The LA Times has an interesting article about our aging air tanker fleet.
Continue readingAspen in the Black Hills
The aspen in the Black Hills of South Dakota are just beginning show a little of their autumn colors. This photo was taken in Slate Creek northwest of Hill City. Click the photo to see a larger version.
Fall River prescribed fire — before and after
On March 30 the Hot Springs, South Dakota Volunteer Fire Department conducted a prescribed fire along the Fall River to reduce the woody vegetation which could clog the flood control channel where the river passes through the city. We covered it then with several photos, but today I went back to see what it looked like. Below are photos taken during, just after, and six months after fire visited the river.
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South Dakota: Cascade Fire
(UPDATED at 2:42 p.m. MDT, September 27, 2013)
Firefighters on the Cascade Fire 3 miles south of Hot Springs, South Dakota said it has burned 45 to 50 79.5 acres and they are calling it 80 percent contained. A National Guard Blackhawk helicopter will be assigned to the fire today along with two hand crews, a dozer, and an assortment of engines from federal, state, and volunteer agencies. A Single Engine Air Tanker is also available if needed.
Scroll down to see a slide show of photos from the fire.
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(Originally posted at 2:43 p.m. MDT, September 18, 2013; updated at 8:17 p.m. MDT)
The Cascade Fire, 3 miles south of Hot Springs, South Dakota, was reported at about 2 p.m. MDT on Wednesday. By 2:30 it had blackened at least 5 acres and burned over the top of the Seven Sisters ridge. A couple of hours later the size was estimated at 15 to 20 acres and was being fought by state, federal, and local fire departments. At 8 p.m. the incident commander called it 40 percent contained.
The fire appeared to be burning on private land, but that was not confirmed.
A single engine air tanker (SEAT), Tanker 463 from Valentine, Nebraska, made its first drop over the fire at 3:56 p.m. At around 4:15 p.m. the Incident Commander inquired into the availability of a large air tanker. About 20 minutes later the dispatcher told him the closest one was in Idaho. Later I checked a map and that would have been 400 to 650 miles away.
After 5:00 p.m. a National Guard Blackhawk helicopter with a bucket was on scene. A second SEAT also dropped on the fire according to a spokesperson for the fire. The SEATs were from South Dakota and Valentine, Nebraska. They reloaded and refueled at the Hot Springs, SD airport, about five miles east of the fire.
All of these photos were taken by Bill Gabbert, except for the one of the SEAT refueling, which was supplied by South Dakota Wildland Fire.
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Honor Escort for the Granite Mountain 19
The 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots that died on the Yarnell Hill Fire June 30 were escorted back to Prescott today, closer to their home base. They were moved from the medical examiner’s office in Phoenix to the medical examiner’s office in Prescott, a distance of approximately 100 miles. A helicopter was circling overhead. The first part of the ground escort was about 20 officers on motorcycles.
These first three photos were taken on Highway 89 five miles north of Yarnell, Arizona.
A few vehicles after the bikes was a Granite Mountain Hotshots’ crew carrier.
And then the 19 hearses, each with a sign in the window identifying the Hotshot inside.
Photo by Tom Tingle/The Arizona Republic. Used with permission.
A memorial service for the Granite Mountain 19 will be held in Prescott Tuesday. We will remain in the area reporting on this historic event.
The first three photos were taken by Bill Gabbert.
Running for your life
Last year we told you about a series of articles written by W. Scott Olsen, a professor of English at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. Mr. Olsen described the topic as “the war on wildfires out west, meeting shot-callers and looking at the operation from the inside”. The five articles are very well written, looking at the inside of firefighting from the eyes of an outsider.
He is working on a book that will be out next year and part of it has been published at the Huffington Post. This time he talks to a woman who had a very close call on a fire, having to run, literally, for her life. When the fire suddenly approached the road she and the crew were holding, she ran for hundreds of yards, falling three times. She had a serious burn on her arm and the hairs in her nose were singed indicating she inhaled superheated gasses.
Below is an excerpt from the article:
“I heard radio traffic about the paramedic coming. I smelt my skin burning. I felt a hot spot on my head. I threw my hard hat off and under my bandana was an ember burning my hair. My squad boss dumped a jug of water on my head immediately. I sat down and my knee immediately seized up. I couldn’t move it. The paramedic arrived and ordered a life flight through the helibase.”
Mr. Olsen tells what happened next and how it later affected her career.
The article does not mention anything about fire shelters being used. And the fact that she and presumably other crew members ran hundreds of yards apparently near the fire before they reached a safety zone, points out how reluctant firefighters can be to stop and get into their fire shelters.
After the investigation is complete of the Yarnell Hill Fire incident in which 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots died, we may find out how, when, and under what circumstances decisions were made about the use of fire shelters. Preliminary information indicates that some of the firefighters were found in their shelters and others were not, but 19 shelters were deployed.
Memorial dedicated for the crew members that died on MAFFS 7
A memorial site was dedicated today to honor the four people that died when the Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS) C-130 air tanker crashed in South Dakota exactly a year ago. MAFFS 7, from the 145 Airlift Wing in North Carolina, was dropping retardant to slow the spread of the White Draw Fire when it encountered turbulent air and crashed, killing Lt. Col Paul K. Mikeal, 42; Maj. Joseph M. McCormick, 36; Maj. Ryan S. David, 35, and Senior Master Sgt. Roberts S. Cannon, 50. Two crew members survived, Chief Master Sgt. Andy Huneycutt, and Master Sgt. Joshua Marlowe.
Family members had the opportunity Sunday to travel to the crash site about eight miles northeast of Edgemont, South Dakota. The new memorial is approximately 6 miles northeast of Edgemont on Highway 18 near the point of origin of the fire (map) where the motor home that started the blaze caught fire while pulling the grade between Edgemont and Hot Springs. The memorial consists of a gravel parking area with room for about six vehicles and it has two interpretive panels — one describing the White Draw Fire and the other covers the accident and the four victims.
Photos from the Black Forest Fire
These photos were taken at the Black Forest Fire near Colorado Springs, Colorado by Bill Gabbert, June 14 and 15, 2013. More information about the fire can be found HERE.
6,000 lightning strikes in northern California
(Originally published at 4:40 p.m. PT, June 10, 2013; updated at 11:45 a.m. PT, June 11)
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Sunday and Monday much of the Northern California foothills and mountains including the Sierra experienced significant thunderstorms with dry lightning. Nearly 6,000 8,000 lightning strikes were recorded. Over 50 60 small fires have been discovered that were ignited by lightning. Though most of the storm systems have moved out, CAL FIRE crews continue to respond to additional fires.
Below is a summary of some of the fires in four northern California CAL FIRE units as of Monday afternoon:
- Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit: 21 fires, largest fire 4 acres
- Tehama-Glenn Unit: 20 fires, largest fire 2 acres
- Butte Unit: 11 fires, 0 acres
- Lassen-Modoc-Plumas Unit: 2 fires, 0 acres
Should very large air tankers be used on 7-acre fires?
A video we embedded in an article on June 7 shows one of the DC-10 very large air tankers making a precision drop using what appeared to be a small fraction of it’s 11,600 gallon capacity, on what was described as a 7-acre fire below Pinal Peak near Globe, Arizona. It generated a fair amount of discussion in the comments, mostly positive, except for one from “Don” who called it “overkill”. “DiggerT” provided a thoughtful response to Don, and I also added my two cents in a comment.
We don’t know why the DC-10 was selected to drop on the fire near Pinal Peak. Maybe it had been dropping on another fire in the area, or perhaps it was the only air tanker available. At any rate, in the video the radio traffic from the lead or air attack plane indicated that he was extremely pleased with the results of the drop.
I am pasting below what I wrote in the comment because it includes a few details about the pricing structure for the seven next generation air tankers that we have not previously covered:
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“Don, are you aware that the hourly flight rate for the DC-10 on this new exclusive use contract is by far lower than the other six aircraft that were selected for contracts? The nearest competitor is $2,054 per hour more expensive than the DC-10, and the DC-10 is a little more than half the hourly rate for Minden’s BAe-146.
But keep in mind the contract is complex, and the DC-10’s pricing structure, in order to compare apples to apples, is based on delivering 3,000 gallons, approximately the same as the other six aircraft — according to information I received from someone who is very familiar with the contracting process for next generation air tankers. There are additional specifics to cover the DC-10 dropping more than 3,000 gallons.
But as you can see in the bid details, the Total Cost Estimate for the first year, which apparently takes this into account, has the DC-10’s total cost approximately in the same ball park as the others, which are, in millions, $36.4, $36.4, $38.9, $39.5, and $41.3. The DC-10’s was $43.2. But keep in mind that the DC-10 delivers about three to four times more retardant than the maximum capacity of the other next gen air tankers , and six times more than Tanker 40, a BAe-146, if T40 is reloading at Silver City Airtanker Base on a 90 degree day.
And, I have to agree with DiggerT. If there is any potential for a wildland fire to become large it should be attacked with overwhelming force, rather than attempting to fire fire on the cheap. This can save money, property, and lives.
A year ago I wrote my “Prescription for keeping new fires from becoming megafires“:
Rapid initial attack with overwhelming force using both ground and air resources, arriving within the first 10 to 30 minutes when possible.”