Wildfire Today

News and opinion about wildland fire

Wildfire Today

Turn in Schultz fire suspects, get free beer for life

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,

Yep, that is what someone posted on the Flagstaff Brewing Company’s Twitter account:

free beer for life 2 whoever turns in the schultz campers w/ the 5 foot campfire @ 930 am on sunday. Our peaks mean more than $ & words.
about 14 hours ago [about 11:30 pm June 24] via Twitter for iPhone

We talked to Jeff Thorsett of Flagstaff Brewing Company to see if it was really true. The company sells their beer in 1/2 gallon containers, and he said if a tip results in the arrest and conviction of the person who started the fire, they will give the tipster 1/2 gallon of beer each week for the rest of their lives. Now THAT’S a REWARD!

Investigators have determined that the Schultz fire started from an abandoned campfire on June 20 at Schultz Tank and Elden Trail north of Flagstaff, AZ. In addition to “free beer for life” from the brewing company, the U.S. Forest Service is offering a more conventional $2,500 reward. USFS officials request that anyone having information concerning the abandoned campfire call the Coconino NF Supervisors’ Office at (928) 527-3508.

Fire simulations advance to the next level

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 2 Comments on Fire simulations advance to the next level

Visually simulating the spread of vegetation fires has advanced far beyond the four overhead projector system we used to use at Descanso Station in southern California. The system described in the video below from KOB.com uses a projector connected to a computer to place an image on a sand table, resulting in an amazing three dimensional background on which to simulate the spread of fires. Check out this video.

More information, including a better video explaining how it works, is at Simtable.com.

Description of the Schultz fire’s ICP

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 1 Comment on Description of the Schultz fire’s ICP

It can be enlightning to see wildland firefighting described through the eyes of someone else. The Arizona Daily Sun has an article describing the Incident Command Post at the 14,800-acre Schultz fire north of Flagstaff, Arizona which burned about 5,000 acres in the first 8 hours. It is a well written story and is worth reading, but I could not help but notice two minor errors in this excerpt. Can you find them?

When the Schultz fire exploded into a raging wildfire Sunday afternoon and garnered the highest level of firefighting priority in the nation, hundreds of firefighters rushed to northern Arizona to battle the fast-moving blaze.

Behind that initial attack, and in just a matter of 24 hours, a mini-city of support assembled at Cromer Elementary School.

Welcome to ICC, or incident command center, where firefighters can eat scrambled eggs with green chili, reload on sunscreen and bug repellent, get a medical checkup, take a shower and shave, fill up on cookies and ice cream, check out the fire-tracking maps and then find a cot to crash on.

The command center serves as a base camp for the personnel — more than 950 strong (including up to 800 firefighters) — assigned to the Schultz fire. That total includes “overhead” or supervisory workers who support the firefighting effort mostly from the ground.

“There’s a tremendous amount of infrastructure to put in place,” said Troy Waskey, who is on staff with recreation, lands and minerals at the Tonto National Forest. “That’s the beauty of the ICC structure: You can put a team in place with the resources that are needed within 24 hours.”

AN ACTION PLAN

Run as tightly as a military operation, the world of wildfire fighting is full of acronyms and abbreviations, specific uniform requirements, and lots of rules and orders, many spelled out daily in the IAP, or incident action plan, passed out in booklet form to all concerned personnel during the morning briefing.

Martin Mars on contract in B.C.

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags
Martin_Mars_SteveBoschVancouverSun
File photo of Martin Mars, by Steve Bosch of the Vancouver Sun

The 7,200-gallon Martin Mars air tanker is on contract for the province of British Columbia this summer. The U.S. Forest Service contracted for the huge aircraft for the last two years, having it based at Lake Elsinore in southern California in the late summers of 2008 and 2009, but as far as we know, they have declined to sign it up this year. The B.C. contract is from June 1 through August 31 and guarantees 45 days of work for the aircraft.

Luggage rack on car ignites, starts brush fire

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized2 Comments on Luggage rack on car ignites, starts brush fire

Some items on a car’s luggage rack caught fire and started the Sycamore fire that burned 200 acres on Highway 87 outside the Tonto National Forest near Sunflower, Arizona on Thursday. According to a story at myFOX phoenix, a driver noticed smoke coming from the luggage rack on his car, stopped and removed the burning items which fell to the ground and started the fire. The driver burned his arm while he was taking the burning luggage off the car. The fire was about 70% contained at 9 p.m. Thursday night and was being managed by Weeks’ Type 3 Incident Management Team.

Any suggestions on what ignition sources could start a fire on a car’s luggage rack? Perhaps faulty electronics inside the luggage, or hot carbon particles from the exhaust of a truck?

Washington fire chief dies at brush fire

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,

Chet Bauermeister, chief of the Franklin Fire District 4 in Basin City, Washington, was killed on June 23 when his snow cat that had been converted to a fire apparatus rolled about 100 feet down a hill while he was working on a vegetation fire.

Here is an excerpt from an article at the Yakima Herald:

Fire District 4 was among fire agencies that responded to a wildland fire in Adams County near the border with Franklin County in the Wahluke Slope area of the Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge.

Bauermeister was killed when an ATV he was on flipped over backward on a steep slope, said Pasco Fire Chief Bob Gear.

Another firefighter was riding with Bauermeister. He was taken to a hospital, apparently with minor injuries, said Sgt. Jim Dickenson of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.

Officials with Adams Fire District 5, the lead agency on the fire, were reported to be still at the scene of the accident at 9 p.m. and few details were available. The fire was out Wednesday evening.

The Washington state Department of Natural Resources is expected to investigate the cause of the fire, which was on private land. Firefighters from Hanford and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also helped fight the fire to prevent it from spreading to the wildlife refuge.

Bauermeister was the third chief for Fire District 4, taking over the job from his dad, Don Bauermeister, the district’s second chief, near the end of 2003.

Our condolences go out to Chief Bauermeister’s family and co-workers.

UPDATE @ 10:25 a.m., June 25

From an article at the Bellingham Herald:

Bauermeister’s family said Chet didn’t want a formal funeral service as typically is held for firefighters killed in the line of duty and officials said his wishes will be honored.

They will, however, use the community parade July 3 to honor Bauermeister. Fire departments from around the state will be invited to participate.

A celebration of life is planned from 2 to 7 p.m. Saturday at Don Bauermeister’s farm, and a memorial is set for 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Basin City Fire Hall.

Bauermeister’s father said his son wanted people to have a party and remember the good times instead of grieving. His family said his favorite saying was, “Live your life so no one has to tell lies at your funeral.”

A memorial fund in Chet Bauermeister’s name has been established at the Bank of Whitman.