News and opinion about wildland fire
Including 9 fatalities, 15 vehicle accidents, and 7 entrapments
The Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center has compiled stats on accidents and injuries that occurred in 2019. Their website has links to more information about the four incidents in the “Lessons and Quotes” section.
Let’s Be Careful Out There (Hill Street Blues) from Austin Tolin on Vimeo.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized1 Comment on BLM Announces New Assistant Director for Fire and Aviation Will oversee all aspects of the BLM’s Fire and Aviation program
The Bureau of Land Management announced today that Grant Beebe, a veteran wildland firefighting professional, has been selected as the BLM’s new Assistant Director for Fire and Aviation based in Boise, Idaho. Mr. Beebe has been acting in the position since March of 2019.
Even though is title is Assistant Director, Mr. Beebe oversees the BLM’s entire Fire and Aviation program, including policy, operational oversight, and working with partner agencies and other elements of the BLM to ensure the program is carried out effectively and most of all, safely. The BLM performs 70 percent of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s firefighting and hazardous fuel reduction efforts.
“Grant is a widely respected and highly experienced fire professional,” said BLM Deputy Director for Programs and Policy William Perry Pendley. “He has deep knowledge of wildland fire management, as well as fire readiness and training, honed both in the United States and overseas. His leadership abilities, passion, and commitment will continue to be just what our fire program needs going forward.”
Mr. Beebe has a long history in the BLM fire program where he started as a smokejumper at the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Boise in 1990. In 1997, he took a break from the BLM to work for the German government in Indonesia to provide fire training and fire readiness expertise. In 1998, he returned to Boise as the Base Manager for the smokejumper loft at NIFC before moving into other areas of fire management, including planning and budget in 2011.
He received a bachelor’s degree in English from University of California at Davis and a master’s in Forest Fire Management from Colorado State University. He will continue to be based at NIFC.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Wildfire5 Comments on Video of the last drop of Air Tanker 134 in Australia The EC-130Q crashed in New South Wales January 23, 2020
A video has emerged of the final retardant drop of Air Tanker 134, the Coulson Aviation EC-130Q that crashed just after the drop January 23, 2020.
It appears from the video that as the drop was made the wind was approximately from the 5 o’clock position of the aircraft. Judging from wind noise on the cell phone’s microphone, dust blowing on the road, and the movement of the smoke, the wind speed was pretty significant.
The video contains a brief view of fire near the end, which may be sensitive to some people.
After making the drop, the aircraft began a left turn and climbed slightly before disappearing in the smoke, reappearing for a second, and soon after that crashed.
All members of the three-person crew died in the crash. Captain Ian H. McBeth lived in Great Falls, Montana and served with the Wyoming Air National Guard and was still a member of the Montana Air National Guard. He spent his entire career flying C-130’s and was a qualified Instructor and Evaluator pilot. Ian earned his Initial Attack qualification for Coulson in 2018.
First Officer Paul Clyde Hudson of Buckeye, Arizona graduated from the Naval Academy in 1999 and spent the next twenty years serving in the United States Marine Corp in a number of positions including C-130 pilot. He retired as a Lt. Colonel.
Flight Engineer Rick A. DeMorgan Jr. lived in Navarre, Florida. He served in the United States Air Force for eighteen years as a Flight Engineer on the C-130. Rick had over 4,000 hours as a Flight Engineer with nearly 2,000 hours in a combat environment.
Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Jay. Typos or errors, report them HERE.
The cumulative effects of the bushfires in Australia during the 2019-2020 summer are unprecedented.
On a typical, average, or normal vegetation fire, many animals can move out of the area and others can hide underground. They even depend on periodic fires to recharge the ecosystem in some cases. But as we more often have fires that are not “normal” — extremely large and moving very rapidly — I tend to worry more about the adverse effects on wildlife. Even if they survive the fire itself, when they emerge there might be no food or shelter left for miles.
The cumulative effects of the bushfires in Australia during the 2019-2020 summer are unprecedented.
Some animals, like koalas and kangaroos, are primarily killed directly by the fires — for instance, by being incinerated in flames or choking on smoke. Nearly a third of all koalas in New South Wales have died and about a third of their habitat has been destroyed, federal environment minister Sussan Ley said in December.
Photos from the ground show koalas with singed fur, raw patches of burnt flesh, and blistered paws. Even if they are rescued and treated, sometimes their injuries are simply too extensive to survive.
Wombats have also been hit hard — they don’t cope well with heat or stress, and panic at the smell of smoke. The small, stubby-legged marsupials can’t run very fast or far, and are largely at the mercy of the flames.
“It’s just horrendous,” said Graeme Jackson, a NSW resident who has experience raising orphaned wombats. “A wombat can run 30 kilometers (per hour/18.6 mph), he can run that fast (for) short distances — and then he burns.”
The sheer scale of this season’s fires, in terms of both size and intensity, also works against animal survival—both during and after the fires. “These fires in Australia are so severe that I fear it doesn’t matter that these small animals can even find these refugia,” Anna Doty, a physiological ecologist at California State University, Bakersfield says, noting that the heat may penetrate into crevices and hollows. And this time around, the burn scars will be so large that recolonizing their interiors will take an extremely long time, especially for slower-moving species, she says.
A former petroleum geologist at the USGS asked scientists to “gin up” emissions figures for him
A trove of emails obtained by reporters at The Guardian indicate that an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior selected wildfire science data in order to promote logging.
Below is an excerpt from the article.
…The emails show officials seeking to estimate the carbon emissions from devastating 2018 fires in California so they could compare them to the carbon footprint of the state’s electricity sector and then publish statements encouraging cutting down trees.
The records offer a look behind the scenes at how Trump and his appointees have tried to craft a narrative that forest protection efforts are responsible for wildfires, including in California, even as science shows fires are becoming more intense largely because of climate change.
James Reilly, a former petroleum geologist and astronaut who is the director of the US Geological Survey, in a series of emails in 2018 asked scientists to “gin up” emissions figures for him. He also said the numbers would make a “decent sound bite”, and acknowledged that wildfire emissions estimates could vary based on what kind of trees were burning but picked the ones that he said would make “a good story”.
Scientists who reviewed the exchanges said that at best Reilly used unfortunate language and the department cherry-picked data to help achieve their pro-industry policy goals; at worst he and others exploited a disaster and manipulated the data…
New South Wales January 23
This article first appeared on Fire Aviation.
Updated at 6:01 a.m. PST January 23, 2020 (US time)
A C-130Q air tanker (N134CG) crashed in southern New South Wales Thursday January 23 (Australia time). All three members of the crew perished.
Coulson Aviation released a statement saying their aircraft, Tanker 134, had departed from Richmond NSW on a firebombing mission and went down in the Snowy Monaro area. There were three fatalities.
(UPDATE: the three men have been identified)
Tanker 134 had been working on a contract in Australia since August, 2019.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau will be investigating the incident which they said occurred at Peak View near Cooma, NSW. The agency is expected to release a preliminary report within 30 days.
New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said Coulson has grounded its entire fleet of air tankers out of respect for those who died. “Our hearts are with all those that are suffering in what is the loss of three remarkable, well-respected crew that have invested so many decades of their life into firefighting,” he said.
Cameron Price of 7NEWS Sydney reported on the incident:
Wreckage of missing RFS C-130 located by search crews. Reports only tail section intact. Aircraft has broken up on impact. Crews reporting difficult terrain and “terrible visibility”.
The Premier of New South Wales said out of respect for the crew flags would fly at half mast in the state, and:
Heartbreaking & devastating news that three US residents who were crew members operating a LAT in the Snowy Mountains region have lost their lives. Our thoughts & heartfelt condolences are with their families & the tight knit firefighting community.
The U.S. Ambassador to Australia, Arthur B. Culvahuse Jr. said:
I am deeply saddened by the tragic news we received today. The brave Americans who died near Snowy Monaro died helping Australia in its time of need. The families and friends of those who we have lost are in our thoughts and prayers. Thank you Australia for your sympathy and solidarity.
From the Canadian Interagency Fire Centre:
@CIFFC and its member agencies are deeply saddened by this tragic event. We send our condolences to our firefighting colleagues at #CoulsonAviation & @NSWRFS
Earlier the New South Wales Rural Fire Service reported that contact had been lost with a large air tanker that was working in the southern part of the state in the Snowy Monaro area.
Our sincere condolences go out to the families, friends, and coworkers of the crew.
Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Tom. Typos or errors, report them HERE.
