Wildfire Today

News and opinion about wildland fire

Wildfire Today

Tag: Australia

Dinosaurs threatened by wildfire — again

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,

When I saw the “Dinosaurs survive wildfire” headline today in the Rapid City Journal, at first I thought it was referring to the article pointed out yesterday by @Rachel_Rocket that appeared in my Twitter feed. Rachel’s tweet linked to a recent study in Australia which concluded that bushfires appeared in that country 50 million years earlier than previously thought and may be associated with the demise of the dinosaurs.

Dinosaur Hill fire
Photo by Kristina Barker/Rapid City Journal

But it turned out that the Rapid City Journal was more interested in a wildfire that threatened some dinosaurs YESTERDAY. This time it was life-sized replicas of them in Dinosaur Park. Pushed by 12 mph winds with gusts up to 31, the fire burned three to five acres before being controlled by firefighters from the Rapid City Fire Department and other agencies. This may be one of the rare examples of it being reported that FIREFIGHTERS SAVED THE DINOSAURS.

The Rapid City Journal has more info and photos HERE, and an interesting video showing firefighters in action HERE.

Australia’s Black Saturday fires: before and after photos

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , ,

Black Saturday bushfires photosI like to look at before and after pictures. One of the best examples is the book of photographs that compare the photos taken on General George Custer’s 1874 expedition through the Black Hills of South Dakota, with photos taken by Ernest Grafe and Paul Horsted and published in the book Exploring With Custer: The 1874 Black Hills Expedition in 2003. The differences in vegetation help to explain why we now have larger fires that are more difficult to control.

Andrew Quilty, a photographer on the other side of the world, has done something similar, but instead of waiting 129 years for the after pictures, he took photos immediately after the February, 2009 Black Saturday fires in Australia, and then again two years later. One is on the left, and others are HERE.

Thanks Dick

Australian fire update: 64 homes burned

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 2 Comments on Australian fire update: 64 homes burned
Western Australia bushfire
Western Australia bushfire. Photo: Paul Pichugin

Most of the fires that have devastated parts of Western Australia are becoming controlled, but the number of homes that have burned has risen to 64, while 32 were damaged. On Monday some residents of the Kelmscott and Roleystone areas first heard the fates of their houses when a role call of addresses was rapidly read at a public meeting.

As firefighters began to control the fires, Premier Colin Barnett declared an area around the Perth foothills a disaster zone. He announced that the government was going to give $3,000 to those who had lost their homes, and $1,000 to those whose properties were damaged.

Since the Black Saturday fires, the government has been touting a new early warning system for bushfires, but some  families whose homes were destroyed said they either did not receive warnings from fire authorities or telephone and text alerts arrived hours after they had fled areas that burned. Fire and Emergency Services Authority officials said the fact that no one died in the fires is proof that the system worked well.

Roger Underwood, a former senior West Australian forester, has called for a public inquiry into the fuel management program, saying insufficient prescribed burning has led to a buildup of fuels. He blames the “greenie opposition to prescribed burning” and the “babes in the woods” who have moved from the city to the hills.

Fires in Western Australia destroy at least 35 homes

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,
Western Australia fires
Photo: ABC News

Winds up to 43 mph are making it difficult for firefighters to control several wildfires in Western Australia. Here is an excerpt from ABC News in Australia:

Residents in several West Australian areas are facing a sleepless night as blazes continue to burn out of control.

Around 400 firefighters have been battling a number of blazes over the past 24 hours.

A blaze burning in the Roleystone and Kelmscott areas, south-east of Perth, has already destroyed 35 homes.

Authorities say that figure could reach 60, with winds of up to 70 kilometres an hour (43 mph) making it near impossible to bring the huge fire under control.

A firefighter was injured while battling the blaze and is now in a stable condition in hospital.

To the north-east of the city in Red Hill and Brigadoon, an emergency warning is in place for a blaze that has been burning since Saturday night.

Craig Hynes from the Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA) says forecast winds will make it difficult to bring the fires under control.

“The wind is probably the worst enemy of firefighters,” he said.

“It will carry the fire, it will carry embers, they will spot ahead of the fire and it’s quite possible that it will cross roads and then start another fire in another area where firefighters need to get to quickly.”

Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA) is urging its ground crews to keep people safe.

“Life is more important than homes,” said a radio message to fire crews. “If you can not save the homes, make sure there are no people involved.

“Please make sure if there are people within the fire area to evacuate them and not to worry about the houses at this time.”

The Fire and Emergency Services Authority web site has posted bushfire alerts for six different areas over the last two days. Occasionally the site is unavailable, perhaps due to hordes of residents visiting the site seeking information.

Two helicopters and two incident management teams are being sent from Victoria to help with the effort.

Firefighter killed by falling tree in Australia

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , 2 Comments on Firefighter killed by falling tree in Australia

A firefighter who worked for the National Parks and Wildlife Service in New South Wales, Australia was killed Friday, Feb. 4 when he was trapped under a falling tree while he was working on a bush fire near Quorrobolong, south of Cessnock (map). Here is an excerpt from an article at The Herald:

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A National Parks and Wildlife Service firefighter described as a ‘‘larger than life classic bush character’’ and devoted family man died yesterday doing the job he loved.

John Garland, 65, of Muswellbrook, was killed after a tree fell on him during a bushfire operation at Quorrobolong, south of Cessnock.

The father of six and great-grandfather was a divisional commander and firefighter with the Upper Hunter office at Scone for the past 11 years.

Regional manager Robert Quirk described him as a ‘‘truly wonderful human being who loved his job’’.

Mr Quirk said that at 65, Mr Garland was not ready for retirement and was talking about staying until he was 70.

‘‘He was fit and strong and worked as hard as anyone – it showed the measure of the man,’’ he said.

Mr Quirk said he had a love of the forest and had worked in the timber industry before joining the national parks.

‘‘He was passionate about his job, he was always the first one on and last one off the fire ground,’’ he said.

‘‘He had a sense of pride, that he was working on behalf of the community.’’

Mr Quirk said Mr Garland was an occupational health and safety committee member. He was ‘‘one of the safest blokes’’ he knew and would have had ‘‘his eyes open to everything’’.

‘‘It is just an awful tragedy,’’ he said. ‘‘It goes to show how dangerous fighting fires is.

‘‘… he was doing what he loved.’’

The accident occurred about 12.30pm near a 70hectare bushfire at Baraba Lane, which had been burning since Monday.

NPWS head Sally Barnes said in a statement that Mr Garland, an advanced tree feller, was working to remove problem trees from the fire ground when the incident occurred.

She said crews worked frantically to free him but he died before the tree could be moved.

Ms Barnes said the accident devastated colleagues. Mr Garland was an experienced, senior firefighter and much-loved mentor.

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Our condolences go out to Mr. Garland’s family and co-workers.

Australians lease 5 air tankers from Canadian company

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , , ,
CV-580
Conair’s fleet of CV-580 air tankers

The Country Fire Authority (CFA) in the Australian state of Victoria is leasing five air tankers and one “bird dog” aircraft from a Canadian company for the down under summer fire season. Two CV-580 air tankers, three single engine Air Tractor 802’s, and a Turbo Commander 690 bird dog are being provided by Conair in what the CFA is considering a trial of the larger air tankers.

CV-580 capacity
Capacity of the CV-580

The CV-580 has been used in Canada for a decade, but this is believed to be the first time they have seen action in Australia. The aircraft can carry up to 2,100 U.S. gallons and has a top speed of 310 mph.

A group of Canadian pilots and mechanics flew across the Pacific with the planes in early December, stopping to refuel at several islands along the way. The aircraft will be based at Avalon, Victoria (map) for the fire season.

The Canadian air tankers will join the three Erickson Air-Crane helicopters, Elvis, Elsie, and Marty, which are also leased for the next several months.

This video shows the CFA testing the CV-580’s at the Avalon Airfield in early February, 2011.

The video below, posted on YouTube in 2007, shows CV-580’s in action, dropping on numerous fires in British Columbia.

In what we called the “Siege of ’08”, four CV-580’s were sent from Canada to assist with the hundreds of wildfires that were started by a massive lighting barrage in northern California.

A CV-580 operated by Conair crashed in central British Columbia on July 31, 2010, killing the two pilots.

While we’re on the subject of air tankers, the richard-seaman.com web site has dozens of excellent photos of mostly amphibious aircraft that were taken at an air show in 2006, the Gidroaviasalon (“hydro-aviation exhibition”) held at the Beriev test center near Gelendzhik on the Russian Black Sea. Here is a very impressive photo of the two Russian-made amphibious air tankers flying in formation. The upper one is the Be-200, and the other is the A-42 Albatross. The site also has several other photos of these two air tankers operating at the air show.

a-42 Be-200
A-42 “Albatross” (lower aircraft) and the Be-200 (upper aircraft). Photo: Richard-Seaman.com