Report released on fatal BLM engine rollover

BLM Unimog fire engine 2410

BLM Unimog Engine 2410 when it was new in 2006. BLM photo.

The Bureau of Land Management has released an Accident Investigation Factual Report for the July 10, 2016 engine rollover north of Winnemucca, Nevada in which two firefighters were killed and a third was seriously injured.

Jacob O’Malley and Will Hawkins lost their lives in the single-vehicle accident on Nevada State Route 140 when a rear tire suddenly and catastrophically failed. The truck only had four tires, there were no duals on the rear. When the right-rear rim dragged along the pavement the left-front was in the air, eliminating any possibility of control by the driver. The 33,000 pound GVWR engine fishtailed and then rolled several times.

The cab was higher than the water tanks and pump package, so it took the majority of the impact as the top of the vehicle struck the roadway during the rollover. All three occupants were wearing seat belts but with the top of the cab and the A pillar being damaged or sheared off, the restraint system failed to operate as designed. Mr. Hawkins was ejected from the cab and then was hit by the rolling wreckage.

Below is an excerpt from the report:

Finding 3.1 (Material): During the rollover, the upper cab structure (made of reinforced carbon fiber) sheared away from the truck frame, exposing the vehicle’s occupants to a hazardous environment. The disintegration of the cab compromised the driver’s and right side passenger’s seatbelt systems.

Discussion 3.1: The lack of cab crashworthiness did not cause the rollover; however, it contributed to the fatal conditions which occurred during the crash. The reinforced carbon fiber cab on the Unimog was manufactured in France and was built to United Nations Code ECE r29 (commercial vehicle occupant protection), which exceeds U.S. cab crashworthiness standards. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) submitted a report to Congress in 2015 on the need for improved heavy truck crashworthiness standards; however, no action has been taken on this report as of February 2017.

There are 41 articles on Wildfire Today about the rollovers of wildland fire apparatus.

We still stand behind what we wrote in a 2015 article about the many firefighter fatalities from rollovers:

The wildland fire agencies should fund research conducted by engineers to determine how to prevent the passenger compartments in their fire engines from collapsing in accidents.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Eric.
Typos or errors, report them HERE.

“Vegetation” involved in fire on roof of Las Vegas hotel

A fire on the roof of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas created quite a show for people who came to watch the fancy water fountain display Thursday night. The Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote that styrofoam facades burned, but it appears that real or fake vegetation on the roof may have also been involved.

Firefighters were able to knock down the wind-driven fire about 25 minutes after it was first reported.

At least there was a wet line on one flank of the fire:

This reminds us of a similar fire on another hotel roof in Vegas in 2015. Here is a screenshot of part of that article:

Cosmopolitan Hotel Fire egas, 2015
Cosmopolitan Hotel Fire, Las Vegas, 2015.

Two reports released on the same day about the escaped prescribed fire near Carson City, NV

Map Little Valley Fire

Above: Map of the Little Valley Fire at 9:23 p.m. PDT October 14, 2016.

On February 15 two reports were released about the prescribed fire that escaped, burned 2,291 acres, and destroyed 23 homes northwest of Carson City, Nevada on October 14, 2016. The first report about what became the Little Valley Fire included the results of a months-long independent investigation by the Reno Gazette-Journal (RGJ). The other, released a few hours later, was the product of the official investigation requested by the Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF), the agency responsible for conducting the prescribed fire.

Hours before the fire escaped, all eleven firefighters that had been mopping up the prescribed fire left the project and returned to their stations between 1:30 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. on October 13, 2016. During that day there were a number of smokes that received the attention of the firefighters. During the last two hours before the seven-person helitack crew departed they noticed the wind increasing — trees were blowing down and branches were falling.

The RGJ reported on the reason the firefighters were ordered to leave the burn site.

Gene Phillips, NDF forest health specialist and burn boss for the Little Valley Burn, made the decision to pull crews from the burn site after discussing the high wind forecasts for the evening with a burn boss trainee, according to the review.

The decision not to staff the site on the evening of Oct. 13 was made, according to NDF, “based on the limited amount of heat near the control lines, success of the current mop-up effort, and the risk to firefighters working in timber during high winds.”

escaped fire map
From the NIMO report.

At 5:38 p.m. the Little Valley weather station recorded sustained winds out of the west at 15 mph with a maximum gust of 39 mph. By 12:38 a.m. on October 14, about the time the fire escaped, the wind was at 19 mph with gusts up to 87 mph. The relative humidity was 32 percent.

A Red Flag Warning for gusty winds and low humidity was in effect from the morning of October 11 through 5 p.m. on October 14. Strong winds persisted until mid-day on October 17.

The NDF’s report was written by the U.S. Forest Service’s Phoenix National Incident Management Organization (NIMO), a team that usually manages fires and other incidents that are often of longer duration than a typical wildfire. The team was supplemented with a Fire Behavior Analyst, a GIS/Fire Behavior Analyst, a Public Information Officer, a Fire Investigator, and others for a total of 10 personnel that were listed in the report.

The NIMO team concluded that the fire escaped when embers from a burning stump hole were blown 34 feet and crossed the fireline at a corner, or “dog leg” in the fire perimeter.

According to the RGJ there was confusion in initially responding to the fire after it escaped at around 12:38 a.m. on October 14:

Response to the fire was delayed, affecting how fast it could be contained: A call at 1:23 a.m. about smoke at the burn site was later dismissed as “unfounded,” causing a TMFPD [Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District] fire engine to return to the station three minutes after it left. After a second call about smoke at the burn site, it took TMFPD more than an hour to get to the site after crews were dispatched, according to 911 transcripts.

Rainfall in western states slows wildfire season in many areas

Rainfall last 2 weeks washington oregon
Rainfall last 2 weeks, Washington and Oregon

Rainfall over the last two weeks has slowed or in some cases, ended the wildfire season in some areas.

On October 19 we ran the numbers for the accumulated precipitation for the last 14 days in the western states. These maps show amounts that exceeded 0.05 inches at some of the Interagency Remote Automatic Weather Stations (RAWS).

Washington, Oregon, and northern California have received a good soaking and I would imagine that local fire officials may be declaring an end to the fire season. Of course this is not unusual for these areas this time of the year, and some locations had already seen their season end. But what IS unusual, is the high amount of moisture that occurred in just two weeks.

You can click on the images to see larger versions.

Rainfall last 2 weeks, northern California
Rainfall last 2 weeks, northern California
Rainfall last 2 weeks central California
Rainfall last 2 weeks, central California

Continue to see maps for the other western states.
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MAFFS transferred from North Carolina to Nevada

loading MAFFS
Airmen of the North Carolina Air National Guard load the Modular Airborne FireFighting System into a C-130 belonging to the Nevada Air National Guard. Photo September 7, 2016 by 1st Lt Monica Ebert.

Earlier this month in Charlotte the 145th Airlift Wing of the North Carolina Air National Guard finalized the transfer of their Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS) mission to the Nevada Air National Guard’s 152nd Airlift Wing. On September 7 the equipment was loaded into a C-130 from Nevada Air National Guard and arrived at Reno the next day.

The previous week the Nevada Airlift Wing had completed its first training activation operating the U.S. Forest Service’s MAFFS. The other MAFFS units are at Cheyenne, Colorado Springs, and Channel Islands in California.

loading MAFFS
Airmen of the North Carolina Air National Guard load the door to the Modular Airborne FireFighting System into a C-130 belonging to the Nevada Air National Guard. Photo September 7, 2016 by 1st Lt Monica Ebert.

The USFS has 8 MAFFS units that can be slipped into a C-130 in just a few hours, converting it to a 3,000-gallon air tanker. Usually two of the units are at each of the four bases, but one is now being temporarily used in an HC-130H that was transferred from the Coast Guard to the USFS.

loading MAFFS
Airmen of the North Carolina Air National Guard load the Modular Airborne FireFighting System into a C-130 belonging to the Nevada Air National Guard. Photo September 7, 2016 by 1st Lt Monica Ebert.
maffs nevada
The first 152nd C-130 equipped with U.S. Forest Service’s Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System arrived September 8, 2016, at the Nevada Air National Guard Base in Reno. The unit completed its first fire fighting mission as co-pilots augmented with the Air Expeditionary Group the previous week. The 152nd was selected to become the new MAFFS unit in April.

Reno Air National Guard unit begins training with MAFFS

maffs nevada

Above: The first 152nd C-130 equipped with a U.S. Forest Service Modular Airborne FireFighting System arrived Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, at the Nevada Air National Guard Base in Reno. The unit completed its first fire fighting mission as co-pilots augmented with the Air Expeditionary Group the previous week. The 152nd was selected to become the new MAFFS unit in April. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Emerson Marcus September 8, 2016.

The Air National Guard unit at Reno completed its first training activation operating the U.S. Forest Service’s Modular Airborne FireFighting System last week and the first of the unit’s C-130s equipped for MAFFS arrived at the base Thursday, September 8.

In April the Reno 152nd Airlift Wing became one of the four bases designated to operate MAFFS units. They are replacing the 145th Airlift Wing of North Carolina that is transitioning from the C-130 to the C-17. The other MAFFS bases are at Cheyenne, Colorado Springs, and Channel Islands in California.

The USFS has 8 MAFFS units that can be slipped into a C-130 in just a few hours, converting it to a 3,000-gallon air tanker. Usually two of the units are at each of the four bases, but one is now being temporarily used in an HC-130H that was transferred from the Coast Guard to the USFS.

In recent weeks, 12 aircrew of the 152nd activated as part of the Air Expeditionary Group fighting wildland fires in Idaho, Nevada and Oregon.

The AEG – made up of military C-130 units operating MAFFS – flew 142 sorties, 125.5 flight hours, dispensing more than 3.5 million pounds of retardant on 165 drops during the month-long activation that began in early August.

“Nevada crews have fully embraced the MAFFS mission and are committed to getting full up as quickly and safely as possible,” said Col. David Herder, deputy AEG commander. “They have been stepping in to get training with the other units whenever possible. They have been a welcome addition to the MAFFS community.”

This fire season effectively started the 152nd’s co-pilot certification clock. Co-pilot certification could be completed prior to the 2018 fire season when the unit would enter certification as aircrew commanders. Once the aircrew commander certification is complete, they then begin certification as flight instructors and could begin autonomous fire fighting missions.

“The actual drops have been challenging and exhilarating,” said Lt. Col. Tony Machabee, acting 152nd Operations Group commander and the first member of the unit to co-pilot a MAFFS mission. “It’s a great feeling to see your immediate results whether we are dropping a protective line of retardant between the fire and someone’s property or dropping ‘mud’ (retardant mix) directly on flames leaping from the tops of trees in an effort to slow the fire’s progress.”

Laboratory camera captures photos of Little Den Fire in Nevada

Little Den Fire

Above: The Little Den Fire at about 7:55 p.m. MDT July 20, 2016. Screen shot from Nevada Seismological Laboratory camera.

Earlier this month a mountain top camera operated by the Nevada Seismological Laboratory captured excellent images of the Hot Pot Fire near Midas, Nevada as it burned approximately 120,000 acres within its first 30 hours. The still images were converted to time-lapse videos condensing an hour of fire activity into one minute.

Now it has taken photos of a new fire, the Little Den Fire 39 miles west of Austin, Nevada between U.S. Highway 50 and Highway 2. By Wednesday evening it had burned an estimated 1,800 acres and was being suppressed by 3 hand crews, 7 engines, 3 air tankers, and 2 helicopters. Hecht’s Type 3 incident management team is assigned to the fire.

map Little Den Fire
Map showing heat detected by a satellite over the Little Den Fire at 2:15 a.m. MDT July 21, 2016. Click to enlarge.

In one video you can see the initial stages of the fire as it started at 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday July 20.

The one-minute video below shows the rapid spread of the Little Den Fire from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

The next video covers 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and has some very interesting images just before sunset showing wind shear effects on the smoke.

Other videos of the Little Den fire posted by the laboratory.

Memorial service for two BLM firefighters to be held July 19

Memorial services have been scheduled for Bureau of Land Management wildland firefighters Jacob O’Malley and Will Hawkins who lost their lives July 10 in a single-vehicle accident July 10 on Nevada State Route 140. The services will take place at the Winnemucca Events Complex Exhibit Hall (map) from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 19, in Winnemucca, Nevada.

The BLM firefighters were returning from duty in the Denio area on their way back to Winnemucca when the accident occurred at about 5:20 p.m. Sunday evening. Jacob, 27, and Will, 22, were killed in the rollover accident. Their coworker, Zachery McElroy, 23, was flown to Renown Medical Center in Reno, where he was treated; he was released Tuesday afternoon. The BLM fire crew was returning from a routine patrol looking for lightning fires in the area when the accident occurred.

The two men both resided in Winnemucca, though Jacob was from Lake Tahoe’s Zephyr Cove and Will was from Reno. The families of Jacob and Will have established private family memorial services in the Lake Tahoe and Reno areas, respectively.

“Everyone is invited to attend the Winnemucca services on Tuesday to honor Jacob and Will – two brave, hardworking firefighters who were dearly loved by their families and coworkers,” said BLM Nevada State Director John Ruhs.

The BLM deployed a Serious Accident Investigation (SAI) team to determine the accident cause and other
information.

Winnemucca Events Complex (map)
1000 Fairgrounds Road
Winnemucca, NV 89445

Jacob O'Malley
Jacob O’Malley. Photo provided by BLM.
Will Hawkins
Will Hawkins. Photo provided by BLM.