Wildfire Today

A bad (and likely illegal) shooting decision, on video, ignites Arizona fire

Bill GabbertMay 3, 2023May 30, 2023Opinionincendiary, target shooting5 Comments

05/04/2023 UPDATE: Authorities have identified the shooter suspected of starting the Molino 2 Fire. The fire was started Sunday, April 30 and resulted in the closure of the Catalina Highway in the Santa Catalina Ranger District, Coronado National Forest. Video evidence shows the individual shooting illegal shotgun rounds and the start of the wildfire, according to KOLD-13 News.

Coronado National Forest managers and Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations expressed their appreciation to members of the public who provided multiple timely and actionable tips about the identity of the suspect who started the wildfire. Investigators identified, located, and interviewed the irresponsible gun owner, who is apparently shooting incendiary shells from a 12-gauge semiautomatic tactical shotgun with an extended magazine. The case has been referred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
~ K.A.

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It’s Sunday, April 30, at milepost 4.5 on the Catalina Highway, in a section of the Coronado National Forest that is a recreation gateway for Tucson, Arizona. The day reaches 100 degrees for the first time of the year, and there’s a Red Flag Warning.

Most folks might think that this is not a good day to demonstrate how adept they are at shooting a shotgun at an oddly dressed torso target with what seems to be incendiary shells. Even a worse day to demonstrate this five times, on video.

Screenshot from video, showing the target and the shooter whose identity is being sought by Coronado National Forest investigators.

But the correct decision wasn’t what the unnamed man in the video elected to do. His identity is being sought by Coronado National Forest investigators in connection with the Molino 2 Fire.

The forest shared the video in a media release noting that video evidence was obtained showing the suspect and the start of the Molino 2 Fire. Video footage shows an approximately 50- to 60-year-old, white male wearing a light grey shirt with tan cargo pants approaching the scene where others with a camera were shooting at a homemade target. Upon his arrival, they stepped back and allowed him to take five shots using his own shotgun. It appears in the video the suspect had it loaded with incendiary shells causing sparks to fly and starting the Molino 2 Fire.

The release notes that using incendiary ammo and starting a wildfire are violations of 36 CFR 261.5 (b,c) punishable by up to 6 months in jail and/or $5,000. These violations are considered Class B Misdemeanors. In addition to the fine, some of the cost may be recovered through restitution.

The fire was reported to be contained at 110 acres, with no cost estimate available. The Catalina Highway was closed for a portion of the first day of the fire, causing significant delays of a Sunday afternoon mountain traffic.

The video shows a man who shoots with enough care to wear ear protection. First, he looks back – to recognize the person with the camera, and then he turns and begins what appears to be a very conscious act – as the use of any weapons should be, by ethics and law.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/cV1hlbXff7Q

In the video embers are visible flying from where the target is hit, bouncing off surrounding rocks. The shooter fires a total of five shells until he empties his shotgun.

A still-frame from the video. Source: Coronado National Forest.

At 34 seconds into the video, the camera pans left and focuses on nearly a dozen little spot fires. Within 15 seconds the flamelengths are 2-3 feet high and the spots burn together into three distinct fires at the base of a canyon chute.

The techniques and success of fire prevention are often framed by the Three E’s – Education, Engineering and Enforcement. All three E’s are in place in this section of the Catalina Highway (which I know well, as it leads to some of my favorite hiking and running routes, and I’ve managed fires there in the past). With education having already been ignored by the shooter, and the engineering being crossed (since most of this area is closed and flagged off along the highway), then the third E of enforcement is the last tool left, with a 49-second video to support the case, as well as 110 acres of burnt desert and grassland as evidence.

Anyone with information regarding this incident and the suspected shooter is asked to call 520-388-8343 or email the Coronado National Forest at Mailroom_R3_Coronado@usda.gov

Molino 2 Fire, Coronado National Forest. April 30, 2023..

Counter Rotating Vortex Pair: the 2020 El Dorado Fire

Kelly AnderssonApril 28, 2023April 28, 2023Fire behaviorCharlie Morton, El Dorado Fire, vortex7 Comments

From: Mark Pieper
Subject: Counter Rotating Vortex Pair Technology Transfer Video Message
Body: Hello, I’m with the USDA Forest Service’s Innovation and Organizational Learning. We just released a 9 min. video about a fire behavior phenomenon called the Counter Rotating Vortex Pair. Investigators determined this occurred on the El Dorado Fire in 2020, killing Charlie Morton of the Big Bear Hotshots.
Here is the link to the video:
https://bit.ly/3LB1b79 Qcode

This QCODE will get you more info plus the video.

Editor’s note: The El Dorado Fire burned 22,744 acres in San Bernardino and Riverside counties of California in September to November 2020. It was ignited on September 5 by a pyrotechnic device at a gender reveal party in El Dorado Ranch Park, and quickly spread to the San Gorgonio Wilderness Area of the San Bernardino National Forest.

Burning over a 71-day period, the fire destroyed 20 structures and resulted in one firefighter fatality, for which the couple hosting the party were charged with involuntary manslaughter. Charlie Morton, an experienced squad boss from the Big Bear Hotshots, was killed by the Vortex Pair detailed in the excellent video linked above.

In a report by the Victorville Daily Press, Martin Estacio explained, “When asked by reporters in July how prosecutors will argue the couple’s actions were responsible for Morton’s death, San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson said the firefighter was “fighting a fire that was started because of a smoke bomb.”

“That’s the only reason he was there,” he said.

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A Superior Court judge in San Bernardino on Monday, Jan. 23, dismissed one felony count against the couple accused of setting the El Dorado Fire in 2020 but let stand 29 other charges, including the most serious, according to a January 23, 2023 report by the Mercury-News.

[Bill Gabbert’s El Dorado Fire story ARCHIVES]

Trial begins with Pacific Power over 2020 wildfires

Kelly AnderssonApril 26, 2023April 26, 2023WildfireBeachie Creek Fire, Pacific Power16 Comments

Opening arguments were heard yesterday in a lawsuit against PacifiCorp claiming that its negligence started several devastating 2020 wildfires that burned across western Oregon. KEZI-TV reported that the class action suit was filed in September 2020, not long after the fire’s containment, by Linn County residents who lost their homes in the Beachie Creek Fire. The suit grew to include plaintiffs from other Oregon wildfires.

The complaint alleges that Pacific Power and its parent company, PacifiCorp, did not deactivate certain powerlines during the heavy winds in the late summer of 2020. When those east winds brought down trees, they connected with live powerlines, igniting fires that destroyed hundreds of structures and killed several people.

“PacifiCorp chose not to protect Oregonians — it did not live up to its obligation, it didn’t take any action to prevent fires, and now, in this case, PacifiCorp should bear the consequences,” said Nicholas Rosinia, attorney for the plaintiffs. KOBI5 News reported that Pacific Power attorneys countered that a decision to de-energize powerlines is complex and can’t be based on fire risk alone. “The possibility of an ignition must be weighed against the dangers of de-energization when whole cities and towns can be blanketed in darkness just when they need power the most,” said Doug Dixon, an attorney for the defendants.

The attorneys acknowledged that both Portland General Electric and Consumers Power, Inc. decided to turn off power in parts of their service areas around the Labor Day storms.

The Beachie Creek Fire was reported August 16, 2020 in the Opal Creek Wilderness about six miles northwest of Detroit Lake in Oregon, some 38 miles east of Salem. According to records in the daily national Incident Management Situation Report and GIS data, the fire was:

- - 10 acres August 26, 10 days after it was reported
  - 23 acres August 31, 15 days after it was reported
  - 150 acres September 3, 18 days after it was reported
  - 469 acres September 7, 22 days after it was reported; (before the winds began that night).

Plaintiffs are asking for more than $1.6 billion in damages, according to court documents. The trial is scheduled to last until at least mid-June.

2020 Labor Day fires — GOES-17 photo of smoke from wildfires in Washington, Oregon, and California at 5:56 p.m. PDT Sept. 8, 2020. This image was captured during a very strong wind event. NASA photo

The Oregonian reported that the Labor Day fires burned more than 1.2 million acres in Oregon, destroyed upwards of 5,000 homes and structures, and claimed nine lives. PacifiCorp is the primary defendant in litigation from the fires; the Portland-based utility, Oregon’s second largest, did not shut down power to any of its 600,000 customers during the windstorm. Its lines have been implicated in six separate fires, one of which started in its California service territory and burned across the state line into Oregon.

Jurors will determine PacifiCorp’s responsibility, if any, in four of those fires: the Santiam Canyon fires east of Salem, the Echo Mountain Complex near Lincoln City, the South Obenchain Fire near Eagle Point, and the Two Four Two Fire near the southwest Oregon town of Chiloquin. This is a historic trial and will likely reshape the way Pacific Northwest electric utilities respond to increasing wildfire risks influenced by climate change, persistent drought conditions, and increasing numbers of acres burned each year.

In November 2022, PacifiCorp settled another case out of court with two families who sued over the Archie Creek Fire, which burned more than 130,000 acres in Douglas County in 2020.

A bit of Bill Gabbert history

Kelly AnderssonApril 25, 2023April 26, 2023Hotshot historybill gabbert, hotshots6 Comments

We got a note yesterday from Marty Parish, who knew Bill Gabbert years ago. He was amazed to see names here from his IHC days; he said he met Bill when he was with the Laguna Hotshots in the early 1980s, when Bill was working in Prevention and lived at Camp Ole, near the Laguna IHC camp.

Marty sent us this photo that was sent to him by another firefighter. He does not know where or when it was taken. But that’s for sure Bill Gabbert at far left. Who can identify more of the guys in this photo?

“At 17 I became a Young Adult Conservation Corps (YACC) member in late 1978,” wrote Marty. “We were based out of a work camp located off the same highway (Sunrise Hwy) about two miles north of Camp Ole (Al Bahr Shrine Camp, now gone after the 2013 Chariot Fire). We worked closely with the USFS as part of the program. I was hired in ’79 as an Engine Crewman (Corral Canyon) while working as a YACC with Mert Thomas in Recreation (Mert got me the job!) and I finished the second half of the season that year ending in early January of 1980. I returned in the spring to Camp Ole for my first Hotshot season.”

“I didn’t really know Bill well,” added Marty. “We had lived for a short time in the same USFS realm on the Cleveland National Forest-Descanso District; he had left suppression before we met and was working in Prevention. He lived in one of the USFS employee residences at Camp Ole (on Mt. Laguna, San Diego County).”

“I was a Laguna Hotshot for three years, but not sure he was there all three years (we relocated for a year to Descanso, then returned to Camp Ole, only to relocate back to Descanso permanently after I left for FHS).”

Marty, who was also with the Flagstaff Hotshots 1983-1985, added this. “Not sure who is in this photo, but that’s definitely Bill on far left side. Again, my condolences for your loss. A couple of others from that era recently passed too, including my dear friend Brian Connelly from LHS and MCB/Camp Pendleton Fire. Let me know if you pick up other names of people in the pic.”

Hit us up if you recognize any of the other guys in this photo or can provide other details — just click “Leave a comment” under the headline above. THANKS!

Oregon cancels its long-held policy with Lloyd’s of London

Kelly AnderssonApril 25, 2023April 25, 2023WildfireLloyd’s of London, Oregon, suppression costs

The Oregon Department of Forestry has cancelled an insurance policy that has over the years reduced the cost of fighting wildfires; it had acquired sky-high deductibles over the last few years.

ODF said it will not renew its policy with Lloyd’s of London, a UK-based insurance market, in the 2023-2024 policy year. Longer, more complex, and costlier fire seasons over the last decade have led to higher premiums and deductibles, which in turn made the policy less attractive to Oregon officials. The policy was first acquired in 1973, according to KEZI-TV, to reduce the impacts of wildland fire suppression costs for Oregonians.

The decision was made after an April 3 meeting of the Emergency Fire Cost Committee (EFCC), which oversees the Oregon Forest Land Protection Fund (FLPF). After an extensive review, the EFCC recommended to the State Forester Cal Mukumoto that he cancel the insurance policy, and he decided not to renew it, explaining that the funds that would have paid for the policy can be better used directly paying for wildfire suppression efforts.

According to the EFCC, the 2023-2024 insurance policy would have had a deductible of over $78.5 million – 57 percent higher than in the 2021-2022 policy. Oregon’s historic fire season costs did not meet that threshold, so the policy was very unlikely to actually trigger this year and provide any financial benefit to the state. The 2023-2024 premium was quoted at $4.1 million for $25 million in coverage.

Virginia deputy chief dies of heart attack after wildfire response

Bill GabbertApril 24, 2023April 24, 2023Uncategorizedfatality, lodd, Virginia

A Virginia firefighter, Deputy Chief Chester T. Lauck with Frederick County Fire and Rescue, suffered a heart attack hours after responding to a wildfire and died the following morning.

The notice from the Frederick County Government Facebook page on Sunday announced “On behalf of Fire and Rescue Chief Steven A. Majchrzak, it is with profound sadness that we announce the Line-Of-Duty Death of Deputy Chief Chester T. Lauck, who passed away this morning at 8:09 a.m. at Winchester Medical Center surrounded by family and friends.”

In his most recent position, Lauck was responsible for the Emergency Management Division. Prior to that he had worked for the Winchester (Virginia) Fire and Rescue Department and had retired He retired from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Fire and Rescue Department as a Battalion Chief of the Special Operations Division. He’d also worked as an Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighter (ARFF) for the Air National Guard and began service in 1984 as a patrolman for the Virginia Department of Forestry, where he worked on wildland incidents and events.

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