Today we ran across two references to the problems that tumbleweeds can cause for firefighters. KRDO in Colorado Springs, Colorado published a video report about how a vegetation fire in El Paso County came close to igniting piles of tumbleweeds, and interviewed a firefighter and residents about the issues associated with the plants that pile up in windrows against fences and structures.
And later we found this photo on Twitter, showing a firefighter assessing what to do about a huge pile of tumbleweeds in Picture Canyon.
— SoRock Fire Science (@SRfirescience) June 4, 2014
Regular readers of Wildfire Today will remember the video we posted in March of tumbleweeds caught up in a large fire whirl during a prescribed fire at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal near Denver:
Sheriff Terry Maketa. El Paso County Sheriffs office photo.
The Colorado Springs Gazette is reporting that the El Paso County commissioners voted unanimously, 5-0, Thursday requesting that Sheriff Terry Maketa resign immediately amid recent allegations of misconduct. Sheriff Maketa’s name may be familiar to Wildfire Today readers, since he initiated a very public campaign of criticism against Bob Harvey, the Fire Chief responsible for the first two hours of the initial attack of the Black Forest Fire in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The media campaign the Sheriff launched was unprecedented, in our experience.
Colorado is one of a few states that give the local county sheriff the responsibility for fire suppression on non-federal land, regardless of the individual’s knowledge or experience in fire suppression.
The reports we have read about the effort to push the Sheriff out of his job do not mention his vendetta against Chief Harvey, but refer to allegations of sexual impropriety, discrimination, creating a hostile workplace, violating civil rights, and more.
When one of the commissioners asked the Sheriff to resign on Tuesday, Maketa issued a statement saying he intends to serve the seven months remaining in his term.
Colorado will provide wildland firefighting resources this year that have not been available previously. The state has always been one of the least progressive or proactive in providing wildfire suppression resources and management. They have instead relied on local firefighters (who sometimes are very skilled) and an antiquated system in which the County Sheriff is responsible for fire suppression on non-federal land. Few County Sheriffs have advanced knowledge, skills, and abilities in wildland fire management so there is little innovation or use of modern wildland firefighting systems, organization, or technology outside of large cities at the local level. A few other states like Wyoming and Montana have similar systems. Texas is even more, uh, unique, with the County Judge being responsible for fire suppression in some areas.
New this year for the state of Colorado will be two multi-mission fixed wing aircraft that will provide intelligence on new fires within 60 minutes of the first report, four helicopters that can transport helitack crews and drop water, and two additional Single Engine Air Tankers (for a total of four SEATs). They expect to have two large air tankers in 2015.
This year for the first time Colorado “proposes”, to field two Wildland Fire Modules (WFMs), each staffed with ten individuals. Their purpose will be to conduct operations involving planned and unplanned wildland fire events. The WFMs will have expertise in the initial attack, ignition, holding, suppression, prescribed fire preparation and implementation support, hazard fuels reduction, aviation operations and fire effects monitoring. More information about the state’s aviation plans is at Fire Aviation.
Serve as a laboratory to evaluate the “three fundamental contributing factors to successful aerial firefighting: effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability”.
Conduct research to evaluate new technology in a variety of settings, such as initial attack, night operations, and operations in wildland-urban interface areas.
Produce data and documentation on science and technology relevant to aerial firefighting.
Other resources that will continue to be available in Colorado include three 20-member State Wildland Inmate Fire Team (SWIFT) crews, one each in Canon City, Buena Vista, and Rifle.
The state can also deploy 12 engines — 3 staffed by state employees, 5 staffed jointly by state and local agencies, and four call when needed engines operated by local agencies.
A vegetation fire in New Jersey has burned about 1,500 acres in the Edward G. Bevan Fish and Wildlife Management Area. At least one single engine air tanker and a helicopter have been assisting the firefighters on the ground.
The Random Ramblings blog has some photos that were taken from an air tanker operated by Downstown Aero. Other photos can be found at ABClocal.
Colorado Springs has released a map showing the areas in the city that are most at risk from wildland fire. A homeowner can use the map to zoom in to see their individual parcel, rated anywhere from low risk to extreme risk.
More cities should provide maps like this.
In the last two years wildfires in Colorado Springs have killed four residents and burned 833 homes.
One person killed in wildfire in Nepal
One person was killed and 42 homes burned in a wildfire near Illam, Nepal.
ILLAM, APR 23 – A person died on the spot while two others were injured seriously when a huge stone fell on them from a cliff above as they were extinguishing forest fire in Bhanjo-1 of the district.
In the incident that took place on Wednesday morning, Ram Kumar Rai, 55, of Banjho-1 was killed while Ranjit Rai, 23 and Bhadra Maya Rai, 50 were injured, according to the Area Police Office, Mangalbare.
Meanwhile, fire engulfed 42 houses at Inaruwa VDC of Saptari district this morning. The fire that broke out from a cowshed of Dhaneshwro Mandal spread to 42 houses belonging to 22 households.
Firefighters arrive at the White Draw Fire near Edgemont, SD, June 29, 2012. Photo by Bill Gabbert.
A conference in Glenwood Springs, Colorado on Wednesday and Thursday of this week explored a topic that does not make the news very often. It was titled The True Cost of Wildfire.
Usually the costs we hear associated with wildfires are what firefighters run up during the suppression phase. The National Incident Management Situation Report provides those daily for most ongoing large fires.
But other costs may be many times that of just suppression, and can include structures burned, crops and pastures ruined, economic losses from decreased tourism, medical treatment for the effects of smoke, salaries of law enforcement and highway maintenance personnel, counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder, costs incurred by evacuees, infrastructure shutdowns, rehab of denuded slopes, flood and debris flow prevention, and repairing damage to reservoirs filled with silt.
The total cost of a wildfire can be mitigated by fire-adaptive communities, hazard fuel mitigation, fire prevention campaigns, and prompt and aggressive initial attack of new fires with overwhelming force by ground and air resources. Investments in these areas can save large sums of money. And, it can save lives, something we don’t hear about very often when it comes to wildfire prevention and mitigation; or spending money on adequate fire suppression resources.
Below are some excerpts from a report on the conference that appeared in the Grand Junction Sentinel:
[Fire ecologist Robert] Gray said the 2000 Cerro Grande Fire in New Mexico ended up having a total estimated cost of $906 million, of which suppression accounted for only 3 percent.
Creede Mayor Eric Grossman said the [West Fork Complex] in the vicinity of that town last summer didn’t damage one structure other than a pumphouse. But the damage to its tourism-based economy was immense.
“We’re a three-, four-month (seasonal tourism) economy and once that fire started everybody left, and rightfully so, but the problem was they didn’t come back,” he said.
A lot of the consequences can play out over years or even decades, Gray said.
He cited a damaging wildfire in Slave Lake, in Alberta, Canada, where post-traumatic stress disorder in children didn’t surface until a year afterward. Yet thanks to the damage to homes from the fire there were fewer medical professionals still available in the town to treat them.
“You’re dealing with a grieving process” in the case of landowners who have lost homes, said Carol Ekarius, who as executive director of the Coalition for the Upper South Platte has dealt with watershed and other issues in the wake of the 2002 Hayman Fire and other Front Range fires.
The Hayman Fire was well over 100,000 acres in size and Ekarius has estimated its total costs at more than $2,000 an acre. That’s partly due to denuded slopes that were vulnerable to flooding, led to silt getting in reservoirs and required rehabilitation work.
“With big fires always come big floods and big debris flows,” Ekarius said.
Gray said measures such as mitigating fire danger through more forest thinning can reduce the risks. The 2013 Rim Fire in California caused $1.8 billion in environmental and property damage, or $7,800 an acre, he said.
“We can do an awful lot of treatment at $7,800 an acre and actually save money,” he said.
Bill Hahnenberg, who has served as incident commander on several fires, said many destructive fires are human-caused because humans live in the wildland-urban interface.
“That’s why I think we should maybe pay more attention to fire prevention,” he said.
Just how large the potential consequences of fire can be was demonstrated in Glenwood Springs’ Coal Seam Fire. In that case the incident commander was close to evacuating the entire town, Hahnenberg said.
“How would that play (out)?” he said. “I’m not just picking on Glenwood, it’s a question for many communities. How would you do that?”
He suggested it’s a scenario communities would do well to prepare for in advance.
The chart below from EcoWest.org shows that federal spending per wildfire has exceeded $100,000 on an annual basis several times since 2002. Since 2008 the cost per acre has varied between $500 and $1,000. These numbers do not include most of the other associated costs we listed above. (click on the chart to see a larger version)
(Revised at 2:31 p.m. MT April 7, 2014 with information about a commemorative program 20 years after the South Canyon fatalities.)
Last August we told you about a song that was written to honor the 19 firefighters that perished on the Yarnell Hill Fire south of Prescott, Arizona. Now another songwriter has recorded a musical tribute to the 14 firefighters that were killed 20 years ago on the South Canyon Fire near Glenwood Springs, Colorado which occurred on Storm King Mountain. Naming the fire “South Canyon”, a geographic feature that was south of the fire area, was the first mistake that was made on the incident.
Jim Hawkins, a former firefighter for the city of Denver, wrote the song and performed it with Sophia Clark and other musicians. Their video is below.
If you have not seen it already, be sure and watch the excellent lessons learned video about the South Canyon Fire, titled Everyone Goes Home. It includes numerous interviews of wildland firefighters who were involved with, or were on scene during the entrapment and deaths of 14 firefighters.
Event to commemorate the 20th anniversary of South Canyon
There will be a formal commemoration to mark the 20th anniversary of the South Canyon fatalities. As of today, April 7, 2014, it is scheduled for 5 p.m. to 6 p.m July 6, 2014, at Two Rivers Park in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Check the website that has been developed about the event for more details.
