The manager of the Twitter account for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge wanted to make it clear that the photo was taken during the implementation of the prescribed fire.
The refuge is in the Florida panhandle, southeast of Panama City. (map)
The first appearance of Smokey Bear on a poster, created by Albert Staehl.
Today, August 9, 2019 marks the 75th anniversary of the Smokey Bear public service campaign, the longest-running public service advertising campaign in U.S. history, educating generations of Americans about their role in preventing wildfires.
The campaign started during World War II. After a Japanese submarine surfaced near the coast of Santa Barbara firing shells that exploded on an oil field near the Los Padres National Forest, and Japanese balloons dropped incendiary devices that started a few fires and killed six citizens in Oregon, the government figured that with fires being ignited by Japan, they needed to reduce the number of preventable human-caused fires.
For the first six years Smokey Bear was just an icon, an image. The first real representative of the Bear came in 1950 when a bear cub was found clinging to a burned tree in a forest fire in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico. Firefighters rescued the cub, which had badly burned paws and hind legs, and he was flown to Santa Fe for treatment. The story became national news and the bear was given a home in the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., becoming the living symbol of Smokey Bear.
Smokey cub on a Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser. Photo: smokeybear.com
Smokey received numerous gifts of honey and so many letters he had to have his own zip code. He remained at the zoo until his death in 1976, when he was returned to his home to be buried at the Smokey Bear Historical Park in Capitan, New Mexico, where he continues to be a wildfire prevention legend.
In 1952, Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins wrote the popular anthem that would launch a continuous debate about Smokey’s name. To maintain the rhythm of the song, they added “the” between “Smokey” and “Bear.” Due to the song’s popularity, Smokey Bear has been called “Smokey the Bear” by many adoring fans, but, in actuality, his name never changed. He’s still Smokey Bear.
A bear fell onto a Humboldt County Sheriff’s patrol vehicle causing a crash followed by a fire. Photo: Hoopa Fire Department and Office of Emergency Services
We have written about animals causing fires a number of times, but this situation is unique.
On August 3 in Northern California a Humboldt County sheriff’s deputy was responding on Highway 96 to a report of an overdose when the patrol vehicle crashed, burned, and started a small vegetation fire that was suppressed after blackening half an acre.
It took several days for the surprising cause of the accident to be revealed.
On August 7 Caltrans reported that the deputy’s vehicle was struck by a bear that fell off an embankment. Thankfully the officer escaped the vehicle without serious injury. The bear fled the scene, refusing treatment.
A bear fell onto a Humboldt County Sheriff’s patrol vehicle causing a crash followed by a fire. Photo: Hoopa Fire Department and Office of Emergency Services
A firefighter attacks a spot fire that jumped across the Gardner River near the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park, July 26, 2019. NPS photo taken from near Highway 89.
An employee of one of the concessionaires in Yellowstone National Park was sentenced to three months of incarceration and $5,000 restitution for starting a fire.
Curtis J. Faustich admitted to dropping a lit cigarette on the ground while sitting at a picnic table and igniting the fire. Mr. Faustich appeared Tuesday, August 6, 2019, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Carman at the Yellowstone Justice Center in Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyoming and pleaded guilty.
In addition to incarceration and a fine, upon release he will be subject to two years of unsupervised probation and prohibited from entering Yellowstone National Park for two years.
The fire started at about 6 p.m. on July 26 about one-tenth of a mile southeast of the North Entrance to the park between Highway 89 and the Gardner River 2.3 air miles north of the Montana/Wyoming border. It burned about four acres including a half-acre spot fire on the other side of the River.
Map showing the location of the fire that started near the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park, July 26, 2019.
In a news release the Park’s law enforcement officers thanked the individuals who called the park’s 24-hour Tip Line at 307-344-2132 and provided timely incident details. The release stated that Mr. Faustich was charged with “discarding a lighted material in a hazardous manner”.
According to court records Mr. Faustich initially was given five citations:
Improper disposal of lighted material.
Failing to report an incident resulting in person injury or property damage.
Knowingly giving false information on application for permit.
Fire left unattended and unextinguished.
Presence in park area when under the influence of alcohol or controlled sub.
A fire started near the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park, July 26, 2019. NPS photo taken from near Highway 89.
A crew on the Williams Flats Fire, August 6, 2019. InciWeb.
The Williams Flats fire in northeast Washington was very active Wednesday and Wednesday night, spreading to the east an additional one to two miles and reaching BIA Road 11 less than half a mile from the Columbia river on the east side of the fire
The Incident Management Team released information about a new evacuation order at about 7 p.m. Wednesday, but unfortunately no map was provided:
The Level 1 Evacuation has now been elevated to a Level 3 Evacuation Notification – “Leave Now” by the Colville Tribes Emergency Services and the Ferry County Sheriff’s Office.
While homes are not immediately in danger, the only road out may be cut off by fire. Now is the time to evacuate. Anyone who remains in the area may not be able to leave once the fire reaches the Nine Mile-Hellgate Road.
The evacuation zone is as follows: From the intersection of Little Nine Mile Creek with the Nine Mile-Hellgate Road, draw a straight line west to the Whitestone Lookout. All areas south of that line are now at a Level 3 Evacuation —-”Leave Now”. All residents of the area are advised that for their own safety, they need to leave now.
Map showing the location of the Williams Flats fire in northeast Washington. The red line was the perimeter determined by a fixed wing mapping flight at 11:53 p.m. PDT August 7, 2019. The white line was the perimeter 26 hours before. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 4:18 a.m. PDT August 8, 2019.
The company displayed on its website the logo of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, with no evidence that the Foundation endorsed the product
Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer and Santa Barbara District Attorney Joyce Dudley announced they filed a joint enforcement action against wildfire home protection company, Sunseeker Enterprises, (DBA Sun FireDefense), and its owner, James Moseley, alleging false and misleading advertising claims about the effectiveness and environmental safety of its wildfire home protection product, SPF 3000 Clear Spray. SPF 3000 is advertised as a coating that can be applied to the exterior of a home to prevent it from catching fire and burning down, particularly in a wildfire.
“If you’re selling a product that you claim protects homes from wildfires, it better work as advertised. Lives depend on it,” said Feuer.
“If consumers falsely believe that their homes are protected from wildfires, when in fact they are not, those consumers could delay evacuation, placing their lives, the lives of their families and loved ones, and the lives of first responders at great risk,” Deputy District Attorney Christopher Dalbey said.
Notice distributed by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office.
The joint enforcement action filed today arises from Sunseeker Enterprises’ alleged false and misleading television, print, and online advertisements along with advertisements on its website claiming that SPF 3000 Clear Spray “provides protection against heat and embers up to 3000 degrees Fahrenheit,” is “effective for 5+ years after a single application,” was developed “through collaboration with NASA and the U.S. Forest Service,” is “non-toxic to humans or animals,” and uses “[t]he best eco-friendly fire protection materials,” among other allegedly false and misleading claims.
Feuer and Dudley requested that Sunseeker Enterprises substantiate these and other claims and engaged a third-party expert to test a product sample, leading to a lawsuit alleging that SPF 3000 Clear Spray does not perform as advertised, if at all; contains ingredients that under California law are presumptively hazardous to human health and the environment; and wood treated with it did not perform markedly better than the untreated wood.
In addition, Feuer and Dudley allege that Sunseeker misleads consumers through the use of logos — such as the National Fire Protection Association, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, and other organizations — on its website and in marketing materials. Sunseeker has not provided documentation establishing endorsements from these organizations.
