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Wildfire Today

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CO: 3 dead on 2 fires; SEAT crashes

Author BillPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , ,

From the Rocky Mountain News:

Originally published 09:24 p.m., April 15, 2008
Updated 12:43 a.m., April 16, 2008

Wildfires in warm, windy weather burned into the southeast Colorado town of Ordway and on an Army post Tuesday. A firefighting pilot and two other people died.

All 1,100 residents of Ordway were told to leave, and authorities were not allowing anyone into to the city, said Chris Sorensen, acting spokesman for the Crowley County fire department.

Sorensen said the county coroner confirmed two of the deaths but did not provide any details as to how the people died or where they were found. KRDO Channel 13 in Colorado Springs reported that the two were firefighters and said they were crossing a bridge while riding in a firetruck. The bridge collapsed, trapping the two men underneath. Sorensen said he could not confirm that early this morning.

The pilot died when a crop-duster-type tanker crashed about 6:20 p.m. along Colorado 115 at mile marker 34 near Fort Carson, said Michael Fergus, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration’s northwest region.

No passenger was aboard the plane. The downed aircraft and a second plane involved in the firefighting efforts flew from a base in Sterling, Fergus said.

The FAA believes that the plane was a contract service aircraft to the U.S. Forest Service, Fergus said. But a Forest Service spokesperson could not be reached late Tuesday to confirm it. Fergus said the second plane returned safely to the Sterling base.

The fire at Fort Carson had forced some evacuations late Tuesday and a shelter was set up at a special events center on base, Capt. Gregory Dorman said. The fire had burned about 9,000 acres by late Tuesday and was about 50 percent contained, officials said.

Much of the state was under a National Weather Service red flag warning, signifying high fire danger. Gov. Bill Ritter declared a state of emergency, freeing up state resources to help fight the fire. The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday night authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs.

Weather an obstacle

On the southeastern plains near Ordway, winds were gusting to 50 mph, humidity was low and temperatures reached into the 80s. Dry conditions on the plains and in some mountain valleys contrasted with deep snow at higher elevations.

Ordway, Colorado is 46 miles East of Pueblo, Colorado and 76 miles southeast of Colorado Springs.

 


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Fire Captain dies from bacteria possibly inhaled on wildland fire

Author BillPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , ,
Matt Moore
Matt Moore. Photo courtesy of the Murrieta Firefighters Association

This is scary as hell. A firefighter has died after being infected with a rare brain-eating amoeba that usually lives in soil. A biopsy showed his brain had been invaded by the parasite Balamuthia mandrillaris.

From The Californian:

“MURRIETA — Murrieta Fire Capt. Matt Moore died Monday night at UCSD Medical Center in San Diego, succumbing to complications from meningitis, fire department officials said.

Moore, 43, a 17-year veteran of the department, had been hospitalized in a coma for the last two weeks.

He had been in various hospitals since November battling an aggressive form of meningitis. It is believed Moore inhaled a parasite while fighting the region’s wildfires late last year. The parasite reportedly caused swelling in his brain.

He is survived by wife, Sherry; daughter, Alyssa, 16; sons Trent and Brandon, both 13; brother, Mark Moore, who also is a captain in the city’s fire department; sister, Jill; and parents Carol and Phil Moore.

The fire department will hold a procession today to bring Moore’s body to England Family Mortuary in Temecula from the medical center in San Diego’s Hillcrest community.”

7 firefighters die on forest fire in Honduras

Author BillPosted on Categories WildfireTags ,

Damn, here’s another one. From a story at eitb in Spain:

“The firefighters, four soldiers and three forestry workers, were part of a 200-strong team been battling to contain the fire on a mountainside close to Tegucigalpa since Friday.

Seven firefighters died in Honduras on Sunday overwhelmed by a raging forest blaze on the outskirts of the capital, the military said.

They were working to put out the fire and suddenly there was a change of wind direction and they were engulfed by flames, Gen. Orlando Vasquez told local radio. Honduras is at the start of its summer and forest fires at common at this time.”

I wish there was some better wildland fire news to report, than all these firefighters dieing. We will all morn for our fallen brothers.

Oddly enough, on Saturday I will arrive in Honduras to spend a week on Roatan island. I’ll try to get my mind off of all this with some scuba diving, snorkeling on coral reefs, hanging out on the beach, and listening to Jimmy Buffet while sipping a beverage. I might even have a drink with an umbrella in it.

Six people die in forest fire in China

Author BillPosted on Categories WildfireTags ,

This initially was reported on March 3 by Reuters:

BEIJING, March 3 (Reuters) – Six villagers died in central China’s Hunan province as they tried to battle a forest fire in an area ravaged by severe winter storms, state media said on Monday.

The fire broke out on Saturday, trapping more than 200 people in the village of Xitai, Xinhua news agency reported. “The main cause can be attributed to illegal fires set in the forests,” Xinhua quoted Hu Changqing, vice head of the Hunan Forestry Department, as saying.

Forest fires had killed 22 people in the mountainous southern province this year and more than 1,500 forest fires had raged in 89 counties since Feb. 6, Xinhua said.

China’s most bitter winter in decades had left Hunan’s forests vulnerable to fires, Xinhua said, as heavy snowfalls collapsed power lines and tree branches. “The broken tree branches and the heating and lighting facilities left by the snow disaster relief teams in the forest have become very dangerous now and should be cleared as soon as possible,” the agency quoted Xu Minghua, Hunan’s vice governor, as saying.

OSHA and U.S. Forest Service Reach Settlement About Esperanza Fire

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , ,

Esperanza fire OverviewThe Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the U.S. Forest Service have reached a settlement which modifies some of the “serious violations” that OSHA found after the Oct. 26, 2006 fire in which the five members of San Bernardino National Forest Engine 57 were killed during a burn over.

According to the Press-Enterprise:

“Under the settlement, two of the six violations were withdrawn and the four others were amended, said Jason Kirchner, public affairs specialist for the Pacific Southwest Region of the Forest Service.

Kirchner said the main issue for fire officials was that OSHA initially viewed some firefighting guidelines as safety rules that had been broken.

“We felt it was an incorrect assessment,” Kirchner said. “They were not intended to be unbreakable rules. They are tools to help evaluate the situation and make decisions.”

Kirchner said the remaining four serious violations have been addressed in the Esperanza Accident Review Board Action Plan that was devised by the Forest Service.

The serious violations showed the fire agency did not “furnish places and conditions of employment that were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm …”

It noted that instructions from the branch director were either “poorly communicated, or misunderstood” by firefighters. Firefighters were not equipped with maps to familiarize themselves with the area and terrain. The report also noted that the firefighters were ordered to provide structure protection and ended up directly in the path of the strong winds and fire, resulting in the fatal burnover of their fire engine.”

The crew of Engine 57: Capt. Mark Loutzenhiser, 43, of Idyllwild; Jess McLean, 27, of Beaumont; Jason McKay, 27, of Apple Valley; Daniel Hoover-Najera, 20, of San Jacinto; and Pablo Cerda, 23, of Fountain Valley.

(photo is from the official USFS/CalFire Factual Report)

****

UPDATE November 12, 2013:

Esperanza Fire Factual Report, and the USDA Office of Inspector General’s Report on the fire.

U. S. Wildland Fire Fatality Report–2007

Author BillPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , ,

The Safety and Health Working Team, part of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, on January 15 released a “Safety Gram” listing the wildland fire related fatalities in 2007.

“Nine fatalities occurred in 2007 when employees were performing wildland fire management activities. This is a substantial decrease from the 24 fatalities that were reported in 2006. Also noteworthy is the absence of any entrapment or burnover related fatalities.

  • Aviation – 1: Fatality occurred when helicopter was performing logistical support.
  • Driving – 3: Fatalities occurred when firefighters were returning from a prescribed fire (1) and training (2).
  • Hazard Tree/Snag – 1: Fatality occurred when a tree fell on a firefighter during chain saw training.
  • Heart Attacks – 2: Fatalities occurred following the Work Capacity Test (pack test) and firefighting.
  • Other – 2: Fatalities occurred when a dozer rolled over while constructing fire line (1) and by electrocution (1).”