Wildfire Today

AFAC explains the process for accepting assistance in Australia during the bushfire crisis

Bill GabbertJanuary 13, 2020January 13, 2020WildfireAustralia

AFAC bushfires Australia National Resource Sharing Centre — AFAC maintains the National Resource Sharing Centre (NRSC), which facilitates international and interstate deployments through its established partnerships and national arrangements. AFAC photo.

Many people would like to travel to Australia to help with the response and recovery from the historic bushfires, either as a paid employee or a volunteer.

The National Council for Fire & Emergency Services (formerly the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council or AFAC), is the primary organization responsible for representing fire, emergency services, and land management agencies in the Australasian region. It is still known as AFAC.

Below is a statement AFAC released January 11 that lays out their process for requesting and accepting assistance during the bushfire crisis.

AFAC maintains the National Resource Sharing Centre (NRSC), which facilitates international and interstate deployments through its established partnerships and national arrangements.

The NRSC is tasked by the Commissioners and Chief Officers of fire and emergency service agencies in Australia and New Zealand, and is supported the Australian Government through Emergency Management Australia and the Crisis Coordination Centre.

The NRSC coordinates interstate and international resources, responding to the needs of our members. Currently, we have international assistance from the Canada, the United States and New Zealand in Australia assisting our effort.

Australia continues to receive generous offers of support from around the world to assist during the ongoing bushfire crisis. Each request that is received is logged and in collaboration with the Crisis Coordination Centre, is assessed for its suitability to our Australian operating environment. Key considerations include:

– Is it fit for purpose?
– Does it meet our safety requirements?
– Can it easily align to our common incident management system?
– Does it meet the appropriate legal requirements?
– Does an agency want to receive it?

Unfortunately, not all requests are able to be accepted. Our number one priority is the primacy of life, for fire and emergency personnel and the community. We need to ensure that wherever possible, operations are carried out safely, supported by resources with the appropriate skills and equipment to meet the needs of the situation. Familiarity with Australian fire conditions is critical.

AFAC remains committed to supporting its members and will continue to work with our partners and the Australian Government to ensure that our fire and emergency services have the support that they need.

satellite photo map Australia bushfires fires — Satellite photo showing smoke from the fires in Australia, January 12, 2020. The red areas represent heat. NASA.

Map fires New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia — Map of fires in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia by @gergyl January 12, 2020.

Bushfire has burned almost half of Kangaroo Island

Bill GabbertJanuary 12, 2020January 12, 2020WildfireAustralia, Kangaroo Island, Ravine Fire, South Australia3 Comments

Two Country Fire Service trucks were involved in burn-overs

Map Ravine Fire Kangaroo Island — Map showing the extent of the Ravine Fire on Kangaroo Island, January 12, 2020. South Australian Country Fire Service.

The Ravine Fire that has been working its way across Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia has burned almost half of the area of the island, over 210,000 hectares (519,000 acres) or 48 percent. (See map of the fire above)

Below is an excerpt from a January 10 article at 9News:

Properties have been lost, firefighters injured and more land blackened after a night of horrific conditions across the Kangaroo Island bushfires, but the emergency has eased. Assessments are underway, but some homes are believed lost at Vivonne Bay while the town of Parndana was spared for a second time, despite fire bearing down on it from several directions. Both towns had been evacuated amid emergency warnings and the escalating danger.

Two Country Fire Service trucks were involved in burn-overs and two more CFS personnel were injured, taking the total hurt on Kangaroo Island to 22.

With rain falling across the fire ground on Friday, the warning levels for all fires were reduced first to a watch and act and then to a simple bushfire advice.

CFS chief officer Mark Jones said Thursday night was an “incredibly difficult” period for all 280 firefighters on the island.

“Winds were not consistent, they were blustery and came from many different directions,” he said.

The fire danger will increase on Monday as the forecast of Kingscote calls for winds out of the south at 8 to 16 mph. Those northerly winds will grow to 14 to 20 mph Tuesday through Thursday with very little chance of rain.

Much of the eastern third of the island consists of pastures or agriculture land without as many forested areas as found on the west end where Flinders Chase National Park is located. Most of the park has burned along with many structures in and near the park.

Two men were killed on January 4, Dick Lang and his son Clayton.

The State Government on Sunday reported that more than 32,000 livestock animals, mostly sheep, perished in the blazes as well as 830 hives and 115 nucleus hives.

The satellite photos below illustrate the eastward growth of the fire on Kangaroo Island over a five-day period.

Map Ravine Fire Kangaroo Island satellite photo — January 6, 2020 satellite photo showing the Ravine Fire on Kangaroo Island. The red areas represent heat. NASA.

DOI reports that they exceeded fuel treatment goals in FY 2019

Bill GabbertJanuary 12, 2020January 11, 2020Uncategorizedfuel management, fuel treatment, fuels

Reduced wildfire risks on 1.4 million acres

Prescribed fire at Big Cypress National Preserve. NPS image.

This Department of the Interior announced it had doubled and nearly tripled targets set by President Donald Trump for vegetation treatments to reduce wildfire risk in Fiscal Year 2019, marking the largest fuel load reduction in a decade, according to information from the DOI. The announcement came as the four land management agencies with wildland fire programs in the Department — the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — reported their end-of-year accomplishments.

In December 2018, the President issued Executive Order 13855, directing the DOI and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to promote active management of America’s forests and rangelands to reduce wildfire risk with specific targets for actions.

The DOI was required to:

Treat 750,000 acres public lands to reduce fuel loads;
Treat 500,000 acres of public lands to protect water quality and mitigate severe flooding and erosion risks arising from forest fires; and
Reduce vegetation through forest health treatments by offering for sale 600 million board feet of timber from public lands.

Working toward those goals, the DOI announcement stated that they:

Reduced fuel loads on more than 1.4 million acres of DOI-administered lands, covering nearly two times more acres than required under the Executive Order;
Protected water quality on more than 1.4 million acres of DOI administered lands, nearly three times the acres required; and
Planned for harvest or offered for sale more than 750 million board feet of timber to reduce vegetation giving rise to wildfire conditions, exceeding the target by 25 percent.

California Governor’s proposed budget would add 677 firefighters

Bill GabbertJanuary 11, 2020Uncategorizedbudget, California, legislation2 Comments

If approved, the budget would also establish a Wildfire Forecast and Threat Intelligence Integration Center

S-2T air tanker Holy Fire Santiago Peak California — An S-2T air tanker makes a drop on the Holy Fire at Santiago Peak in Southern California, August 27, 2018. Image from HPWREN camera.

In his proposed $222 billion budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year beginning July 1, California Gov. Gavin Newsom put forth several initiatives that if approved by the legislature could have a significant effect on wildland firefighting in the state. The budget refers to “the new normal fire conditions” and the need to mitigate long periods of fighting fires without respite.

Additional funding for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) would include $120 million in 2020-2021 and $150 ongoing for each of the following four years. This would enable the creation of 677 more positions phased in over five years resulting in operational flexibility through peak fire season and beyond, based on fire conditions. These positions would:

Provide coverage behind personnel vacations, sick days, training, and during predicted weather events and major incidents.
Provide a resource pool to staff additional engines on the shoulder seasons if it becomes necessary to increase the staffing on the existing 65 year-round engines.
Add a fourth firefighter on a portion of CAL FIRE engines as fire conditions dictate.

The budget includes $9 million to establish a Wildfire Forecast and Threat Intelligence Integration Center staffed by 22 positions to identify current wildfire threats and improve situational awareness of conditions in real-time.

The proposed budget sets aside $100 million for CAL FIRE and OES to administer a home hardening pilot program, with a focus on homes located in low-income communities in areas of high fire risk. The program would also fund 26 positions for defensible space inspections.

The budget approved for the 2019-2020 fiscal year included funds to operate the HC-130H aircraft that will be converted to air tankers, continue the replacement of the 12 aging Bell Super Huey Helicopters with new Sikorsky S-70I Firehawks, and operate 100 additional fire detection cameras.

Firefighter killed on bushfire in Victoria, Australia

Bill GabbertJanuary 11, 2020January 11, 2020WildfireAustralia, lodd, Victoria2 Comments

Near Omeo January 11

bushfire victoria december 30 2019 — A fire in the East Gippsland region of Victoria, December 30, 2019. Photo by Ned Dawson for Victoria State Government.

UPDATED at 6:43 p.m. PST January 11, 2020.

The bushfires in Australia have claimed the life of a fifth firefighter. It occurred Saturday January 11 while a firefighter was working on a fire in the Omeo area of Victoria, Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp has confirmed.

Forest Fire Management Victoria Chief Fire Officer Chris Hardman said, “Bill Slade was working as a member of a task force at the Anglers Rest area and he was struck by a tree.”

“Family and fellow emergency personnel are being informed and will be supported,” he said. “The safety and wellbeing of our people is our highest priority. The matter will be investigated by Victoria Police who will prepare a report for the Coroner.”

Mr. Slade, 60, had worked for 40 years as a firefighter with Parks Victoria. He is survived by his wife Carol, daughter Steph and son Ethan.

Our sincere condolences go out to the family, friends, and co-workers.

Other recent firefighter fatalities in Australia:

January 3, 2020: Victoria Forest Fires Management worker Mat Kavanagh, 43, died on duty in a two vehicle crash on the Goulburn Valley Highway, in Victoria. His colleague was injured.

December 30, 2019: New South Wales Rural Fire Service volunteer firefighter Samuel McPaul died when a fire tornado or column collapse flipped his fire engine in New South Wales. Two other firefighters were also injured.

December 19, 2019: Andrew O’Dwyer and Geoffrey Keaton were killed while working on the Green Wattle Creek Bushfire when their truck hit a tree near Buxton in southwestern Sydney, New South Wales. They were both volunteer firefighters for the NSW Rural Fire Service.

At least 27 people have died in the Australia bushfires during the 2019/2020 bushfire season.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Tom. Typos or errors, report them HERE.

Arizona firefighters are staffing engines and hand crews in Australia

Bill GabbertJanuary 10, 2020UncategorizedArizona, Australia, Victoria1 Comment

BLM Arizona Koreena Haynes — BLM Arizona’s Koreena Haynes (1st on left) is assisting in Australia as an Engine Boss. BLM photo.

PHOENIX – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), as well as other Department of the Interior agencies and the U.S. Forest Service have been sending wildfire personnel from across the United States to assist with ongoing wildfire suppression efforts in Australia. The BLM in Arizona currently has four fire personnel in Australia with plans to send more in the coming weeks.

Brady Shultz, from BLM Arizona’s Colorado River District in Kingman, and Koreena Haynes from the BLM Arizona State Office in Phoenix, deployed just after the new year to assist on fire engines in the Australian state of Victoria. Cody Goff from BLM Arizona’s Arizona Strip District in St. George, Utah, and John Garrett from BLM Arizona’s Gila District in Safford deployed on January 7 as part of a 20-person firefighter hand crew.

“Australia has come to help us when we needed an extra hand during our most extreme fire seasons, now it’s our turn to go help them in their time of need,” said Kelly Castillo, BLM Arizona’s state fire management officer.

Based on requests from the Australian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council, the U.S. has intermittently deployed more than 150 wildland fire personnel since December.

The fire personnel from the U.S. have assisting with critical needs for mid-level fire management roles including fire engine operations, aviation operations, fire operations managers, logistical management specialists, and strategic fire planners. More recent deployments have included requests for 20-person firefighting crews and chain saw operators.

“We are in the process of filling more requests for Arizona personnel, which will likely deploy as soon as next week,” said Castillo.

The U.S., Australia and New Zealand have been exchanging fire assistance for more than 15 years. The most recent exchange occurred in August of 2018, when 138 Australian and New Zealand wildfire management personnel were sent to the U.S. for almost 30 days to assist with wildfire suppression efforts in Northern California and the Northwest. The last time the U.S sent firefighters to Australia was in 2010.

BLM Arizona Brady Shultz — BLM Arizona’s Brady Shultz (1st on left) is assisting in Australia as an Engine Boss. BLM photo.

From the Bureau of Land Management, Arizona State Office

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