News and opinion about wildland fire
Red Flag Warnings for enhanced wildfire danger have been issued by the National Weather Service for areas in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Montana.
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The Red Flag Warning map above was current as of 9:45 a.m. MT on Monday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts. For the most current data, visit this NWS site.
The schedule for the visits of Air Tanker 910 to airports in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Montana that Wildfire Today told you about last week has been revised due to snow at Rapid City. (An air tanker should not have to suffer the indignity of de-icing.)
The revised schedule for the DC-10 operated by 10 Tanker Air Carrier is as follows, but keep in mind that the times are approximate, subject to change, and could vary by up to 30 minutes or so. All times are local.
Tuesday, April 23
Wednesday, April 24
At this time there are no planned tours for the public, but they may be able to see the DC-10 through a fence or from other locations.
A prescribed fire being conducted by the Montana Department of Resources and Conservation north of Great Falls on Wednesday escaped and burned 560 acres of state and private land. The goal of the project was to treat 160 acres of DNRC trust land with prescribed fire.
The fire got away at about 12:30 p.m. when the fire activity increased and the five engines on scene ran out of water and could not contain it. After receiving assistance from firefighters in Cascade and Teton counties they controlled the fire by 3:30 p.m. No structures or crops were damaged.
An article that appeared in the Missoulian and several other newspapers discusses research by Headwaters Economics about the costs of fighting wildfires in the wildland-urban interface. It includes some controversial quotes from a gentleman who is often sought by reporters when they need a quote about U.S. Forest Service fire management policies.
Below is an excerpt from the article. You will have to go to the Missoulian site to read the aforementioned quotes.
If Montana’s forest fringes continue filling with houses, wildland firefighting costs could double, according to a report by the Bozeman-based Headwaters Economics.
“Protecting homes is a major cost and safety issue in fighting fire,” said Headwaters author Chris Mehl. “But the real question is personal responsibility: Who pays for that? Right now, the federal government – the Forest Service, BLM or FEMA – pays for a disproportionate share of the cost of fighting fires and cleaning up afterward. States and municipalities pay a small share of the cost.
“The challenge is, if we keep building these homes in the wildland-urban interface, who should bear the cost? Will localities say we’re not willing to bear the cost and you landowners must bear more? We need to look at land-use planning.”
Thanks go out to Dick and Kelly.
A John Mayer concert in Livingston, Montana raised more than $100,000 to help firefighters who battled this past summer’s Pine Creek Fire that burned through the community of Pine Creek seven miles south of Livingston August 29. Mr. Mayer owns a home there but was not in the area when five homes and 8,500 acres burned.
The January 16 show, held at the Emerson Theater in downtown Bozeman, marked Mayer’s first in-concert performance as a singer since April 1, 2011 after suffering a throat granuloma which forced the artist to cancel some appearances.
Zac Brown and Clay Cook of the Grammy-winning Zac Brown Band joined Mayer on stage. Special guests included David Ryan Harris, Sean Hurley, Aaron Sterling, Ben Bullington and Lil Jane & The Pistol Whips. John performed three songs–”Speak for Me,” “Whiskey, Whiskey, Whiskey” and “If I Ever Get Around To Living”–from his latest album, Born and Raised, and “Who Says” from 2009′s Battle Studies.
“Without the tireless effort and dedication of the firefighters of the Pine Creek Fire, many more homes and memories would have been destroyed, mine among them” said Mayer. “I wasn’t in town when the fire broke out and I’ve always wished I could do my part to help, the way so many in the community did. Putting on a concert to raise some money for the departments is the least I can do for a town and a community that has welcomed me with open arms.”
Thanks go out to Dick
The Montana Department of Natural Resources has released a lessons learned report on an outbreak of Norovirus on the Elbow Pass fire in August. It appears that quick, decisive action by the incident management team reduced the spread of the disease before it infected a large number of firefighters.
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Lessons Learned
Montana DNRC, Northern Region Safety & Occupational Health
December 2012
Summary of incident:
On the morning of August 4th, 2012, three food handlers who were working for a state kitchen on the Elbow Pass Fire became ill with gastrointestinal symptoms and were transported to a health clinic for treatment. The safety officer and Logistics Section Chief from the Elbow Pass fire camp immediately took precautions, including contacting the Lewis and Clark County Health Department to report a possible outbreak of food-borne illness. Officials from the health department were dispatched on August 5th to investigate the site, and found the kitchen had met cleaning standards and was in good working order. Samples from those sickened were sent to a lab, two of which ultimately tested positive for Norovirus G1. Norovirus is commonly known as stomach flu, and can spread rapidly through person-to-person contact and food contamination, especially in closed communities such as fire camps. The entire kitchen and all kitchen staff were demobilized from the incident on August 6th, and the kitchen was cleaned two more times. By August 7th, an additional four cases were reported for a total of seven individuals. There was no evidence that the virus was ever spread through the kitchen or food, as all cases were directly tied to person-to-person contact. No additional cases were reported after the 7th, and all individuals that were sickened recovered within 24 hours of showing signs of infection.
What was done well:
1. The rapid response of the Incident Command team: this included calling the County Health Department as soon as symptoms were detected and requesting additional medics to be assigned to the incident.
2. Food contact surfaces were disinfected early, and the kitchen overall was held to a high standard of cleanliness.
3. Ill food handlers were kept away from the food production area, transported to a clinic for assessment and treatment, and were not allowed to return to work until well after recovery.
4. The responsiveness of the Incident Management Team and the DNRC-CLO staff to establish timelines for treatment, quarantine of individuals (and separate toilet facilities), and cleaning of the kitchen.
5. Quickly after the outbreak, a back-up plan was established for switching to an alternative food source.
6. The fire camp implemented early on the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, “Infectious Diseases Guidelines for Wildland Fire Management Teams”.
Recommendations/Lessons Learned:
1. Strive to have toilets and “warm water” hand washing stations in place at the incident as soon as possible once crews start to assemble or arrive at the incident.
2. Eliminate or reduce “self-service” food handling. This includes salad and fruit bars, and communal coolers.
3. Encourage everyone in fire camps to practice good hygiene procedures, and educate Incident Management Teams in early detection of food borne illnesses and how to contain them.
4. Specifically train those working as kitchen staff in proper hygiene procedures as well as in early detection of food borne illnesses.
5. Kitchen units, whether state-owned or private contractors, should consider the purchase or lease of portable toilets that can be exclusively used by and travel with the kitchen unit.
