Wildfire Today

News and opinion about wildland fire

Wildfire Today

Tag: lodd

Service to be held Thursday for BIA firefighter

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,

A memorial service will be held Thursday, June 14, for Anthony Ramon Polk who was killed June 8 when his Type 6 engine rolled over while helping to suppress the Montezuma Fire in Arizona. Here are the details, as provided by the Bureau of Indian Affairs:

================================================================

Final Arrangements Planned for Fallen Firefighter

Anthony Ramon Polk, a firefighter for Quechan Tribe and a resident of Yuma, AZ would have been 31 on his birthday, June 22, this year. He died June 8 in a one-vehicle accident while on assignment at the Montezuma Fire.

Memorial services are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Thursday at Quechan Community Center. A wake is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Friday at Yuma Mortuary Chapel. Funeral services will be at 5 p.m. Friday at Cry House in Winterhaven. Cremation will be at dawn Saturday at Quechan Cemetery.

Anthony Polk and his daughter Aiyana
Anthony Polk and his daughter Aiyana. Photo provided by Fort Yuma Agency.

A member of the San Carlos Apache and Quechan Tribes and a descendent of the Carr, Pasqual, Sahenti, Escalanti and Polk families, Anthony’s given names are: “Two Feathers” and “Morning Dancer at Sunrise.” Anthony participated in powwows and traditional ceremonies as a singer and grass dancer. He was an avid sports enthusiast and played a variety of sports. A graduate of San Pasqual High School in 1999, Anthony attended one year of college at Haskell Indian College in Lawrence, KS in 2000.

He served 10 years with the Bureau of Indian Affairs at the Fort Yuma Agency where he became a leader of the Prescribed Fire Operations/Fuels Program. He was a Firing Boss and Incident Commander Type 4 as well as an Engine Boss, and training to be a Fire Investigator and a Burn Boss. He worked with several organizations including U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife Service and local fire departments throughout the area in the fuels program.

He is survived by his daughter, Aiyana Polk, his mother, Ramona Villa, grandmother, Lucinda Polk, siblings, Manual, Alex and Raquiel Villa, and numerous relatives and friends.

His parents are Ramona Polk Villa and Benjamin Villa of Yuma; grandparents are Lucinda Escalanti Polk and the late Raphael Bradley Polk, Sr. He was preceded in death by Grandmother Vicenta Villa and Grandfather Manual Martinez and his Aunt Mancy Triste.

Anthony was most known for his outgoing, caring, friendly personality and good sense of humor. He enjoyed fishing, cooking, and being with family. He devoted all his energy to making his daughter happy.

Cards can be sent to the Polk Family at 673 Baseline Road, Winterhaven, CA 92283. Flowers can be sent to Yuma Mortuary & Crematory, 551 W. 16th Street, Yuma, AZ 85364. Donations are being accepted at AEA Federal Credit Union, Donation Account: 1613510-010, Member Name: for Anthony Polk.

Memorial service for air tanker pilots to be held Thursday

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 6 Comments on Memorial service for air tanker pilots to be held Thursday
Todd Tompkins and Ronnie Chambless
Todd Tompkins (L) and Ronnie Chambless (R)

A memorial service to celebrate the lives of air tanker pilots Todd Tompkins and Ron Chambless will be held Thursday, June 14 in Boise, Idaho. The two pilots were killed June 3 when their P2V air tanker crashed while they were helping to suppress the White Rock fire near the Nevada/Utah state line.

The service will be at 7 p.m. in the Linen Building at 1402 W. Grove Street in Boise. There will be a procession of fire vehicles before the service. More information can be found HERE.

Arizona flags flown at half-staff for fallen firefighter

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,

The Bureau of Indian Affairs provided more information this afternoon about Anthony Polk who was killed when his engine rolled over while working on the Montezuma fire in Arizona yesterday, June 9.

****

Fallen Firefighter is Escorted Home

Engine Boss Anthony Polk, 31, who died Friday, June 8 on the Montezuma Fire, “devoted his life to assuring the safety of others before himself,” said Keeny Escalanti Sr., Quechan Tribal President in Yuma, AZ. Anthony was a member of the Quechan/San Carolos Apache Indian Tribe and provided Fiduciary Trust services to the Quechan and Cocopah Indian tribes.

A graduate of San Pasqual High School, Anthony lived in Yuma most of his life surrounded by an extensive family. While in school, Anthony was a member of the athletic club. After graduating, he attended the Fort Yuma Academy for Firefighters.

His training, experience and dedication led him to a full-time position with the Fort Yuma Agency where he became a leader of the Prescribed Fire Operations/Fuels Program. He was a Firing Boss and Incident Commander Type 4 as well as an Engine Boss, and training to be a Fire Investigator and a Burn Boss. He worked with several organizations including U.S. Customs and Border Protection, BLM, BOR, FWS, and local fire departments. His responsibility was to all five tribes along the Colorado River regarding the fuels program.

He served 10 years with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and will be remembered as a teacher among his co-workers and as a dedicated firefighter in the community, said Agency Superintendent Irene Herder.

During one incident near home in 2010, Anthony was a firefighter among many who saved seven homes near the Arizona border along the Colorado River from a large brushfire. Local fire department officials said at the time, they requested assistance from BIA and BLM crews who coordinated the use of brush trucks in the rough terrain.

“Where the fire originated from, it spread to the west and we got in there with units from BIA and BLM and were able to save four or five trailers which had two families that lived in them,” Steve Taylor, Winterhaven Fire Department Chief was quoted in a May 6, 2010 issue of the Yuma Sun. This picture of Anthony, shared by his home unit, was taken on that fire two years ago.

Drexel Heights Fire Department personnel lined Ajo Highway on Friday, saluting a fallen comrade as his body was taken from the fireline to Tucson.

Today, by order of Gov. Jan Brewer, all state flags are flown at half-staff until sunset in honor of a firefighter killed in the line of duty. His body, which is being escorted to Yuma this afternoon, should arrive home by then.

He is survived by a five-year-old daughter, his mother, Ramona Villa, grandmother, Lucinda Polk and numerous relatives and friends.

 

Firefighter killed in vehicle accident in Arizona

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , 2 Comments on Firefighter killed in vehicle accident in Arizona

UPDATE at 12:18 a.m. MDT, June 9, 2012.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has identified the firefighter that was killed in Friday’s vehicle accident as Engine Boss Anthony Polk, 31, of Yuma, Arizona.

We extend out sincere condolences to Mr. Polk’s family, friends, coworkers, and the BIA.

=============================

UPDATE at 9:29 a.m. MT, June 9, 2012

The incident management team has released some additional information about the fatal accident on Friday in which one firefighter was killed. The deceased was an employee of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and was one of three firefighters on a Type 6 engine when it rolled over. The firefighter was pronounced dead at the scene while the driver and another passenger were transported to the Sells hospital and later released. The accident happened on Federal Route 19, near milepost 22.

They expect to release the firefighter’s name later Saturday morning.

==============================

A firefighter working on a fire in Arizona was killed Friday morning in a vehicle accident. An engine crew that was driving to their assignment on the Montezuma fire was involved in a rollover. The accident occurred at 8:30 a.m. a spokesperson for the fire told Wildfire Today. One firefighter was killed and two suffered minor injuries. No other details are available at this time.

The Montezuma fire has burned about 1,700 acres in the Baboquivari Mountain Range on Tribal land 20 miles southeast of Sells, Arizona and is being managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. It is in steep terrain with heavy brush, making it difficult for crews to directly suppress the fire. According to a report from the scene, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft have been the only means of suppression.

Our sincere condolences go out to the family, friends, and coworkers of the firefighters involved.

20 fatalities in P2V air tanker crashes since 1987

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 10 Comments on 20 fatalities in P2V air tanker crashes since 1987

The tragic loss of two lives in the crash of Air Tanker 11 while suppressing a wildfire on Sunday has cast a spotlight on the air tanker program and the military surplus aircraft that make up the fleet. The aircraft that crashed this week was 57 years old. Tanker 55 that made an emergency landing the same day on partially disabled landing gear is 55 years old. Both of these aircraft were Korean war vintage P2Vs, designed for patrolling over the ocean, not diving in and out of smokey canyons.

Chuck Bushey, the past President of the International Association of Wildland Fire, has been researching and assembling records of wildland firefighter fatalities for decades. I have been comparing notes with him this week and his official count of fatal crashes of P2V air tankers is 9, resulting in 20 fatalities.

  1. 1987, (no given fire name), White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, Pilots Nathan Kolb and Woodward “Red” Miller (Tanker 07)
  2. 1990, Wynoochee Fire, Olympic National Forest, Pilots Ralph Glasgow and Stephen Bovey (Tanker 08)
  3. 1992, (ferrying between fire duty station and home airport), Dixon, Wyoming, Pilots Mark Powers and Charles Rennisonone
  4. 1994, Butler Creek Fire, Lolo National Forest, Montana, Pilots Bob Kelly and Randy Lynn (Tanker 04)
  5. 1998, Leggert Fire, Gila National Forest, New Mexico, Pilots J. D. Donahue and Chuck Key (Tanker 08)
  6. 2003, (ferrying to reposition), Lake Arrowhead, California, Pilots Carl Dolbeare and John Attardo (Tanker 99)
  7. 2008, Smitty Fire, (crashed on take-off Reno/Stead Airport), Reno, Nevada, Pilots Gene Walstrom, Gregory Gonsioroski and Zachary Vander-Griend (Tanker 09)
  8. 2009, (ferrying to reposition), Toole County, Utah, Pilots Tom Risk, Mike Flynn and Brian Buss (Tanker 42)
  9. 2012, White Rock Fire, Ely Nevada District, Bureau of Land Management, Pilots Todd Neil Tomkins and Ronnie Edwin Chambless (Tanker 11)

 Earlier we had two crashes attributed to P2V aircraft that were actually PV2 planes. 

Nine smokejumpers killed in Russia

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , , 3 Comments on Nine smokejumpers killed in Russia
Russian smokejumpers
File photo of Russian smokejumpers. Photo: Mark Thiessen/National Geographic

UPDATE at 11:35 a.m. MT, June 7, 2012: A ninth firefighter has unfortunately died. (Reported by Chuck Bushey of the IAWF and by the Russian media company ITAR-TASS from a Rosleskhoz Federal Forestry Agency source.)

=============================

Russian authorities announced on June 7 that eight smokejumpers were entrapped and killed in a wildfire in southern Siberia. The eight jumpers were part of a team of 14 that parachuted into the fire. The other six managed to escape from unexpected fire behavior thought to be caused by a wind shift. One was admitted to a hospital with serious burn injuries.

The BBC reported that authorities have opened a criminal negligence investigation into the incident.

Last year we told you about an excellent article in National Geographic about the smokejumping program in Russia. The country has 4,000 jumpers working out of 340 bases across the country.

Our condolences go out to the family and coworkers of these firefighters.
Thanks go out to Dick