New Mexico Archives - Page 14 of 23

Drip torch carried on firefighter’s back leaks fuel and ignites, causing serious burns

Bill GabbertJanuary 20, 2016June 12, 2019Uncategorizedfuel-soaked Nomex, New Mexico, Photo by Bill G, report, safety, shirt17 Comments

Last summer a firefighter received severe burns to his back, both legs, and left arm after a drip torch attached to the pack on his back leaked fuel which ignited. The accident occurred September 9, 2015 on the Perdida Fire managed by the Bureau of Land Management northwest of Taos, New Mexico. The firefighter was one of seven igniters assigned to the fire which had a total of nine personnel.

The individual who was injured had been igniting with a drip torch while he carried an extra one attached to the pack on his back. The torch leaked fuel which caught fire.

From the recently released report about the incident:

…Igniter #1 saw that the victim’s line gear and back of his legs were on fire so he tried to put the fire out with dirt and by patting at the flame with his gloved hand. Igniter #1 told the victim to get on the ground and they both fell together. The victim got back up and ran while trying to get his glove off and then his pack, successfully. The victim then stumbled but regained his footing briefly before falling back to the ground. At this point, Igniters #1 and #3 converged and patted out the fire on the victim’s pants…<

The photos below are from the report.

One of the issues pointed out in the report is a significant delay in requesting a medevac. About 40 minutes elapsed before medevac was requested, and that was for a ground ambulance even though the victim apparently had second and third degree burns. That request was quickly upgraded to transport by helicopter. The report concluded that according to the burn injury protocol a medevac should have been initiated upon the determination of second and third degree burns and the remoteness of the incident.

The medevac pilot was unable to communicate with the personnel on the ground because he could not program the frequency into the helicopter’s radio.

The lat/long was called in to dispatch from the incident scene 23 minutes after the helicopter was requested (about an hour after the accident occurred), and four minutes before it landed at the extrication point.

The report recommended that firefighters should avoid carrying extra drip torches on their packs during ignition operations.

We did not see anything in the report about how fire resistant clothing that has not been washed for an extended period of time may, or may not, cause the clothing to lose some of its resistance to fire. But it did say “PPE [personal protection equipment] should be kept clean and inspected often for damage and fuel contamination”.

drip torch back gear — File photo of igniters carrying drip torches attached to packs on their back. Photo by Bill Gabbert.

Jury finds power companies mostly liable for Las Conchas Fire

Bill GabbertOctober 29, 2015October 29, 2015UncategorizedLas Conchas Fire, New Mexico, power line

Start of the Las Conchas fire — The Las Conchas fire, taken at 1:44 p.m. June 26, 2011, approximately 45 minutes after it started. Photo: Michael Grady

A jury found two power companies were mostly liable for starting the 2011 Las Conchas Fire northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico that burned 63 structures and 156,000 acres.

Two companies and the U.S. Forest Service share the responsibility for the fire that began when an aspen tree fell into a power line.

Below is an excerpt from an AP article:

Jemez Mountains Electric Cooperative operated and maintained the power lines. Tri-State Generation and Transmission Inc. provides the cooperative with electricity.

Jurors in Sandoval County District Court found the cooperative was 75 percent negligent for the wildfire, Tri-State 20 percent and the U.S. Forest Service 5 percent.

The amount of monetary damages will be determined at a later trial.

Judge rules local agencies need approval before cutting trees on federal land

Bill GabbertOctober 2, 2015October 2, 2015UncategorizedNew Mexico3 Comments

A judge has ruled that a New Mexico state law authorizing counties to cut and remove trees from federal land without approval of the federal government is unconstitutional. In a September 30 ruling, Chief U.S. District Judge Christina Armijo wrote that the law passed in 2001 by the legislature and a resolution approved by the Otero County Board of County Commissioners in 2011 violated the supremacy clause of the U.S. constitution. Armijo ruled Congress, not the state or the county, has sole authority to control federal lands.

The 2001 law stipulated that if a county declared a “disaster” as a result of the federal government’s land management actions or inactions, the county “may take such actions as are necessary to clear and thin undergrowth and to remove or log fire-damaged trees within the area of the disaster.” The tree cutting could be done after “consulting with the state forester and the regional United States forester”, but the county would not be bound by the opinion of the U.S. Forest Service.

Otero County did in fact declare a “disaster” in 2011 and developed a plan to cut and remove trees on 69,000 acres (108 square miles) of land on the Lincoln National Forest east of Alamogordo, New Mexico. They publicly announced their intentions and the U.S. Forest Service stated their opposition.

A confrontation appeared likely between federal employees and the county’s contractors attempting to cut trees on National Forest land. The possibility arose of conflicts between armed federal law enforcement officers and the county sheriff.

The Supervisor of the Lincoln National Forest, Robert Trujillo, was told by a Deputy Sheriff that Otero County Sheriff Benny House did not recognize Forest Service authority or jurisdiction, and that Sheriff House stated that he would arrest Forest Service law enforcement officers on kidnapping charges if they arrested anyone implementing Otero County’s project.

Now that the state law and the county resolution have been determined to violate federal law and the U.S. constitution, the conflict could be over. Unless — Otero County decides to cut the trees in spite of the Judge’s ruling, or they appeal the decision.

Trial begins for power company accused of starting Las Conchas Fire

Bill GabbertOctober 2, 2015June 17, 2017UncategorizedLas Conchas Fire, New Mexico

Las Conchas fire photo — The Las Conchas fire as seen from the Valles Caldera National Preserve visitor center at 3:38 p.m., June 26, 2011, about two hours after the fire started northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Photo: Michael Grady.

In a trial that began Thursday a power company is defending itself against charges that inadequate maintenance of their electrical line led to the 2011 Las Conchas Fire northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico that burned 63 structures and 156,000 acres.

Below is an excerpt from an article in the Albuquerque Journal:

…Jurors must determine whether the Jemez Mountains Electric Cooperative and Tri-State Generation and Transmission should be held liable for losses sustained by the more than 300 plaintiffs, which include Jemez and Cochiti pueblos, insurance companies and business and property owners.

The blaze broke out on June 26, 2011, when an aspen tree fell onto a power line maintained by the Jemez Mountains Electric Cooperative. Plaintiffs’ attorney Tosdal said that Jemez and Tri-State, a cooperative that provides wholesale electric power to Jemez, both failed to adopt the procedures that could have prevented it.

But Al Green, the attorney representing the Jemez Mountains Electric Cooperative, said the company has a tree-trimming program in place – a procedure he said is similar to that used by most American rural electric cooperatives. He also said that Rural Utility Service audits never found violations, though a 2011 audit reported that the rights of way were in need of improvement.

“The RUS didn’t think we were violating their regulation,” he said.

Tosdal showed several photos of the aspen tree that caused the fire, pointing out conks growing at the base, which he said were an indication that the tree was unhealthy and should have been removed.

Green held that it would have been impossible for company employees walking the right of way to identify the aspen, which had a green canopy, as presenting any hazard…

Las Conchas Fire, July 14, 2011, Photo by Andrew Ashcraft — Andrew Ashcraft of the Granite Mountain Hotshots took this photo of the Las Conchas Fire July 14, 2011 while the crew was holding the fireline after the Prescott Hot Shots ignited a burnout. Two years later Mr. Ashcraft was killed on the Yarnell Hill Fire. (click to enlarge)

Articles on Wildfire Today tagged Las Conchas Fire.

A grass roots effort begins to increase the number of women in fire

BillSeptember 20, 2014December 27, 2017UncategorizedArizona, Bequi Livingston, New Mexico, Tom Story, women4 Comments

The twelve participants of the Phoenix 2014 Women in Fire Bootcamp pose for a group shot during the Women in Fire Bootcamp Field Day September 13th, 2014. Photo by Tom Story.

The representation of women in the wildland fire business is currently somewhere around 10%, but some women have set out to increase that number. One of their methods that seems to be working is the Women in Fire Bootcamp that took place in Albuquerque and Phoenix over two weekends in September as part of a Forest Service outreach program in Region Three (Arizona and New Mexico).

Founder Bequi Livingston of the Forest Service’s Regional Office in Albuquerque describes the origins in an email: “about ten years ago, I started talking the idea of a “Wildland Firefighter Boot Camp” here in the Region and there was not much interest at the time. As we continued struggling with recruitment and retention of women in wildland firefighting, especially here in Region 3, the idea came about to host a “Women In Wildland Fire Boot Camp” to target our female audience. Luckily, our FAM (Fire and Aviation Management) staff liked the idea and were willing to help fund our first Boot Camp back in March 2011. Our first Boot Camp in March 2011 was great and we had 20 candidates here in New Mexico and I believe, 14 in Arizona. We then hosted the Boot Camp again in March 2012 with not quite as many applicants and did not have a 2013 Boot Camp due to lack of funding. Last fall, I developed and submitted a proposal to the Forest Service FAM Diversity Program to receive funding and support to keep the efforts going. This was with much help from Helen Graham (Assistant Fire Management Officer-Tonto National Forest) in AZ and Linda Wadleigh (Mogollon Rim District Ranger-Coconino National Forest). Luckily we received special project funding through our Washington Office FAM to help fund and support the Boot Camp for the next three years.”

Ms. Livingston continued: “Part of this history includes my personal story and challenges as one of the first women in wildland fire and also my experience in Region 5 with the horrid Consent Decree. One of my intentions is to provide a safe and trusting environment for these candidates with great instructors (men and women) to ensure that we set them up for success rather than failure.”

“Although the program’s intent is to recruit and train women as its target audience, we are very inclusive in that we accept and consider ALL (her emphasis) applicants equally, including males. In fact, we have our first male in our current New Mexico session and he’s been great. We did not get enough applicants to fill all our slots for the New Mexico Boot Camp and had several female applicants pull out, which left us with additional open slots. Josh turned in a good application, is very interested in the program and is in one of those slots. Although our primary intention is to recruit and train women as the target audience, we consider all applicants equally”, Ms. Livingston added.

Jeb Koons, a Fire Management Officer from the Coconino National Forest and one of the Arizona Bootcamp’s instructors summed it up this way: “the program is to recruit women, but once they are here, they are all firefighters”.

Jesse Causer of the Coconino National Forest begins the classroom work at Women in Fire Bootcamp at Phoenix Interagency Fire Center @ Gateway on September 7th, 2014. Photo by Tom Story.

So it was all classroom the first weekend, with more classroom work the second weekend with a field day hosted at the Tonto National Forest’s Goldfield Admin Site on the Mesa Ranger District. There the lectures were put into practice with hands on experience digging line, water handling, mop up, tool sharpening and fire shelter practice along with familiarization with firing devices, pumps, engines and getting used to working together as a crew.

Continue reading “A grass roots effort begins to increase the number of women in fire”

USFS firefighter injured when jar explodes

Bill GabbertJuly 9, 2014July 9, 2014UncategorizedNew Mexico

KOAT TV in New Mexico is reporting that a U.S. Forest Firefighter was injured when a Mason jar exploded. He was stapling a fire prevention sign to a board when he noticed the jar. Not knowing what it was, he touched or moved it with his foot, after which it exploded. He was transported to the University of New Mexico Hospital with minor injuries and was later released..

The incident occurred Monday in the Santa Fe National Forest near the intersection of highways 376 and 126 west of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The firefighter was from a California National Forest, but was assisting with fire prevention duties.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is leading the investigation.

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