Screenshot from Part 5 of the Santa Fe NF series of videos on fuel management.
Here are parts five and six in the series of 12 videos produced by the Santa Fe National Forest on the topic of fuel management and forest restoration.
Fuel Management is defined as:
An act or practice of controlling flammability and reducing resistance to control of wildland fuels [vegetation] through mechanical, chemical, biological, or manual means, or by fire, in support of land management objectives.
Forest Restoration:
Actions to re-instate ecological processes, which accelerate recovery of forest structure, ecological functioning and biodiversity levels towards those typical of climax forest, i.e. the end-stage of natural forest succession.
Red Flag Warnings September 28 and 29, 2019. NWS. Click to enlarge.
Red Flag Warnings are in the forecast for areas in six states this weekend.
On Saturday an area in California and Nevada south of Reno on the Sierra front of Mono and Mineral Counties will be under a Red Flag Warning for 25 to 35 mph winds with relative humidities of 15 to 25 percent.
On Sunday some locations in Utah, Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska should expect gusty winds, dry fuels, and low humidities.
(The area shown on the map in Wyoming is for dense fog until 1 p.m. Saturday.)
(Red Flag Warnings can be modified throughout the day as NWS offices around the country update and revise their weather forecasts.)
Texas A&M Forest Service Wildland Urban Interface Specialist Samuel McCalip, a self-taught videographer, was honored with the prestigious Bronze Smokey Bear Award by the US Forest Service September 27, 2019.
A Texas A&M Forest Service employee was honored with the prestigious Bronze Smokey Bear Award during today’s National Association of State Foresters Annual Meeting in Asheville, North Carolina.
Wildland Urban Interface Specialist Samuel McCalip, a self-taught videographer, has harnessed the power of storytelling to bring wildfire prevention awareness across the state.
“As a forester, wildland firefighter, public information officer and prevention team member, Samuel has combined his love of forestry and ecosystems, desire to protect natural resources and skill for educating the public,” said Texas A&M Forest Service Program Leader Karen Stafford. “In a matter of months, McCalip taught himself how to produce high-quality videos to help reach the citizens of Texas.”
Texas A&M Forest Service first utilized McCalip’s videos to increase awareness of wildfire prevention practices when wildfires burned in the Panhandle in 2017.
The following year, McCalip’s video “Dragging Chains,” a PSA meant to educate the public about the risk of causing sparks when dragging chains from a vehicle, was the foundation of the “Do Your Part, Don’t Let a Wildfire Start” series.
“Samuel has taken his skills behind the camera and his passion for prevention and mitigation and combined them into a very unique and effective tool for spreading Smokey’s prevention message,” Texas State Forester Tom Boggus said. “I can’t think of anyone more deserving.”
Since then, McCalip has produced several informational, educational and promotional videos for the agency and hosted multiple video production training sessions for other Texas A&M Forest Service departments to build the agency’s capacity.
“Samuel’s creativity and innovation has sparked those around him to come up with ideas to improve effectiveness and efficiency in delivering core agency messaging,” Stafford said. “He’s turned his passion for wildfire prevention into art.”
Across the nation, only 10 recipients are presented the Bronze Smokey Bear Award each year.
Visit https://bit.ly/2mGIqpE to watch McCalip’s latest video about Texas A&M Forest Service’s Texas Ranch Wildfire Program.
TUCSON, Ariz. – The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Gila District announced September 27, 2019 that the Aravaipa Veterans Fire Crew has achieved certification as an Interagency Hotshot Crew (IHC). Of the 13 BLM IHCs nationwide, the Aravaipa Veterans Interagency Hotshot Crew is the only BLM-funded hotshot crew in Arizona, and only one of two BLM IHCs in the nation focused on recruiting and developing veterans.
“We’re proud of the Aravaipa Crew’s accomplishments and the continued efforts to develop a workforce of Veterans,” said Gila District Manager Scott Feldhausen. “This hard working and highly skilled crew is now a part of the elite fire resources available to fight fires not only in Arizona, but nationally and abroad.”
Interagency Hotshot Crews are the most highly trained and experienced type of hand crews and they must meet and maintain stringent requirements to achieve the IHC status. Their primary mission is to provide a safe, professional, mobile response to all phases of fire management and incident operations. IHCs are staffed, conditioned, equipped and qualified to meet a variety of strategic and tactical wildland fire assignments, and they are typically relied upon for the most challenging fire assignments. When not committed to fire assignments, IHCs provide a workforce to accomplish a variety of resource management objectives while maintaining availability for incident mobilization.
The Aravaipa Veterans IHC will provide an opportunity for veterans to work in a team environment and build skills and experience. Team members will also learn about opportunities to work for and become competitive for employment with the Federal Government in other natural resource arenas.
A Missouri man has been charged with 13 felony counts of wildland fire arson and two additional counts of arson committed during a state of emergency. In March, Gov. Gavin Newsom, declared an emergency status in California for the year’s wildfire season.
According to Santa Clara County prosecutors, Freddie Owen Graham of Lone Jack, Missouri flew to San Jose, California, rented a car, and over a period of two days set 13 fires in the Milpitas area. The largest one, the Reservoir Fire, burned 128 acres.
Investigators allege Mr. Graham used a lighter to set napkins from fast food restaurants on fire and threw them into the vegetation. A good citizen saw him up on a hill, took photos and reported his license plate number to CAL FIRE officials who traced the car to the Hertz outlet at the San Jose Airport. Mr. Graham was arrested while turning in the car.
There is a report by Fox4KC that when the investigators arrived at the airport they discovered that the car seen at the fire had been turned in, but the same person, Mr. Graham, came back and rented another.
Mr. Graham is also facing an arson charge in Lone Jack for setting fire to bales of hay on a tractor trailer August 12, 2018.
#ReservoirFire [Update] on Calaveras Rd East of Milpitas is reported to be about 6 fires totaling an estimated 70 acres. Air and ground resources are making good progress in containment. Calaveras Road is closed. pic.twitter.com/oGHz0uqEry
Exploding targets have ignited numerous wildfires and are banned in many areas
Above: Figure from “Experiments on Wildfire Ignition by Exploding Targets”, by Mark A. Finney, C. Todd Smith, and Trevor B. Maynard. September 2019.
Researchers with the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives detonated almost 100 exploding targets to gather information about how likely they are to ignite a wildfire.
Exploding targets consist of two ingredients that when mixed by the end user explode when shot by a gun. They have caused many fires since they became more popular in recent years, have been banned in some areas, and caused the death of at least one person. In 2017 an exploding target started what became the 46,000-acre Sawmill Fire southeast of Tucson, AZ. After the ingredients are combined, the compound is illegal to transport and is classified as an explosive by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
The tests were carried out in 2015 and 2018 by shooting a high powered rifle at the targets — 46 tests in 2015 and 51 in 2018. The results could not have been more different in the two batches of tests. There were no ignitions of the nearby straw bales from the exploding targets in 2015 (zero percent), but there were 22 in 2018 (43 percent). The weather conditions made the difference. In 2015 the temperature was 31 to 46 and the relative humidity was 64 to 99 percent. During the 2018 experiments the temperature was 71 to 82 and the relative humidity ranged from 14 to 23 percent, conditions much more conducive to ignition of vegetation.
Data about exploding target tests in 2015 and 2016. From “Experiments on Wildfire Ignition by Exploding Targets”, by Mark A. Finney, C. Todd Smith, and Trevor B. Maynard. September 2019.
The experiments in 2018 were carried out with 5.56×45 mm ammunition, which is used in some AR-15 rifles.
The most common ingredients of exploding targets are the oxidizer ammonium nitrate (AN) and for fuel, aluminum powder (AL). Commercially available exploding targets have various concentrations of aluminum which is what actually burns during the explosion, which generates temperatures of about 6,700 °F.
The testing showed a direct relation between the aluminum content of the products and the prevalence of ignition and visible burning aluminum in the explosion.
The AL content of the target mixture had an effect on ignition of the straw bales:
The popularity of these products has led to a wide range of formulations to include more rimfire products that rely on increased metallic fuel content for sensitivity. The testing did show a direct relation between the aluminum content of the products and the prevalence of ignition and visible burning aluminum in the explosion. Wildland fire investigators considering an exploding target hypothesis for a fire start should be aware of the range of products available and how aluminum content, mixing, and other variables might impact the performance of the product and the likelihood of ignition. Tannerite is one of the most common commercial brands of exploding target, but with only approximately 1.6 percent AL, it is among the least likely to cause ignitions compared to brands or formulations with higher AL concentration.
During the tests in 2018 researchers used mixes with AL ranging from 1 to 10 percent.
Some of the first exploding targets had to be shot by a high-velocity projectile fired from certain center-fire rifles. Variants are now available that can be shot by rimfire cartridges (e.g., .22 Long Rifle) or pistols. These targets rely on a greater percentage of AL or other ingredients to increase sensitivity to initiation. Rimfire targets have been found with up to 25 percent AL.
The researchers had some tips for fire cause and origin investigators:
Informal observations during this research suggested that the use of exploding targets may leave evidence in and around the blast seat. The research team observed some shattered pieces of the plastic containers in and around the blast seat following testing. This plastic, which exhibited exposure to high temperatures, appeared to have embedded AN on one side of the plastic. The team also observed unconsumed AN prills on the ground around the blast seat during testing. While this in no way means such evidence is present after all exploding target explosions, fire investigators should be cognizant that potential forensic evidence may be located around the blast seat that should be collected and documented.
In addition to documenting physical evidence that can aid investigators, another thing this research accomplishes is it makes it easier to prosecute cases where a defendant is accused of starting a fire by shooting at an exploding target. It proves that the devices CAN start a fire. Prior to this, an attorney might argue, exploding targets do not ignite fires.
Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to LM. Typos or errors, report them HERE.
