Wildfire Today

Wildfire smoke alters immune cells, promoting inflammation

Bill GabbertOctober 31, 2022Uncategorizedfirefighter health, public health, research, smoke, smoke & health21 Comments

Smoke Beaver Fire — Smoke at the Beaver Fire in Northern California, August 12, 2014. Photo by Bill Gabbert.

Immune cells that normally protect against inflammation and infections can be altered by wildfire smoke to promote inflammation. A long list of diseases are associated with inflammation. Studies have shown that healthy individuals and those with pre-existing conditions are affected by the very small PM2.5 particles produced by wildfire smoke.

forecast 4 a.m. PDT October 26 fire wildfire smoke — Forecast for the distribution of smoke at 4 a.m. PDT October 26, 2019 in the San Francisco area and south as far as Santa Maria.

Below are excerpts from an article written by Tori Rodriguez first published in Pulmonology Advisor. It covers the effects of smoke on humans and suggests what could be done to mitigate the potential damage. One idea is for fire and local officials when considering evacuation guidelines to plan for not only the dangers of flames, but also the effects of smoke.

[With wildfires increasing] and the health issues that result, there is a real and growing need for clinicians to educate at-risk patients, according to Jennifer Stowell, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the department of environmental health at the Boston University School of Public Health and co-author of a recent study on the health effects of wildfires.² “For clinicians, education of patients is paramount, especially for those with already compromised health,” said Dr Stowell.

Healthy individuals may also experience health consequences from wildfires, according to Angela Haczku, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine and director of the UC Davis Lung Center. “During the 2020 California wildfire season, my team conducted a study on healthy individuals and found alarmingly increased numbers of abnormal, activated immune cells in the peripheral blood.³ These cells are normally responsible for protecting against inflammation and infections, but when altered by inhalation of wildfire smoke, they become the ones promoting inflammation,” she explained.

Research exposes burning issues

The vast majority of recent US wildfires have been concentrated in western states, including Washington (218 fires), California (153 fires), Montana (141 fires), and Utah (130 fires).¹Estimates show that more than 70,000 wildfires have burned an average of 7 million acres in the US annually since the year 2000.⁴

In addition to this geographic damage, a sizeable body of research has detailed the negative human health effects resulting from exposure to wildfire smoke:

In a study published in June 2022, Heaney et al found that “smoke event” days — those with the highest amounts of particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) from wildfires — were linked to increases in unscheduled hospital visits in California for all respiratory diseases (3.3%; 95% CI, 0.4%-6.3%) as well as asthma specifically (10.3%; 95% CI, 2.3%-19.0%), with the largest effect observed among children ages 0 to 5 years with asthma.²

Stratified analyses demonstrated increased visits for all cardiovascular diseases, ischemic heart disease, and heart failure among non‐Hispanic White patients and individuals older than 65 years. The findings further suggested that the interaction between wildfire PM2.5 concentrations and high temperatures may further increase the need for hospital visits among patients with cardiovascular disease.

A 2022 scoping review found evidence of increased population-level mortality, respiratory morbidity, and rates of various types of cancer in association with exposure to PM2.5 and chemicals from wildfire smoke.⁵

Findings from a 2021 study indicate that particulate matter from wildfire smoke has a greater effect on respiratory health than particulate matter from other sources of emission, based on a comparison of the increase in respiratory hospitalizations associated with increases in wildfire-specific PM2.5 (increase in hospitalizations ranging from 1.3% to 10%) and non-wildfire PM2.5 (increase in hospitalizations from 0.67% to 1.3%) in Southern California.⁶

Research published in 2021 showed that a 10 µg/m³ increase in wildfire PM2.5 was correlated with increased hospitalizations for all respiratory diseases, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and ischemic heart disease in Colorado. Wildfire PM2.5 was also associated with an increase in deaths due to asthma and myocardial infarction.⁷

Other results reported in 2021 linked wildfire PM.2.5 exposure in Alaska to elevated odds of asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits among various population, with odds ratios ranging from 1.10 (95% CI, 1.05-1.15) to 1.16 (95% CI, 1.09-1.23).⁸

A 2018 study analyzed data pertaining to 21,353 inpatient hospitalizations, 25,922 ED presentations, and 297,698 outpatient visits during periods of heightened smoke exposure from the 2007 San Diego wildfires. The results demonstrated a 34% increase in ED visits for respiratory diagnoses and a 112% increase in ED visits for asthma. Even greater increases in ED visits were observed among children aged 0 to 4 years with respiratory diagnoses (73% increase) and in children aged 0 to 1 year with asthma (243% increase).⁹

Studies have also demonstrated increases in ED visits and hospitalization rates for asthma and other respiratory diseases in relation to wildfire PM2.5 in states such as Oregon and Nevada.^10,11

Additionally, findings from multiple studies point to a potential connection between wildfire smoke exposure and higher rates of COVID-19 infection and associated mortality. In 1 study, researchers found that COVID-19 cases and related deaths increased by 56.9% and 148.2%, respectively, after the onset of the California wildfires that began in September 2020 compared with the period of time from the onset of the pandemic to just before the wildfires began.¹²

Results of another recent study suggest that “wildfire smoke inhalation sequesters activated, pro-inflammatory [natural killer] cells to the affected tissue compartments and may interfere with [COVID-19] vaccine effectiveness,” according to the authors.¹³

We interviewed Drs Stowell and Haczku to find out more about what clinicians need to know about the health effects of wildfires. Notably, Dr Haczku recently chaired the 2022 third annual NorCal Symposium on Climate, Health, and Equity.

“The size of the particulate matter is important….Particles larger than 10 micrometers in diameter are deposited in the nose, mouth, and upper airways, while PM2.5 is sucked directly down to the alveoli…causing disruption and inflammation.”
Dr Angela Haczku, Director of the University of California Davis Lung Center and chair of the 2022 NorCal Symposium on Climate, Health, and Equity.

What is known about the health effects of exposure to wildfire smoke?

Dr Stowell: Several studies have investigated the health effects of wildfire smoke and have linked smoke exposure to respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, and birth outcomes such as preterm birth and low birth weight.¹⁴ Several gaps remain, including a better understanding of indoor air quality during wildfire events, the risk to outdoor workers, pregnancy complications, and mental health.

Dr Haczku: Wildfire smoke contains particulate matter of varying sizes, usually classified into PM10 and PM2.5 and ozone (O3) and nitrogen-containing toxic gases. All of these are combined with volatile organic chemicals that fuel the flames, the quality and quantity of which depend on whether what is burning comes from wild land, urban areas, or combined areas.

The size of the particulate matter is important because it determines where in the respiratory tract it will end. Particles larger than 10 micrometers in diameter (PM10) are deposited in the nose, mouth, and upper airways, while PM2.5 is sucked directly down to the alveoli, the tiny sacs responsible for our breathing, causing disruption and inflammation.

These particles are also carriers of inflammatory, allergenic, infectious, and toxic molecules causing both acute and chronic illnesses.

The most affected and best-studied organs susceptible to wildfire smoke are the respiratory tract and the cardiovascular system. Most ED visits are related to exacerbations of asthma and COPD and heart conditions such as coronary disease. Respiratory and cardiovascular mortality and hospitalization rates are well-known to be increased during wildfires. Affected adults and children also often suffer from anxiety and other mental health conditions. These conditions and the long-term health effects of wildfires are less studied and poorly understood.

What are the implications of these effects for health care systems?

Dr Stowell: Increasing wildfire activity due to climate change will continue to exacerbate these issues. Wildfire smoke exposure used to be thought of as an issue for the western US. However, as seen in the past several years, smoke from large fires and complex fires can reach across the continental US, exposing many individuals to harmful pollutants. Even with this wider spread of smoke, exposure will continue to have the greatest effect on the health of communities close in proximity to the fires, where smoke density is the heaviest.

Often the communities most affected are rural and face distance barriers to accessing proper health care. Thus, the health care systems in these already underserved areas could face capacity and response issues as wildfire smoke exposure continues to increase in western US states.

Dr Haczku: The effect of wildfire smoke on respiratory, cardiovascular, mental, and general health could be alleviated through specific interventions. As such, wildfire-related disasters provide health care systems with an opportunity to take a proactive role. Health care professionals should strategically and intentionally prepare for wildfire smoke events. Educational material should be prepared using professional society-approved guidelines and toolkits. These also need to be translated into the languages of and distributed to patients and potentially affected communities as well as the general public.

Having an efficient local system in place for timely warnings to reduce time spent outdoors during wildfire smoke events is crucial. Preventive measures in schools and indoor public places such as improved air filtration systems should be installed.

What are recommendations or considerations for clinicians to keep in mind when caring for patients in areas most affected by wildfires?

Dr Stowell: Education of patients is paramount. Some other steps could include considering temporary staff increases during wildfire seasons, ensuring the clinic staff are well-educated regarding wildfire smoke safety measures, and partnering with communities to provide clean air options for their patients.

Dr Haczku: In addition to intensive management of risk factors and chronic diseases, I believe implementing preventive measures are the most important. For example, professionals need to make sure that timely public warnings of smoke events are in place. Clinicians and health care workers should have a database that can be used to identify and reach out to vulnerable populations including pregnant women, children, the elderly, and farm and construction workers. Education of these communities and individuals can prevent emergency situations. Susceptible patients suffering from chronic illnesses and workers who cannot avoid outdoor activities may require help with fitting personal respirators and devices and specific consultation by health care workers.

What broader measures are needed to buffer the effects of wildfire smoke exposure and protect vulnerable populations, such as those with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases?

Dr Stowell: Much more needs to be done to plan for these large fire events. This planning includes focusing efforts in the areas most often affected by smoke through increasing health care system capacity, forming mobile health response teams, proper community education, better guidelines for evacuation (as most evacuations are intended to avoid the flames and not the smoke). Another need is access to clean air options, such as providing clean air centers and affordable access to air purification technology, including air conditioning and HEPA filtration.

Dr Haczku: As a health care educator, administrator, and climate change researcher, I see an urgent unmet need for the education of health care professionals about the effects of wildfires and, more generally, of climate change on human health. Vulnerable subjects, especially patients suffering from chronic health conditions, should be identified and educated. Improving advocacy toolkits and updating evidence-based professional guidelines for disease management and preventive interventions to reduce risk and protect health is imperative.

Research efforts to study and better understand wildfire smoke-induced pathologies as well as research to investigate the effectiveness of novel interventions should be better supported.

References

Fire, Weather, and Avalanche Center. Current wildfires burning in the U.S. Accessed September 11, 2022.
Heaney A, Stowell JD, Liu JC, Basu R, Marlier M, Kinney P. Impacts of fine particulate matter from wildfire smoke on respiratory and cardiovascular health in California. Geohealth. 2022;6(6):e2021GH000578. doi:10.1029/2021GH000578
Teuber M, Flayer C, Linderholm A, et al. Wildfire smoke exposure activates circulating innate immune cells. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2021;147(2);Suppl_AB237. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2020.12.012
Congressional Research Service. Wildfire Statistics. Updated September 2, 2022. Accessed September 30, 2022.
Grant E, Runkle JD. Long-term health effects of wildfire exposure: A scoping review. J Climate Change Health. 2022;6:100110. doi:10.1016/j.joclim.2021.100110.
Aguilera R, Corringham T, Gershunov A, Benmarhnia T. Wildfire smoke impacts respiratory health more than fine particles from other sources: observational evidence from Southern California. Nat Commun. 2021;12(1):1493. doi:10.1038/s41467-021-21708-0
Magzamen S, Gan RW, Liu J, et al. Differential cardiopulmonary health impacts of local and long-range transport of wildfire smoke. Geohealth. 2021;5(3):e2020GH000330. doi:10.1029/2020GH000330
Hahn MB, Kuiper G, O’Dell K, Fischer EV, Magzamen S. Wildfire smoke is associated with an increased risk of cardiorespiratory emergency department visits in Alaska. Geohealth. 2021;5(5):e2020GH000349. doi:10.1029/2020GH000349
Hutchinson JA, Vargo J, Milet M, et al. The San Diego 2007 wildfires and Medi-Cal emergency department presentations, inpatient hospitalizations, and outpatient visits: An observational study of smoke exposure periods and a bidirectional case-crossover analysis. PLoS Med. 2018;15(7):e1002601. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002601
Gan RW, Liu J, Ford B, et al. The association between wildfire smoke exposure and asthma-specific medical care utilization in Oregon during the 2013 wildfire season. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2020;30(4):618-628. doi:10.1038/s41370-020-0210-x
Kiser D, Metcalf WJ, Elhanan G, et al. Particulate matter and emergency visits for asthma: a time-series study of their association in the presence and absence of wildfire smoke in Reno, Nevada, 2013-2018. Environ Health. 2020;19(1):92. doi:10.1186/s12940-020-00646-2
Meo SA, Abukhalaf AA, Alomar AA, Alessa OM, Sami W, Klonoff DC. Effect of environmental pollutants PM-2.5, carbon monoxide, and ozone on the incidence and mortality of SARS-COV-2 infection in ten wildfire affected counties in California. Sci Total Environ. 2021;757:143948. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143948
Sanghar GK, Ravindran R, Teuber MJ, et al. Phenotypic evaluation of natural killer (NK) cells in response to BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 vaccine during wildfire smoke exposure. Presented at: the American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2022 International Conference; May 13-18, 2022; San Francisco, CA. Abstract A5407. doi:10.1164/ajrccm-conference.2022.205.1_MeetingAbstracts.A5047
Evans J, Bansal A, Schoenaker DAJM, Cherbuin N, Peek MJ, Davis DL. Birth outcomes, health, and health care needs of childbearing women following wildfire disasters: An integrative, state-of-the-science review. Environ Health Perspect. 2022;130(8):86001. doi:10.1289/EHP10544

Report released for the Marshall Fire which destroyed 1,056 structures southeast of Boulder, Colorado

Bill GabbertOctober 29, 2022UncategorizedColorado, Marshall Fire, report10 Comments

On the morning of December 30, 2021 the Marshal Fire ignited south of Boulder, Colorado. Pushed by winds gusting well over 40 mph, hurricane strength in some areas, it burned through subdivisions destroying 1,056 structures. By late the next day the winds had decreased and it was snowing on the 6,080-acre blaze.

At the request of the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention & Control a Facilitated Learning Analysis has been completed. The very lengthy and detailed document is in the Storymap format, which in this case includes many illustrations, photos, and maps.

Marshall Fire, Louisville, Colorado, by WxChasing/Brandon Clement — Marshall Fire, Louisville, Colorado. Photo by WxChasing/Brandon Clement, Dec. 31, 2021.

Topics covered are weather, fuels, fire behavior, communication, ordering, evacuations, utilities, animal rescue, and hospital evacuation. It contains a wealth of information that could aid communities planning to prevent similar damage from inevitable wildfires, and manage them after they start.

Marshall Fire structures — Map of structures damaged or destroyed during the Marshall Fire which started December 30, 2021 near Boulder, Colorado. Map accessed 10 a.m. MST January 7, 2021.

Landowners file suits against US Forest Service for burning their property during Chetco Bar Fire in Oregon

Bill GabbertOctober 28, 2022October 28, 2022UncategorizedChetco Bar Fire, lawsuit, Oregon27 Comments

Chetco Bar Fire July 13, 2017 — The Chetco Bar Fire on July 13, 2017 taken from a helicopter during the Type 3 Incident Commander’s first recon flight.

Two lawsuits have been filed in federal court for firing operations that burned private land during the Chetco Bar Fire that eventually burned more than 191,000 acres on land managed by the US Forest Service and private landowners in southwest Oregon.

The suit, under the Tucker Act for inverse condemnation, seeks compensation for “property taken” by the USFS in its use and management of the Chetco Bar Fire. It alleges that between August 17 and 20, 2017 the USFS conducted firing operations on their property “to achieve its natural resource management objectives, and to otherwise manage its lands”.

“USFS employed planned ignitions in the form of large-scale backfires designed to artificially grow the naturally occurring wildfire to sizes much larger than if it has been left to burn naturally,” say the two complaints filed October 21. “The large-scale planned ignitions on the Chetco Bar Fire ignored political and property boundaries and used Plaintiffs’ nonfederal resources as backfire fuel, imposing the costs of the natural resource management objectives upon Plaintiffs.”

The Chetco Bar Fire started from a lightning strike during a storm on June 24 and 25, 2017 and was first reported by an airline pilot 17 days later on July 12.

The attorney representing the landowners is Quentin Rhodes in Missoula, who is not your typical barrister. He worked as a wildland firefighter for eight seasons between 1987 and 1994, serving on the Helena Hotshot crew and later as a smokejumper at West Yellowstone and Missoula. He told Wildfire Today in 2012 that he was in the first planeload of jumpers on the South Canyon Fire in Colorado in 1994, the fatal fire on which 14 wildland firefighters were entrapped and killed. In 2012 he represented owners of a Montana ranch who won a $750,000 judgement against the state of Montana when firefighters on the Ryan Gulch Fire employed firing operations which burned 900 acres of the ranch’s land.

Report released for engine rollover on Anderson Butte Fire

Bill GabbertOctober 27, 2022UncategorizedOregon, rollover12 Comments

Engine rollover Anderson Butte Fire — Engine rollover on Anderson Butte Fire. Photo from the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center report.

On October 2 one of three responding Type 6 engines rolled over while responding to the Anderson Butte Fire in Oregon. On the gravel road much dust was being kicked up compromising the visibility of the drivers. They were heading into the sun and the driver of the rollover engine said he was relying on the emergency lightbars of the engines ahead of him to find his way.

As he rounded a shaded corner, the sun hit the engine windshield and severely impacted his vision. He did not notice the curve in the road. Soon after, the Engine 241 driver—who was the vehicle’s sole occupant—noticed that the passenger side front tire was no longer contacting the ground. He attempted to steer back toward the road, but momentum caused the engine to tip. The engine then rolled more than two times before being stopped by a small grove of oak trees, finally coming to rest on the driver’s side, approximately 100 feet below the road.

The driver was able to climb out through the passenger window, walk up to the road, and radio for help.

The driver indicated that he basically just had a laceration on his leg. He initially requested to continue to the fire, but was held back for further evaluation. A local ambulance crew arrived around 30 minutes later. The driver was evaluated for head trauma and his lacerated leg was treated. The ambulance was released, the driver was instructed to return to his home unit, and was driven there by his supervisor.

The engine, which was totaled beyond repair, was retrieved by a wrecker the following day.

Two of the lessons pointed out in the report were:

Continuously evaluate conditions, as dust and sun angle make for less visibility, travel at slower speeds, and allow for more space in between yourself and the vehicle in front of you.
If you can’t clearly see the road: STOP.

Forest Service employee’s arrest after fire crosses onto private land sparks larger debate

BillOctober 26, 2022October 26, 2022Uncategorizedarrested, escaped prescribed fire, Malheur National Forest, Oregon, prescribed fire83 Comments

A Grayback employee at the Starr 6 prescribed fire, Oct. 19, 2022. Tony Chiotti – Blue Mountain Eagle.

Editor's note
This article was written by Blue Mountain Eagle reporter Tony Chiotti who was on the scene of the Starr 6 prescribed on the Malheur National Forest in Oregon before it jumped containment and spread to private land on Oct. 19. In reporting this story, he drew on observations made that day as well as multiple interviews with Forest Service officials, burn crew workers, and landowners. It is used here with permission.

When Rick Snodgrass approached Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley, he thought the sheriff was there to help him.

According to Snodgrass, he’d called for law enforcement to help control aggressive traffic and to deal with harassment his crews had been receiving while implementing a prescribed burn on the Malheur National Forest in Bear Valley, about 7 miles north of Seneca.

That burn — called the Starr 6 — had since jumped the fireline, and now there was active fire on both sides of County Road 63, where Snodgrass and McKinley met: the prescribed burn operation on Malheur National Forest land to the north of the road — now flaring up in gusts of wind — and an uncontained slopover on private land to the south. The crews under Snodgrass’ direction were now attempting to quell one fire while holding the reins on another, with tempers, smoke, wind and now traffic adding to the dangers to his crew.

But instead of assistance, what Snodgrass got was arrested.

When the sheriff cuffed Snodgrass, it is thought to be the first time a U.S. Forest Service firefighter has been arrested in the course of performing their job.

Snodgrass, the “burn boss” on the day’s operation, was taken away from the scene and charged with reckless burning, a Class A misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $6,250 fine. Before it was contained, an hour after it kicked off, the spot fire burned an estimated 20 to 40 acres of private land owned by members of the Holliday family.

The arrest of Snodgrass on Wednesday, Oct. 19, has drawn national attention and has fanned the debate over Forest Service fire mitigation policies, especially as they pertain to intentional burns adjacent to private lands.

And in the aftermath of this burn, there are accusations on both sides of this contentious debate about which actions on that day deserve the blame. Critics of the Forest Service and the affected landowners feel the conditions on the day never should have allowed the burn to proceed. Others, including Forest Service personnel who planned and executed the burn, say that by arresting the burn boss at the moment of maximum danger, the planned operation and the safety of the crews were placed in jeopardy.

“Other individuals were able to pick up the slack, fortunately, that were well trained,” Snodgrass said. “He put not only my guys at risk out there, their safety, but he put that land at risk as well as, you know, all of Bear Valley.”

The buildup
In 2015 the Canyon Creek Fire, which started with lightning strikes on Malheur National Forest land and spread to private ground, ultimately burned over 110,000 acres and destroyed 43 structures in Grant County.

There is general agreement that a hundred years of fire suppression has led to forests that are overfilled with fuel, a situation made more dangerous by a prolonged drought. Part of Canyon Creek’s legacy is the strongly held and polarized views on how to best prevent catastrophic fires in the future.

Proponents of prescribed burning see the scorched canyons along US 395 as a reminder of the stakes, the need to create buffers, remove built-up fuels and restore forests to a pre-suppression state where they can better survive the inevitable blaze, while critics of federal land management and the Forest Service see a constant reminder of botched containment efforts and mismanaged public land that only fuel their distrust.

“Every individual has a different opinion and motivation,” said Craig Trulock, supervisor of the 1.7 million-acre Malheur National Forest. “You have people that are just anti-federal and don’t want any federal agency doing anything that could affect their lands. Others don’t like prescribed burning for various reasons, whether it’s risk or a sense that it doesn’t achieve what we should be doing out there because they want every log to go on a log truck. And then you have people that are saying, ‘When you burn, would you please burn my property as well?’”

According to Trulock, the burn had been going to plan. “We were within prescription on the burn,” Trulock said, noting he couldn’t say much more as the incident is now the subject of an active federal and local investigation.

The fire was the second day of prescribed burning in as many weeks. The burn area planned for Wednesday, Oct. 19, was 300 acres, including trees and meadowland within the Malheur National Forest in an operation involving federal, state and contract firefighting crews, according to information from the Forest Service.

This was among the first prescribed burns to be allowed after a new set of restrictions came into effect this year, following high-profile cases of prescribed burns getting out of control on federal land and causing massive damage, including the Calf Canyon/Hermit’s Peak blaze in New Mexico, which burned several hundred thousand acres and hundreds of structures this spring. After a 90-day pause on all prescribed burns, a revised set of restrictions was published.

As part of those new rules, before ignitions could begin in Bear Valley, a go/no-go checklist had to be completed on site.

This day’s final check represented the end of a multiyear process. That process involved an environmental analysis of the project area that included commercial logging, noncommercial thinning and burning treatments. The burn plan takes the form of a 100-plus-page document, updated year over year as the preparatory steps of thinning, fuel removal and tree grinding continued, all to get the area into ideal shape for a burn.

As part of the new rules, the final ignition authorization had to be signed by four people: the agency administrator, local unit line officer, burn boss, and fire management officer or duty officer. This process only authorizes ignitions for 24 hours, in effect giving all four officers veto power over the burn based on that day’s conditions.

On this day, all four individuals assessed the conditions, and all four signatures were affixed to the burn authorization, meaning ignitions could begin. One of those four signatures belonged to Rick Snodgrass.

Smoldering tensions
The ignition was delayed for about 45 minutes while crews did a grid search to ensure there were no cows in the burn area after hearing reports that the Hollidays still had some “stragglers” left on national forest land, a common occurrence as cows are seasonally moved off grazing allotments. The Windy Point Ranch allotment specified an Oct. 15 “off date,” but Chad Holliday explained that some fence that was burned the previous week, along with gates being left open by fire personnel, meant he couldn’t be sure the cattle were all out.

Initially, the burn went according to plan, with light winds of 0-3 mph and the heat of the fire drawing smoke up into a clean, bent column over the county road. The fire moved slowly across 50 acres over the course of five hours, with fire crews monitoring the progress of its leading front and continuing drip-torch ignitions.

Ignitions paused in the afternoon, to begin again a couple hours later. It was then that the wind picked up and a few trees in the interior of the already-burned area torched, sending up “duffers” with the smoke, up and over the road.

Members of the Holliday family, who own the Windy Point Ranch and other land adjacent to the burn area, were standing across the county road from the fire as an ember from the burn area touched town on their ranch, starting a new fire that soon began to spread.

“We were glad to see Oregon Department of Forestry and Grayback (contract crews) show up,” said Mandy Taylor, Chad Holliday’s sister.

ODF and Grayback Forestry crews were contracted to work alongside Forest Service employees throughout the day’s burn, but due to tensions between the landowners and the federal crews, they were eventually asked to take over mop-up after the flames of the spot fire were extinguished, according to Trulock, who said the move was meant to calm tensions on the scene.

Those kinds of tensions are not unusual.

“I think in a lot of parts of Oregon, it’s just a very real experience for federal employees to have a lot of hostility towards what they’re doing right now,” said Christopher Adlam, a regional fire specialist for Oregon State University’s Extension Service. “I’m not saying that people don’t also appreciate firefighters and thank firefighters. But it’s a pretty common thing in some parts of Oregon for federal employees to face hostility.”

Indeed, federal crews called the regional interagency dispatch center on both days of the burn to report verbal harassment, threats and aggressive driving through the smoke, and to request law enforcement assistance on the scene.

The Hollidays maintain they were welcoming and cooperative with federal crews, providing access to their land in order to contain the blaze. But as the fire spread and crews worked to contain it, the Hollidays called 911. They didn’t call to report the fire. They asked for the sheriff. “We knew that somebody was doing something wrong,” said Taylor.

Planning for contingencies
If you use the phrase “controlled burn” in the vicinity of firefighters operating a prescribed burn, you will be corrected.

This is fire. You don’t control it. The best you can plan for is to manage it and be prepared if the fire has other ideas.

Adlam points out that spillover fires like the one that happened in Bear Valley are rare occurrences but can still have a huge impact on people. “I think that, the last 20 years, we’ve had one other occurrence of a burn crossing over from federal land onto private land in Oregon,” he said.

The Malheur National Forest supervisor notes that the spillover was quickly brought under control.

“They caught it with the resources they had on scene,” said Trulock. He noted that the number of crew on scene before the fire jumped was far more than their own burn plan had recommended, and that the new rules and added caution likely led to their ability to ultimately contain the spot. “We didn’t use any aviation or anything. The only additional resource we brought on was that dozer, and that was to really secure the edge of the spot so that they could then mop it up. So we were staffed enough to actually catch something like this.”

The Grant County Sheriff’s Office and the Forest Service estimated the size of the spot fire as approximately 20 acres. Chad Holliday estimates it as closer to 40, after measuring the perimeter of the area at “exactly one mile.”

“Somebody’s got to be held accountable”
As the federal crews were attempting to control the spot fire on the ranch, McKinley arrived. Chad Holliday received a call from his sister, who was on the scene and told him to get home. He arrived to see Sheriff McKinley speaking with people along the fence.

“I walked up, and Todd said, ‘Chad, right now you’re (being) videorecorded. You’re the spokesman for the ranch. Would you like to press charges?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely. Somebody’s got to be held accountable.’”

Holliday said McKinley then went directly to Snodgrass on the county road and “put the cuffs on him.”

The Eagle has filed a public records request for bodycam footage or any other video taken at the scene during this incident by the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. The newspaper is also seeking any other video footage captured at the scene that could further help establish the sequence of events.

“A reasonable person”
The fire was set in the days before predicted rain, and will likely prove to be the last of this year’s short burn season. But the issues surrounding prescribed burning and federal land management, especially as it impacts private landowners, will undoubtedly remain a flashpoint in Grant County.

For now, as the investigation continues, McKinley is playing things close to the vest. He’s declined offers to comment on the case beyond his initial press release, which said “details cannot be released at this time.”

Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter has been slightly more forthcoming, stating in his own press release that just because the burn boss was working as part of a federal crew doesn’t mean he will be shielded from potential legal consequences.

“To be clear, the employer and/or position of Snodgrass will not protect him if it is determined that he acted recklessly,” he wrote. “That the USFS was engaging in a prescribed burn may actually raise, rather than lower, the standard to which Snodgrass will be held.”

Carpenter lays out in his release the full legal standard for determining if a burn is or is not “reckless” as defined in Oregon statute: “The risk must be of such nature and degree that disregard thereof constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the situation.”

McKinley, known as a level head in the wider context of Grant County politics, might not have intended to make a statement. But this extraordinary arrest has caught national attention and sparked debate in the press and online. And now in the actions of the sheriff and the actions of the Forest Service, both sides see actions that created real danger.

Critics of the Forest Service point to the simple fact that the fire escaped the lines as evidence the conditions were unsafe and that the fire should never have been approved. To the Hollidays, and those skeptical of federal land management in general, it’s a clear measure: the fire got onto their land and threatened or destroyed their property. How could that have been a reasonable thing to do?

It has also stirred the ire of wildland firefighter communities, who fear this development will set a precedent and only complicate an already difficult and dangerous job. And in these groups’ online conversations, it is clear many believe that the arrest created a situation on the ground that may have added to the real risk faced by fire crews in Bear Valley.

“One of the huge watch-out situations in any fire operation is a transition in leadership,” said Trulock. “And that’s when it’s a plan to transition in leadership. This was obviously unplanned. What I would say is there were definite heightened risks because of that action. Until leadership can be reestablished under a new person, then everybody is distracted because they know something happened. And so it created a huge distraction in the middle of what I would consider is a relatively high-risk operation.”

Adlam, the Extension Service fire specialist, agreed.

“The burn boss’s role is never more important than at the moment where something happens that is not part of the plan,” he said. “If you cut off the head of an operation before it’s finished, how is that supposed to be leading to a positive outcome?”

When reached for comment on this story, McKinley clarified why he’s reluctant to say too much at this point.

He said he knows how it appears in the court of public opinion to withhold detail, but added that as long as it protects the process he just doesn’t care. “I just want to respect the case and not get too much detail out so that it doesn’t mess with potential jury pools and all that,” he said, “because then we’d have to have (the trial) out of the area.”

For McKinley, the important thing is that the facts surrounding this case and the decisions of Rick Snodgrass are ultimately determined by 12 reasonable people — ideally, reasonable people from Grant County.

Roughly half of small Missouri town burned Saturday

Bill GabbertOctober 24, 2022October 24, 2022WildfireMissouri2 Comments

Wooldridge Fire, October 22, 2022. Photo by Cooper County Fire Protection District

A wildfire burned about half of the small town of Wooldridge, Missouri Saturday. The fire started from a combine that was harvesting crops and spread into the town pushed by 25 to 35 mph winds with low relative humidity.

Authorities said 23 structures were destroyed or heavily damaged. No one was killed and one person was taken to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, but the entire town of 100 people had to be evacuated.