California Archives - Page 160 of 234

Jerusalem Fire — near the Rocky Fire in California

Bill GabbertAugust 10, 2015August 25, 2019UncategorizedCalifornia, Jerusalem Fire11 Comments

(UPDATED at 8:30 a.m. PT, August 13, 2015)

3-D Map Jerusalem Fire — 3-D map of the Jerusalem Fire, 1 a.m. PT, Aug 13, 2015. (click to enlarge)

According to updates from CAL FIRE for the Jerusalem Fire east of Hidden Lake, California, the fire grew by 7,000 acres from Wednesday morning to Thursday morning, and has now blackened 23,500 acres. (See the maps above and below.)

Map Jerusalem Fire — Map of the Jerusalem Fire 1 a.m. PT, Aug 13, 2015. (click to enlarge)

The fire crossed Morgan Valley/Knoxville Road and continued another 4 miles to the northeast. It has bumped into the south edge of the Rocky Fire, which has spread very little if any for several days, and the two fires now share a common border stretching for 13 miles.

Wind on Wednesday afternoon gusting out of the southwest at 11 to 25 mph was a major factor driving the fire. That will also be the case today after 5 p.m. with a prediction for 13 mph winds out of the southwest gusting to 20 mph.

Resources assigned to the fire include 2,053 personnel, 140 fire engines, 52 hand crews, 28 dozes, and 15 helicopters.

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(UPDATED at 7:45 a.m. PT, August 12, 2015)

Jerusalem Fire 8-11-2015 — Michael Forster took this photo of the Jerusalem Fire on August 11. He told us, “This was taken [Monday] off of Morgan Valley road. Firefighters had to quickly move out of the area as the fire intensified.” Used with permission.

The Jerusalem Fire 70 air miles north of San Francisco was very active again on Tuesday, chewing up another 4,000 acres. CAL FIRE is saying that as of Tuesday night it had burned a total of 16,500 acres.

Mandatory evacuations are still in place for some areas of the Jerusalem Valley.

The fire is burning in drought-affected brush that has not burned in over 30 years. The lack of a network of roads is making access for firefighters difficult.

The fire is being battled by 1,660 personnel, 118 fire engines, 53 hand crews, 18 helicopters, 28 dozers, and a variable number of air tankers.

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(UPDATED at 12:13 p.m. PT, August 11, 2015)

In the first day and a half of the life of the Jerusalem Fire south of the Rocky Fire and east of Hidden Lake, California, it raced across 12,000 acres. That was the size of the fire as mapped by an aircraft at 1 a.m. Tuesday morning. Rising humidity slowed the spread of the fire Monday night.

Mandatory evacuations are still in effect for some areas of the Jerusalem Valley.

The weather forecast for the area on Tuesday calls for 86 degrees, 25 percent relative humidity, and south winds of 9 mph.

map jerusalem fire rocky fire — Map showing the Rocky Fire, which has not been very active lately, and the Jerusalem Fire, mapped at 1 a.m. PT, August 11, 2015.

On August 9 CAL FIRE arrested Juan Ramos Silva, 49 of Lower Lake, for one count of arson and allegedly starting a backfire. Silva was booked into Lake County Jail on suspicion of violating Penal Code Section 452(c), unlawfully causing a fire to forest land, and Public Resource Code Section 4426, a person shall not set a backfire, or cause a backfire to be set, except under the direct supervision or permission of a state or federal forest officer.

The LA Times is reporting that Mr. Silva set the backfire in order to protect his marijuana-growing operation:

…Silva started the large backfire at 5:43 p.m. Sunday, a couple of miles away from the Jerusalem fire in a rural, sparse area northeast of Middletown, said Lt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Silva told deputies he started the blaze to prevent the Jerusalem fire from reaching his home. But officials concluded he set the fire behind the marijuana grow to “protect his plants, not his residence,” Brooks said.
Silva told deputies he was a firefighter in Mexico years ago and “had attempted to conduct a controlled burn on the back of his property to protect it…”

CAL FIRE investigators are not accusing Mr. Silva of igniting the Jerusalem Fire, just of starting a new fire and a backfire.

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Jerusalem fire, August 9, 2015. Photo by CAL FIRE.

A new fire just south of the 69,000-acre Rocky Fire has burned approximately 5,000 acres in the 16 hours since it started at 3:42 p.m. PT on Sunday. The fire four miles east of Hidden Valley Lake, California, burned very aggressively Sunday evening. In a matter of hours it spread toward the northeast and came very close to merging with the Rocky Fire, which has not grown for several days. Firefighting resources are being transferred from the Rocky Fire to the Jerusalem Fire.

Mandatory evacuations are taking place in some areas of the Jerusalem Valley.

CAL FIRE, which often does not release maps of their fires, distributed this map Monday morning.

Jerusalem fire map 8-9-2015 — Map showing the new Jerusalem Fire just south of the Rocky Fire. CAL FIRE map.

Firefighter killed by falling tree

Bill GabbertAugust 9, 2015August 9, 2015UncategorizedCalifornia, David Ruhl, fatality, lodd, Michael Hallenbeck3 Comments

(Originally posted at 7:30 a.m. PT, August 9, 2015; Updated at 9 p.m. PT, August 9, 2015 with the name of the firefighter.)

Another wildland firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service has died in the line of duty. Early Sunday morning the agency announced that at approximately 5:30 p.m. on August 8 two firefighters were struck by a falling tree during the initial attack on a new fire, the Sierra Fire, in the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) in California. One was killed and the other was treated and released from a hospital.

The firefighter has been identified as 21-year old Michael “Mike” Hallenbeck of Shingle Springs, California. Mr. Hallenbeck was a member of Organized Crew 36 on the LTBMU.

His family released a statement on Sunday:

Mikey was so excited to become a firefighter. When he first found out he had the position, he spent every day hiking with a pack to prepare. Mikey loved the outdoors and sports. He played football, basketball, soccer, ice hockey, tennis and golf. He also loved to snowboard and hike. He spent the last two ski seasons working for Sierra Ski Resort. Now he has had a greater calling. We are so very proud he stepped up to work hard and be brave to put others before himself. We cannot even begin to express the pain our family is going through and we ask for the respect of our privacy as we go through this devastating ordeal.

This is the second USFS firefighter to die on a wildfire in California in the last 10 days. On July 30 David Ruhl was entrapped by a fire and killed during the initial attack on the Frog Fire on the Modoc National Forest in northeast California.

Our sincere condolences go out to the friends and family of the firefighters that passed away in both of these fatalities.

Dozer operator describes how drone interfered with initial attack on the Mill 2 Fire

Bill GabbertAugust 7, 2015August 7, 2015UncategorizedCalifornia, drone, MD-873 Comments

This Rapid Lesson Sharing, below, about a fire in southern California was distributed by the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center.

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“At approximately 1430 hours, a report is radioed to Dispatch of a 1/4-acre vegetation fire located directly behind our Mill Creek Fire Station. Stepping outside the office, my swamper and I see heavy smoke to the north of the compound. We quickly make our way to the transport to off-load the dozer and engage the fire.

Upon size-up of the rapid rate-of-spread and eliminating the option of anchoring at the heel and cutting direct due to steepness of terrain, I prioritize my tactics to protection of life and property. I then make a decision to track my dozer up an indirect route—knowing there are homes and property owners at risk at the top of the ridge in the fire’s path.

At this point, one ridge to my north separates the ridge I am tracking up and the main fire. Air resources are enroute. At the pace I am ascending the ridge, I figure the air resources will arrive on scene and slow the forward rate-of-spread down long enough to allow me to reach the homes.

Fire Advances Toward Homes

As I crest the ridge, I only have a shallow drainage to cross—in which the fire has established itself just below me and is making a strong push toward the homes. At that moment, emergency traffic airs over command frequency that all aircraft have been grounded due to a drone sighted in the fire area.

As the fire advances, I make eye contact with the property owner across the drainage. At this time, the only option I have is to hope the fire will crest the ridge and minimize in intensity long enough for me to cross the drainage to the homes.

I take a moment to size-up and reevaluate my escape route and safety zone and try to develop a contingency plan with my swamper.

Drone Operator Confronted

Fortunately, the fire does as I had hoped. My swamper and I are able to cross the drainage and engage the fire directly, assisting the crews and engine personnel behind the threatened homes. Next, the drone clears the area and air suppression resources reengage.

When the drone is spotted returning, a U.S. Forest Service employee is able to follow it and confront the person responsible. His vehicle information is documented and he is notified that the authorities are enroute to educate him on drone use in wildfire areas.

However, the drone operator refuses to wait and flees the scene.

LESSONS

With the recent high frequency of drone use affecting wildfire suppression tactics, this incident has raised my awareness to the impact that drones have on wildfire suppression tactics.

In the future I plan on being more cautious when implementing air support into my tactical decisions and suppression efforts.”

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Note from Bill: I know someone will say planned firefighting tactics should not depend on the predicted availability of aviation resources. However, to give the dozer operator the benefit of the doubt, his initial plan may have been to wait for the expected retardant drops to slow the spread of the fire before he committed himself to crossing the drainage to defend the structures.

10,000 firefighters battling fires in California

Bill GabbertAugust 7, 2015August 7, 2015UncategorizedCalifornia, Rocky Fire

map wildfires in northwest California — Heat detected within the last 24 hours on wildfires in northwest California.

Over 10,000 firefighters are battling 19 active fires in California. The Rocky Fire near Clearlake that attracted the most attention that burned 43 homes and required thousands to evacuate has rapidly increasing containment and repopulation has started. The other 18 fires are mostly scattered around the north half of the state, with the most activity occurring in the northwest corner on the Six Rivers and Shasta-Trinity National Forests.

These two maps show heat that was detected on wildfires by a satellite within the last 24 hours — one map has fire names and the other is naked. The red dots are the most recently detected heat sources.

Heat detected within the last 24 hours on wildfires in northwest California.

Below are quick summaries of the 19 fires provided by CAL FIRE:

**CAL FIRE Incidents**

Rocky Fire, Lake, Colusa & Yolo County
East of Lower Lake
*69,600 acres – 45% contained
*Repopulation efforts started

Humboldt Lightning Fires, Humboldt County
Throughout Humboldt County
*75 fires totaling 4,062 acres – 35% contained
*Evacuations lifted in the Blocksburg

Lowell Fire, Nevada County
You Bet area, west of Alta
*2,304 acres – 90% contained

**Unified Command Incidents**

Fork Complex, Trinity County
US Forest Service – Shasta-Trinity National Forest / CAL FIRE
South of Hyampom
*14,434 acres – 9% contained

**Federal Incidents**

River Complex, Trinity County
US Forest Service – Shasta-Trinity National Forest
New River Drainage, near Denny
*10,912 acres – 1%

Continue reading “10,000 firefighters battling fires in California”

Regional Forester summarizes California wildfire activity

Bill GabbertAugust 5, 2015August 9, 2015UncategorizedCalifornia, David Ruhl

The information below was written by Randy Moore, the Regional Forester for the U.S. Forest Service region that includes California. Written Tuesday evening, August 4, it is an update for USFS retirees about the wildfire situation in the state.

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“…We have had over 14 thousand lightning strikes that resulted in 250 fires that were started within he last week. Appears we are in it for the long haul and will be very conscious of fatigue and situational awareness.

Deputy Regional Forester, Jeanne Wade Evans, and I are currently in Alturas visiting with Modoc employees in the aftermath of the Dave Ruhl’s fatality on the Frog Fire. We have Bob Housman’s NIMO team here supporting this incident within an incident and helping us coordinate with the Black Hills Forest, where Dave was employed. Dave’s Memorial is planned for Sunday, August 9th. This is a sober reminder of the risks of the work we are doing every day. We in-briefed with the Safety Learning Team yesterday that was deployed by the Chief’s office and are making sure our employees are getting the critical incident stress support they need. I am heading to the Six Rivers Forest today.

Over the last 72 hours, we deployed 9 federal incident management teams (IMTs) to our fires in California. All our federal IMTs are committed except one that we are holding in Southern California. We continue to receive support from other regions, our California partners, and the National Guard. We are in a high level of communication with all our partners as well as our field leadership. I have been hosting Agency Administrator calls daily to keep a check on the pulse of what our Forest leadership challenges are and know they are fully engaged with the communities and the teams. We are also bringing in additional agency administrator support from other regions, to make sure our leadership gets the relief they need to be engaged in the days ahead. I also briefed with Bill Van Bruggen’s Area Command on Sunday to ensure we have the highest level of coordination and support to all the Forests, Teams and communities in the area of the northern fire complexes.

We have been preparing for months for the possibility of this event knowing that we are in the fourth year of drought and the outlook was not good. I believe we are in the best position we can be, knowing there will be many challenging days ahead. Please forward on your questions and thoughts, so that we can make the most of the partnership with all you retirees as well. We have staff focused on all the key partnerships in the state and that includes you all. I will get these notes out to you through Mike Rogers as often as possible and I really appreciate Mike’s willingness to help communicate out to all of you.

Additional information you may be interested in follows:

• With significant fire activity occurring in multiple geographical areas, an increase in incident management teams being committed and an ever increasing number of shared resources being committed to large fires nationally, the National Multi Agency Coordinating Group (NMAC) will move the National Preparedness Level to 4 (PL4). Northern California GACC is at PL 5 and a high priority focus.
• Good progress was made on many of the fires as Incident Management Teams and resources move into place throughout the Region
• Orders are being filled by GACC’s across the country and are arriving on incidents for deployment here in California. This includes T1 crews that are always in demand and T3 engines and other support.
• Special consideration is being given to type and kind of resources being used in wilderness and primitive areas to result in the best possible outcomes
• Both GACC’s are doing a tremendous job of mobilizing resources and providing intelligence to incoming forces
• An additional in briefing and area orientation site has been set up at the Wildland Fire Training Center
• Long term planning is underway on large incidents that will require lengthy control time
• Area Command coordination is being organized to best utilize resources available to the Six Rivers and Shasta-Trinity National Forests
• Forest Supervisors, Agency Administrators, and Forest Staff are working alongside Fire Management Staff in all aspects of fire suppression efforts
• PAO staff is fielding a significant number of media inquiries
• Regional Office FAM Staff has made contact with Timber Industry representative to open lines of communication and answer questions
• All 18 National Forests are now communicating with the public via social media”

Cause of death and plans for final arrangements released for firefighter killed in California

Bill GabbertAugust 4, 2015November 1, 2023UncategorizedCalifornia, David Ruhl, fatality, lodd, The2 Comments

The cause of death of the firefighter who was killed July 30 while fighting the Frog Fire in northern California was released today. The U.S. Forest Service said the autopsy that began August 4 determined that David (Dave) Ruhl’s death was attributed to “carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke inhalation.”

Mr. Ruhl went missing the evening of July 30 while engaged in initial attack on the Frog Fire, which was reported at approximately 5:45 p.m. on July 30 in a very remote area of the Modoc National Forest 46 air miles east of Mt. Shasta, California.

The Modoc County Sheriff’s Office was called for assistance. Search and rescue personnel started the initial search at approximately 8 p.m. It continued until about midnight when it was halted because of hazardous fire conditions. Efforts began again at 6 a.m. July 31 and Mr. Ruhl’s body was discovered at 9:17 a.m.

A National Incident Management Organization (NIMO) team, with Incident Commander Bob Housman, is managing the aftermath of the fatality, while Norcal Team #1 with Incident Commander Jay Kurth is running the Frog Fire, which has now grown to 4,745 acres and has 523 personnel assigned.

Before Tuesday afternoon, the USFS released very little information about the fatality, and would not divulge if it was caused by a burnover, vehicle accident, lightning, or something else. A 72-hour preliminary report about the accident that was also released today further explained that while Mr. Ruhl was scouting the fire on foot during initial attack, he “was entrapped and killed.”

The fatality is currently being investigated by OSHA, the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Agriculture, the County Sheriff, and a Coordinated Response Protocol (CRP) team. According to Safety Matters the CRP team is led by Mike Dudley, who also served as secondary team leader for the Serious Accident Investigation Team for the Yarnell Hill Fire and the deaths of 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots in 2013.

Mr. Ruhl had been on a temporary detail since June 14 as an Assistant Fire Management Officer on the Modoc NF. His regular job was Engine Captain on the Black Hills National Forest in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Mr. Ruhl, 38 years old, began his Forest Service career in 2001 as a seasonal forestry technician. Previously, he served in the U.S. Coast Guard and as a correctional officer with the state of South Dakota. He lived in Rapid City with his wife and two children.

Dave Ruhl family — Dave Ruhl, his children Tyler and Ava, and wife Erin. Photo by Erin Ruhl. Used with permission.

Shalista Anderson, who has been a friend of Mr. Ruhl’s wife, Erin, for over 20 years, set up a GoFundMe account to support Erin and their two children, Tyler and Ava. Ms. Anderson told us that “Erin will have control over all funds and they will be deposited directly into her account.”

The goal of the effort is to raise $20,000, but I hope we can do a lot better than that.

Some of the final arrangements have been made.

Procession in California: In a procession from Mt. Shasta to Redding, California on Thursday, August 6, Mr. Ruhl will be accompanied by engines from the Modoc National Forest and will be joined by other fire departments during portions of the journey. The procession will depart from Mt. Shasta Memorial Chapel at 8 a.m. and will proceed along Interstate 5 and Hwy. 44 to the northern California Geographic Area Coordination Center in Redding. Mr. Ruhl will rejoin his family in a private setting at the center.

Procession in Rapid City, South Dakota: On Sunday, August 9, a procession will begin at 1 p.m. from the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 520 Cathedral Drive in Rapid City (map) to the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center (map). The route will go north along 5th Street and conclude in the west parking lot of the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.

Memorial Service: Visitation will be at 2 p.m. at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, 444 Mt. Rushmore Rd., Rapid City, followed by a memorial service that will begin at 3 p.m.

Funeral: Mr. Ruhl’s funeral will be held Monday, August 10, at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

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