Today six firefighters deployed fire shelters on the Cedar Fire south of Show Low, Arizona.
Candy Lupe, a Public Information Officer with the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Fort Apache Agency, said all six were transported to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. Other than that she was not able to answer questions about the nature or extent of the injuries. After the fire in the area cooled, the firefighters were able to walk away from the accident site. Medical, air, and ground resources were deployed to the area to provide assistance. The six firefighters were described as “a portion of the crew” that was working near a flare up on the remaining uncontrolled fire line of the Cedar Fire.
Ms. Lupe was not sure exactly when the incident occurred but estimated it happened around 3 p.m. Arizona time today, June 28.
Tuesday morning at 6 a.m. the Type 1 Incident Management Team demobilized and transitioned command to the Fort Apache Agency.
The “Final Cedar Fire Update” from Southwest Incident Management Team #2 was posted on InciWeb on June 27. At that time the fire was listed as being 45,977 acres, 75 percent contained, with 546 personnel assigned. The fire received rainfall on Sunday and more rain was expected on Monday. The report stated:
While 554 firefighters are working on the fire [Monday] morning, only the Team itself will remain by Tuesday afternoon. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) will assume command of the fire at 6 A.M. Tuesday.
An update on the fire that was posted on the Fort Apache Agency’s Facebook page around noon on Tuesday said:
The Southwest portion of the fire will continue to produce smoke as well as the interior of the fire.
Much of the rest of the update was devoted to fire rehabilitation activites.
This map shows the locations of heat detected on the Cedar Fire by a fixed wing aircraft at 2:43 a.m. June 27, 2016.
At 3 p.m. on June 28 the RAWS weather station “IRAWS 5 (Hwy 60 flat)(MST)” on the west side of the Cedar Fire recorded 90 degrees, 19 percent RH, and winds at 3 to 5 mph. Between 9 a.m. and and 5 p.m. the wind direction was very inconsistent, from the south, southwest, and northwest with variable gusts from 9 to 15 mph.
If a wildland firefighter has to take refuge in their shelter that is supposed to help protect them from the heat of a fire if they are entrapped, most likely the extreme fire behavior that requires this last resort action is caused partially by strong winds. So it makes sense to practice deploying the devices in conditions similar to what they would find if they actually had to use them.
The firefighters and staff at Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida understand this and fired up an air boat during the annual training.
The image above is from tests during actual forest fire conditions in June when NASA’s Langley Research Center, the University of Alberta, and the U.S. Forest Service travelled to Fort Providence in Canada’s Northwest Territories to conduct a series of controlled outdoor burns. More tests were held in September in a full-scale fire testing facility at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
This is all part of a project that led to the creation of an organization, working with NASA and other organizations, called CHIEFS – Convective Heating Improvement for Emergency Fire Shelters – a team that is working to take its knowledge of heat-shield technology for space missions and use it to help improve fire shelter technology here on Earth.
A fire shelter is a folding pup tent like device that is intended to shield wildland firefighters from radiated and convected heat if they become trapped in a wildland fire. The U.S. Forest Service moved up their plans to improve the last-resort device after 19 firefighters were killed even after they deployed shelters on the Yarnell Hill Fire in 2013 south of Prescott, Arizona.
After the tragedy NASA got involved thinking that heat shields they had developed for space craft experiencing the heat of re-entry into the atmosphere might be useful in a new generation of fire shelters.
Mary Beth Wusk, a NASA integration manager in the Game Changing Development Program Office at Langley, said in the video below that the work she has done on this project has been the highlight of her career.
Entrapment site of firefighters on the Valley Fire. Photo from the CAL FIRE report. (click to enlarge)
When two firefighters in California being overrun by flames on the Valley Fire in September of this year found that the plastic bag around their fire shelters had partially melted making it very difficult to deploy the life-saving device, it was not the first time this has happened.
Four firefighters on the Valley Fire suffered significant burns to their heads, faces, arms, and hands before they were able to get into the shelters. The injuries on the Beaver Fire were less serious.
The Beaver Fire report addressed the failure of the fire shelter packaging:
Two of the firefighters who deployed reported that their shelter’s PVC bag became hot, which made it soft and pliable. This affected the ability of the red tear strip to pull apart.
But there was no recommendation that the design be modified.
The report on the 2015 Valley Fire entrapment describes a similar problem:
…FF4 had difficulty opening the fire shelter case from the Chainsaw Pack; the clear plastic covering of the fire shelter was soft and melted. FF4 had to remove the gloves to tear the plastic away from the aluminum shell of the fire shelter. FF3 couldn’t get the fire shelter out of the case because the clear plastic cover was melted to the white plastic protective sleeve…
One of the first times shelters were used was in 1964 when 36 members of the El Cariso Hotshots deployed them on a fire near Cajon Pass in southern California. Two years later 12 men on the crew were killed when they were entrapped on the Loop Fire on the Angeles National Forest — they were not carrying shelters at the time. In the hours before they began their fatal downhill fireline construction assignment the fire in that area had not been very active.
The U.S. Forest Service has modified the design of fire shelters several times since they were introduced in the 1960s. After 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots were killed on the Yarnell Hill Fire in 2013 in spite of using the devices, the USFS began an effort to redesign them and has been testing numerous materials and configurations, including insulation that has been supplied by NASA.
The Press Democrat has a lengthy article about the recent deployments and the design of fire shelters.
…Firefighters across Sonoma County said they had been anxious to see the official preliminary Cal Fire “green sheet,” a summary of the incident released Oct. 3 detailing how the firefighters became injured [on the Valley Fire]. Many said they were stunned to learn about the plastic melting and the equipment failure on the survival tents they will all carry in the next wildland blaze even as the effectiveness of that equipment is under review.
Firefighters, especially those who jump into the thick of it, deal with extreme situations and the equipment must be able to withstand those situations, they said.
Ernie Loveless, who ran Cal Fire’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa unit for 20 years until he retired five years ago, said he was concerned about the durability of the bags after they were introduced in 2004.
“It seemed strange to have safety stuff like that made out of plastic that will melt in extreme heat,” said Loveless, who is now Schell-Vista fire board president. “I asked: ‘Why do we put stuff in plastic?’ The answer I received from our academy at the time is it was the best material they knew of at the time.”…
Entrapment site of firefighters on the Valley Fire. Photo from the CAL FIRE report. (click to enlarge)
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) has released a report for an entrapment with injuries that occurred on the Valley Fire September 12, 2015. The fire burned 76,000 acres 62 miles north of San Francisco.
Four firefighters from a helitack crew that had arrived at the fire via helicopter were on the ground fighting the fire with hand tools when they were surrounded by the fire during initial attack operations and suffered serious burn injuries. Below is an excerpt from the report.
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“…FC1 directed FF3, FF4 and FF5 to get into the goat pen, which was clear to bare mineral soil. While in the goat pen they observed the fire behavior changing. There was an increase in the wind speed, and an increased number of spot fires in the pine needle duff and leaf litter surrounding them. FF3 saw fire sheeting and swirling across the dirt driveway on the northwest side of the goat pen; several pines torched on the west side of the steel garage.
From the location of RES2, FF2 observed increased fire behavior advancing toward Helitack A’s location. FF2 communicated the increased fire behavior using the radio; FC1 acknowledged FF2’s observation.
At approximately 1402 hours, the brush covered slope to their east completely torched into a wall of flame. The wall of flame sent a significant wave of radiant heat through the goat pen and onto the firefighters. They could feel their faces burning from the radiant heat and all four firefighters ran to the fence, climbed over, and ran towards the steel garage. At the steel garage Helitack A started to deploy their fire shelters.
“May-Day” was transmitted from FC1 and was heard over the radio. From the location of a third residence (RES3), FC2 could hear FC1 say over the radio, “Four have deployed their shelters, near a barn on the right flank.” FF4 had difficulty opening the fire shelter case from the Chainsaw Pack; the clear plastic covering of the fire shelter was soft and melted. FF4 had to remove the gloves to tear the plastic away from the aluminum shell of the fire shelter. FF3 couldn’t get the fire shelter out of the case because the clear plastic cover was melted to the white plastic protective sleeve. FF3 looked up and saw FF4 at the north side (D) of the steel garage. FF3 dropped the fire shelter on the ground and ran to FF4’s location. FF3 and FF4 shared FF4’s fire shelter and stayed together in a crouched position. FC1 and FF5 deployed their fire shelters on the east side (A) of the steel garage. The heat in front of the steel garage was too intense so they moved to the north side (D) of the steel garage with FF3 and FF4 where the atmosphere seemed to be cooler.
Helitack A huddled together shielding the heat away from their already burned faces and hands; each of them could see the visible burns to one another’s faces and hands. FC1 continued to use the radio requesting bucket drops from C1 on their deployment location to cool the atmosphere. FF5 attempted to drink the water from the hydration pack but the water from the mouth piece was too hot to drink. While crouched in their fire shelters next to the steel garage, Helitack A suddenly heard explosions coming from inside the now burning structure. As a group, Helitack A moved a safe distance from the structure. Helitack A eventually crouched along the dirt driveway, separating the dirt garden and the goat pen.
From the driveways of RES3 and a fourth residence (RES4), FC2 directed C1 to make bucket drops into Helitack A’s location at the top of the ridge. C1 orbiting above and was unable to get near their location at the top of the ridge due to the thick column of smoke convecting straight up into the atmosphere…”
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“Injuries:
FC1 suffered second and third degree burns to the head, face, ears, neck, back, arms, hands, legs and feet and has had several surgeries. FC1 remains in critical condition and is under the continued care of UCD Burn Center.
FF4 suffered first and second degree burns to the face, head, ears, arms and hands and is under the continued care of UCD Medical Center.
FF5 suffered first and second degree burns to the face, head, ears, arms, foot and hands and is under the continued care of UCD Medical Center.
FF3 suffered first and second degree burns to the face, head, ears, arms and hands and is under the continued care of UCD Medical Center.”
The report lists 13 “Safety issues for review and lessons learned”. Here are the first five:
“Crews must utilize L.C.E.S [lookouts, communications, escape routes, safety zones] when engaged in firefighting operations.
ALL Ten Standard Fire Orders MUST be obeyed at ALL TIMES.
Personnel MUST wear ALL CAL FIRE APPROVED PPE when engaged in firefighting operation.
Modifying Personal Protective Equipment can alter the protective properties.
Practice and prepare for shelter deployment in adverse and extreme conditions.”
After 19 firefighters were killed while fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona in 2013, many people called for better fire shelters, since the shelters used then were not effective in preventing the 19 fatalities.
This January, NASA reached an agreement with the US Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service to test prototype fire shelters made from the space agency’s next-generation thermal protection systems (TPM) materials.
The team of engineers from NASA is developing flexible heat shields that will protect spacecraft from the high temperatures of atmospheric entry under NASA’s Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) project. NASA and the Forest Service have found that there are common performance requirements between fire shelters and flexible heat shields that can be used to benefit both organizations.
In September, 2014 small scale testing on 39 material samples began at Missoula Technology Development Center (MTDC). Thirteen materials that showed no obvious shortcomings were sent to Mark Y. Ackerman Consulting in association with the University of Alberta for the first round of third party lab testing. The only materials that had an improvement in the thermal protective performance tests were those that were bulkier and heavier than the current shelter material. Third party test results are being shared with those who have submitted materials for possible improvements.
Prototype shelters were tested for the first time in a forest fire setting in late June, 2015 when NASA’s Langley Research Centre, University of Alberta adjunct professor Mark Ackerman, and the US Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service travelled to Fort Providence in Canada’s Northwest Territories to conduct a series of controlled outdoor burns.
