even fatal. According to the report “Wildland Firefighter Fatalities in the United States: 1990–2006” (NWCG 2007) 11 fire personnel died while preparing for or taking the work capacity test. Another died in 2007.
In a study done to evaluate the physical effects of taking the Pack Test and the old Step Test, the mean heart rates measured were 144 and 135, respectively. The study concluded that taking the Pack Test requires subjects to perform at approximately 65% of maximal effort. There are definitely times when a firefighter is working harder on the fire line than when they are taking the Pack Test.
A marathon lasts about 3 to 5+ hours. A typical heart rate for a marathon runner is about 140.
I’m not saying that working on a hot shot crew is like running a marathon, but you have to wonder if any of the findings in the study are applicable to firefighters.
Hydration
Since hydration was associated with greater temporary damage to the heart, this might be one more reason why wildland firefighters, especially those assigned to large fires and working long shifts, should pay even more attention to staying hydrated. A firefighter can only carry 1-2 gallons of drinking water, so the Operations and Logistics sections on fires should proactively resupply crews working in remote locations water throughout their shift. Even if it means using helicopters and sling loads to stage water ahead of the crews.
Thankfully, we are a lot smarter about this than we used to be. When I first started on the El Cariso Hot Shots in 1970, we were not allowed to drink water while cutting practice fire line. The water we carried in our fire gear while training was “fire water” and could only be consumed when on an actual fire. We had to wait, usually several hours, until we hiked back to our trucks to get a sip of water. And it was uphill both ways!
The moral of the story
Drink! Drink! Drink! Oh, and be fit, too.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized10 Comments on Prescribed fire to be on Dirty Jobs (updated) UPDATED 10-26-2010 (scroll down)
Prescribed fire in the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge will be featured in the Tuesday, October 26 episode of the Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs. Mike Rowe traveled to the Everglades to battle invasive species using machetes, poisons, and prescribed fire.
The trailer for the episode on the Discovery Channel emphasizes girdling and poisoning invasive melaleuca trees, but we know that Mike Rowe also got involved in a prescribed fire. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service firefighters used a “Green Dragon” device for ignition, which fires a new generation of ignition spheres sold by SEI Industries called Dragon Eggs, smaller than earlier versions of the spheres. We wrote about this new device back in March.
We’ll have to wait and see how much of the prescribed fire footage ends up in the Dirty Jobs episode. Check your local listings for what time Tuesday night it will be shown.
More information about the filming is on the USF&WS site.
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UPDATED 10-26-2010 @ 9:05 p.m. MT
Did anyone see the program? It looked like everyone had a good time filming the prescribed fire portion (there was lots of laughter throughout) UNTIL a person identified in the program as “Jim” “Gerry” accidentally discharged a FireQuick flare launcher within a crowd of people on an air boat. Here is a photo I took off a television at the moment of discharge; you can see the flame coming out of the launcher. Gerry is in the curiously red shirt.
It is not obvious in the photo, but “Gerry” and the 4-5 others were in an air boat at the time. It appears that the flare launcher was loaded with a large “Stubby” flare which looked like it landed in the boat. Talk about a NEAR MISS! As far as we know, there were no injuries, however the woman closest to the launcher said “Ow” as she held her left ear.
In September of 2009 Wildfire Today wrote about another incident with a flare launcher that resulted in an injury. That post also has photos of the flare launcher and the flares.
UPDATE November 1 @ 10:00 a.m.
A video of this 10-minute segment is HERE. According the description of the video on YouTube, “Gerry” is “Gerry Barnes of the National Interagency Fire Center”. The telephone directory for NIFC lists a “Gerald Barnes” who is a Fuels Program Analyst for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
