Tanker 07, a P2, on the Whoopup fire, July 18, 2011. Photo by Bill Gabbert
The Missoulian has an article about the current and future state of the air tanker fleet. Here is an excerpt:
Fighting fire from the air will remain a major tactic for the U.S. Forest Service, and the skies could start to get crowded soon.
“We want to have more than 11, but probably less than 44 large air tankers,” U.S. Forest Service national fire director Tom Harbour said in a recent interview with the Missoulian. “I think ultimately we’ll have between two and three dozen large air tankers.”
Eleven multi-engine retardant bombers remain under contract with the Forest Service, down from a fleet of 44 in 2004. Missoula-based Neptune Aviation has nine of those tankers, while Minden Air of Arizona has the other two.
“We’re looking all around to see what aircraft there are out there,” Harbour said. “We’re not doing any research in particular aircraft (within the Forest Service), but we’re interested in all designs. There are lots out there: old, new, big and little. And there are dozens of folks who have a particular platform they want to try. Neptune’s just been the first to take our criteria and put a plane in service.”
That would be Neptune’s new BAe-146 jet tanker, which won a short-term firefighting contract in September. The plane is the *first new model in nearly three decades to be certified for forest fire work. It is currently fighting fires in Texas.
Assuming the BAe passes additional field testing during the interim contract period, Neptune officials said they plan to phase in as many as 11 more jets as market conditions dictate.
Neptune CEO Kristen Nicholarsen said she’s heard of three or four companies developing retardant-dropping planes in pursuit of Forest Service contracts.
*Actually, the DC-10 and the 747 are aircraft models that are new to the air tanker fleet that have been certified by the Interagency Air Tanker Board in recent years.
U.S. Representative Michael McCaul at the Committee hearing. Photo: Alberto Martinez, American-Statesman
On Monday, October 17, 2011 a subcommittee of the House of Representatives’ Homeland Security committee held a field hearing in Austin entitled “Texas Wildfire Review: Did Bureaucracy Prevent a Timely Response?” The hearing was held in response to the loud complaints from Texas politicians that the federal government has not been providing enough support in dollars and firefighting resources to assist them in suppressing the numerous wildfires that have been occurring in the state since December, 2010.
The hearing was focused on speeding up the process of obtaining firefighting resources from the U. S. Forest Service and financial help from the Federal Emergency Management Administration. Texas Governor Rick Perry has slammed the federal government for deficit spending and has talked about Texas seceding from the United States, but he is seeking more than $200 million from the U.S. government to offset some of the $304 million the state has spent on wildfire suppression. Meanwhile Texas reduced the budget of the state’s wildland firefighting agency by 29 percent for the fiscal year that began in September.
Over the past several weeks there has been a lot of criticism that the USFS should have had more air tankers prepositioned in Texas, and the DC-10 Very Large Air Tanker has been a magnet for attention. When it was deployed to the state it had been working non-stop on fires in California and other states and the flight crew had bumped up against their mandatory days off. When it arrived, the aircraft had to sit for two days while the crew rested and a retardant plant was being assembled. There were complaints that the aircraft should have been able to begin working on fires immediately upon arrival.
But the DC-10, which delivered 280,000 gallons of retardant in 35 drops on fires in Texas, is just one air tanker and does not have any magical powers. Sure, it carries 11,600 gallons of retardant, four to five times more than conventional “large” air tankers that hold 2,200 to 3,000 gallons, but no single air tanker, no matter how big, could have prevented all of the damage from wildfires that Texas has been experiencing. As I’ve said many times before, aircraft do not put out fires. As long as the wind is not too strong, they can slow fires down enough to allow firefighters on the ground to put them out. It’s one tool in the tool box. Now that the U. S. Forest Service has allowed the number of large air tankers on exclusive use contracts to decline from 44 to 11, an air tanker that can carry as much retardant as four to five large air tankers, can be an extremely valuable tool in that box in the right conditions.
Texas Representative Michael McCaul, who organized the hearing, said “Despite all the warnings that Texas faced with it being the driest summer in more than 100 years, there was no prepositioned aircraft to help. We should have had more assets prepositioned. ” Tom Harbour, the Director of Fire and Aviation for the USFS, said the federal government had 3 large air tankers, 3 water-scooping air tankers, 15 single engine air tankers, and 12 helicopters in Texas on September 2 before the fires near Bastrop started.
Here is an excerpt from Harbour’s written testimony before the committee, and following that, commentary about a misleading statement he made: Continue reading
The U. S. Forest Service has missed another deadline to produce a report about how to deal with the severe shortage of large air tankers. A strategy to replace the dozens of air tankers that were permanently grounded after two very old military surplus air tankers fell apart in mid-air in 2002 should have been developed no later than 2004. Since then, missing promised reports combined with analysis paralysis have resulted in the large air tanker fleet being reduced to 11 on July 29, compared to 44 in 2002. The USFS keeps saying that they have plenty, but in the last couple of weeks they brought on additional air tankers, including three Convair 580s and three CL-215 scooper air tankers, bringing the total to 17 medium and large air tankers on exclusive use contracts.Correction. “JR” tells us that the CL-215s are working on a Call When Needed contract day by day, so they could disappear any time.
The Riverside, California Press-Enterprise follows wildfire very closely and on Saturday published an article detailing the USFS’ multiple failures to produce the reports about how to reconstitute the large air tanker fleet. Here is an excerpt from the article written by Ben Goad:
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Forest Service has again missed its deadline to complete studies needed to shape the agency’s future aerial firefighting strategy, igniting concern from a California lawmaker as wildfire season intensifies across the Inland area.
The Forest Service’s director of fire and aviation, Tom Harbour, acknowledged Friday that some of the review work initially scheduled to be complete in January won’t be finished until next year. Harbour attributed the delays to the complexity and high stakes — both in terms of cost and human lives — involved with modernizing the federal aerial firefighting fleet and accompanying policies.
He stressed that plenty of resources are on hand to battle flames in Inland Southern California, where several blazes have ignited in recent days, including a wildfire Friday in the Cajon Pass that shut down Interstate 15.
“This fall in SoCal, we’ve got more than enough stuff to cover the fire needs,” Harbour said.
For example, he said, three CL 215 firefighting planes known as “Scoopers,” able to drop hundreds of gallons of water at a time on flames in remote areas, were brought to the San Bernardino National Forest during a recent blaze.
But Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who first raised concerns about the delays in February, said she remains unsatisfied with the agency’s progress and said she plans to seek answers from Harbour’s boss.
“Fire season has begun in California, and millions of acres are at high risk of wildfire,” said Feinstein, D-Calif. “I intend to meet with Forest Service chief Tom Tidwell to understand why they have again failed to meet this deadline and enact a strategy to protect Californians from wildfires in the coming years.”
Tuesday afternoon the life of Trampus Haskvitz was celebrated at Hot Springs, South Dakota. Trampus was killed in the line of duty on the Coal Canyon fire northeast of Edgemont, SD on August 11 when he became trapped between a spot fire and the main fire.
The services were held at the Mueller Center in front of a standing room only crowd. There were an estimated 1,300 people in the main auditorium plus an additional 400 who watched it on video in another room.
Speakers during the service included South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard, Joe Lowe director of the South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression Division, Trampus’ brother Ben, and Chaplin Morris Nelson.
While Trampus was a firefighter with the state of South Dakota, the Coal Canyon fire is primarily on U. S. Forest Service land and is listed as a USFS-responsibility fire. The USFS sent a sizeable delegation of high-ranking personnel, including Tom Harbour the Director of Fire and Aviation, and various regional officials, including, I believe, a couple of Regional Foresters.
The Rapid City Fire Department assisted with the planning of the services and also supplied the Honor Guard.
After the services in the Mueller Center, a procession of over 130 fire department vehicles escorted Trampus to the cemetery. Unlike most fire department funerals, most of the trucks were brush engines, rather than structure rigs.
They buried a hero here Tuesday, on a summer day that began with smoke from the fire that killed him hanging in the air above this Southern Hills town.
Trampus Haskvitz, 23, a Buffalo Gap native remembered for his strong heart, gentle spirit and fearless approach to life, died last Thursday fighting the Coal Canyon Fire in the rugged canyon lands near Edgemont.
And smoke from that waning blaze, which was 95 percent contained on Tuesday, created a hazy beginning to a day that drew hundreds of firefighters to say goodbye.
Chaplain Morris Nelson noted the poignant presence of that smoke during a memorial service for Haskvitz at the Mueller Center Auditorium.
“Trampus died last Thursday fighting the fire you can still smell,” Nelson said to about 1,500 people in the packed auditorium.
The crowd included Rapid City Mayor Sam Kooiker, who sat with officers from the city fire department and police department, which just last week buried two of its officers slain in a North Rapid gunfight that draped the city in sadness.
The death of Haskvitz heaped tragedy upon tragedy. And Chaplain Nelson urged those who knew and loved him to remember Haskvitz and his sacrifice whenever they saw or smelled a fire.
Nelson was joined by a fire commander, a governor, a teacher and a brother in offering eulogies to Haskvitz, a college football player who honed that athleticism in seasonal firefighting work for the state Wildland Fire Suppression Division.
…
In his eulogy, Gov. Dennis Daugaard turned to the John Donne poem “No Man is an Island” and its powerful message of interconnectedness, particularly “any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind.”
The ending of the poem, “never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee” was especially personal, because the memorial service ended with a traditional firefighter’s “last alarm.”
On a shining fire bell near Haskvitz’ casket, an honor squad member from the Rapid City Fire Department rang a sequence of three rings three times, concluding the service as many wept.
The video below shows the first 15 minutes of the 18-minute procession as it passed by my location (YouTube has a 15-minute limit). The fire trucks begin showing up at 2:10 minutes into the video.
Here are some photos I took on Tuesday.
Firefighters entering the services.Engines staged before the services.
P-3 Orion, making a low drop on a fire near Cedar City, Utah, in 2006. From zionhelitack.blogspot.com
The U. S. Forest Service has cancelled their contract for six large air tankers. Due to Aero Union “failing to meet its contractual obligations” their P-3 air tankers are no longer available for wildfires. In April, 2011 the company had eight P-3 air tankers that were grounded for a few days because of “issues found during aircraft inspection on one of the P-3s”. Since then it appears that two of their eight P-3’s were removed from the contract, leaving the six that today’s announcement said are now off contract as well. The air tankers that are now out of service are T-17, T-21, T-22, T-23, T-27 and T-00.
This leaves 11 large air tankers remaining on exclusive use contracts, all P2V’s. With all of the eggs now in the same basket, if a problem is found that grounds all P2V’s, we are down to zero air tankers under federal exclusive use contracts. Contrast that with the 44 that were on contract in 2002. Nine of the eleven remaining P2V’s are operated by Neptune out of Missoula, MT. Minden Air out of Minden, NV has two P2V’s under contract.
The USFS has refused to put the very large air tankers (VLAT) under exclusive use contracts, and only offered call when needed (CWN) contracts, with no minimum hour or day guarantee, for the DC-10’s and the 747, operated by 10 Tanker Air Carrier and Evergreen. 10 Tanker reluctantly signed the CWN contract with the USFS, but Evergreen did not. As we wrote only yesterday, both companies have told Wildfire Today that they will have difficulty continuing to operate their very large air tankers if they are only occasionally used on fires. They are large, complex, single-purpose aircraft and can’t be diverted like helicopters can, to other uses such as law enforcement or news. CalFire’s CWN contract for the DC-10’s specifies a 5-day minimum.
To summarize, the USFS now has only 11 large air tankers under exclusive use contracts, 33 fewer than we had in 2002. The two DC-10’s are under a CWN contract.
We have ranted on several occasions about the sad state of the aging air tanker fleet. It has been nine years since two very old military surplus air tankers literally fell apart in mid air in 2002, killing five crew members, prompting the permanent grounding of about 57% of the ancient large air tankers. You would think that the US Forest Service and the other federal land management agencies would have immediately taken steps to reconstitute the large air tanker fleet. Well they did take steps, but not enough to lead to any action other than commissioning study after study. The issue has been studied to death. It is long past time to make a damn decision and do something. SOMETHING!
The last study that was commissioned was due in January, 2011, but the Rand Corporation did not deliver it on time. Now it is expected in August, and we’ll see if it spurs action, or if like the others, it collects dust on a shelf.
Most firefighters, and especially higher level fire managers, are genetically programmed to evaluate facts and to be decisive. This appalling situation leads me to believe that firefighters are not a significant part of this decision making process.
Analysis Paralysis is the total inability to reach a decision. Found often in the business and corporate setting. Usually a condition caused by nit picking managers and owners. The primary source is management/owner requests for more information, reports, studies, statistics, evaluations, opinion, and research on a subject. All of this requested research and study is accompanied by endless, mindless, discussions in multiple meetings regarding the subject and the compiled information. The end result is no decision is made because the efforts placed to garner information and hold endless meetings and discussions are viewed as progress on the subject matter.
Hey did management ever decide if we were going to get extra donuts on donut day? Are you kidding me? They spent $2,000 on a cost analysis, accounting is still crunching cost figures and they have been discussing it for 9 months. It is in the company’s usual state of total analysis paralysis.
At the Aerial Firefighting Conference held in Washington, DC last May, Frank Gladics, professional staff member with the U.S. Senate energy and natural resources committee, addressed the report that some in the USFS would like to replace the aging fleet of large air tankers with 20 to 30 C-130Js at a cost of $80 to $85 million each. Gladics said funding is not available for such a massive purchase, and…
We need a more diverse fleet. . . . Go back and look at alternate aircraft, including water-scooping aircraft. Our forests, the resources and communities can’t wait another 10 years while you wait for the existing fleet to become inoperable in hopes Congress will be forced to buy you that Ferrari you want.
US Forest Service Cancels Airtanker Contract with Aero Union
California company did not meet agency’s safety standards
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2011–The U.S. Forest Service announced today that it has terminated its contract with Aero Union of Sacramento, Calif., because the company failed to meet its contractual obligations. The company was providing six airtankers under exclusive-use contracts to the Forest Service.
“Our main priority is protecting and saving lives, and we can’t in good conscience maintain an aviation contract where we feel lives may be put at risk due to inadequate safety practices” said Tom Harbour, director of the Forest Service’s Fire and Aviation Management program. “This contract termination notwithstanding, we possess the aircraft support needed for this year’s fire season.”
The Forest Service has access to additional aviation assets to meet operational needs. Two other private companies provide 11 large airtankers under exclusive-use contracts. In addition, there are two very large airtankers available through a “call when needed” contract, as well as eight military firefighting aircraft.
The five-year contract the Forest Service signed with Aero Union in 2008 required participation in a continued airworthiness program, which included a Fatigue and Damage Tolerance Evaluation and structural inspection program. In April 2011, Aero Union informed the Forest Service that the Federal Aviation Administration found the company was not in compliance with its mandated structural inspection program requirements.
More information about the aging air tanker fleet on Wildfire Today:
DC-10 dropping on the Wallow fire near Greer, AZ, June 11, 2011. Photo, Kari Greer, USFS
From reading the report that came out of the Aerial Firefighting Conference held in Washington, DC May 25-26, it must have been a very interesting gathering. Organized by Tangent Link, it assembled many of the movers and shakers in the field that work in the United States.
Discussion topics on the agenda included:
How do we calculate and what are the real costs in tackling wild land fires in the USA?
Should there be a new Federal lead agency in prioritizing and resolving wild land fire assets, resources and funding?
Is there a need for more research and development activities in finding better solutions for combating ‘Mega’ wild land fires?
Which aircraft are in development that could be used to combat these fires?
Would the use of Military technologies enable for a more direct and responsive approach to combating fires, including night time operations?
Technical advances and solutions in development
What is the correct mix of aerial assets in combating fires and should there be a centralized aerial firefighting squadron?
What is the best approach in training aerial firefighting teams in new tactics and technologies?
Confirmed Speakers included:
Tom Harbour – Director of USDA Forest Service Fire & Aviation Management
Ray Chaney – Battalion Chief, CAL FIRE – Aerial Firefighting Airborne Sensor Down Linking
Frank M. Gladics, Minority Professional Staff, U.S. Senate Energy & Natural Resource Committee, USA – The Budgetary and Political Realities of replacing the existing fleet of large fixed-wing tankers
Norman Christensen, Professor of Ecology, Duke University, North Carolina: Fire Management- Past, Present & Future
William Derr, Special Agent in Charge of California Region, US Forest Service (Retd): The Elements of Success & Measurement in Aerial Fire Fighting
Rick Hatton – CEO, 10 Tanker Air Carrier – Raising the Bar in Fixed Wing Air tanker Operations
Mark Bickham, National Program Manager (Ret’d) Bureau of Land Management, USA – Single Engine Air Tankers
Area Commander Jim Loach, on the left, briefs Rep. Jeff Flake, Sen. John McCain, and Tom Harbour, Director of Fire and Aviation for the USFS. June 18, 2011. Photo by USFS.
Managers of the Wallow fire spent parts of Saturday and Monday briefing dignitaries that visited the fire area.
Sen. John McCain, Thomas Tidwell (Chief of the Forest Service), and Tom Harbour (Director of Fire and Aviation, USFS). June 18, 2011. Photo by USFS.Norm Walker, one of the four Incident Commanders on the Wallow fire, briefs Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar on June 20, 2011. Photo: US Army Pfc Danielle J. Sargent AZNG
Neptune Aviation's Tanker 10, a P2V large air tanker. Photo credit: Neptune Aviation
The Washington post pointed out in an article on Sunday that the 18 large air tankers on contract in the U.S. have an average age of about 50 years and are overdue for replacement.
The article hits on most of the same issues that we have written about at Wildfire Today on two occasions:
When two large air tankers crashed in 2002, killing five crew members, the U.S. Forest Service culled the fleet of 44 large air tankers, weeding out the most vulnerable, and the ones most susceptible to metal fatigue and other issues that compromised safety when flying in mountainous terrain, in and out of canyons. Today there are only about 18 large air tankers on exclusive use contracts, a 60% reduction from 2002. And this year the USFS is refusing to offer exclusive use contracts for Very Large Air Tankers, the DC-10 and 747.
In the nine years since the 2002 crashes and reduction in force of the air tanker fleet, the USFS has commissioned multiple reports about how to modernize the fleet. Deadlines have passed with little or no action taking place that would actually replace the aircraft.
Two private air tanker operators, Neptune and Menden, are both engaged in projects to retrofit 4-engine jet airliners, BAe-146 aircraft that are much younger than the the 50-year old air tankers now flying. Neither of them have passed muster with the Interagency Air Tanker board and have yet to drop on a fire.
Neptune Aviation's new air tanker, a BAe 146-200 conversion, being tested at Missoula airport in July, 2010. Photo by Bill Moss
The USFS is saying that later this year they will ask Congress for the funding to either buy new air tankers, or pay someone to retrofit used aircraft.
…Tom Harbour, national fire director for the Forest Service, said the secretary of agriculture will take a funding plan to Congress in August.
“We have good data on effectiveness and use,” Harbour said. “There’s always more data that we can collect to make a more compelling case.”
But why has it taken nine years since the 2002 crashes?
“Identifying the right air tankers and processing them is a very complex issue,” said Jeff Jahnke, Colorado’s state forester and president of the National Association of State Foresters, who said the criticism is unfair. The Forest Service is made up of “top performers, very science-focused, one of the leading incident managers in the world,” when it comes to wildfires, he said.
A source in the agency who asked not to be identified, fearing the loss of his job, said the Forest Service is trying to decide between two approaches: buying air tankers outright from aircraft manufacturers or requesting bids from aviation companies that rebuild airplanes, mostly from a Defense Department “bone yard” where aging military aircraft are placed after a specified number of flights.
The service could buy planes from several companies for about $2.5 billion, but it would be responsible for providing maintenance crews and pilots, experts said. The service could also request bids for large contracts with specifications to provide newer-model planes.
Manufacturers say they are prepared to provide whatever the government wants. Bombardier, a Canadian company, has repeatedly sought to sell its CL-415, built in 1991, to the United States. The turbo-engine plane can swoop to a water source, scoop 1,600 gallons and deliver it to a fire.
Bombardier has sold 155 planes worldwide, including 69 of the CL-415s to Italy, Spain, Greece and France for about $35 million each, said Derek Gilmour, vice president of sales and administration.
Congressman Adam Schiff, left, speaks to residents during a Station Fire update meeting at the Altadena Public Library Thursday, April 28, 2011. Joining him on the panel, from left to right, were Stephen Gaty, Assistant Director of the Government Accountability Office, Natural Resources and Environment Team, Tom Harbor, Director of Fire and Aviation, U.S. Forest Service and Marty Dumpis, Deputy Forest Supervisor, Angeles National Forest.(SGVN/Staff Photo by Walt Mancini)
Updated, May 18, 2011
The Whittier Daily News has an interesting account of yesterday’s forum hosted by Congressman Adam Schiff about the management of the 2009 Station fire that burned 160,000 acres near Los Angeles.
ALTADENA – Foothill residents left a community forum on the Station Fire with few questions answered and little confidence on Thursday, after Forest Service officials gave scant details as to how properties will be protected in the event of another devastating wildland blaze.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, moderated Thursday’s forum on the mismanagement of the Station Fire, the largest wildland fire in Los Angeles County history.
Forest Service officials, as well a representative from the Congressional Government Accountability Office, tried to allay fears of a possible repeat of the 250-square-mile blaze that killed two Los Angeles County Firefighters and destroyed dozens of homes.
Homeowners, many of whom watched their houses burn in the Station Fire, weren’t convinced that much has changed.
“We are not safer,” said Rod Driscoll, whose Vogel Flats home was destroyed in the Station Fire. “We are going to be in the same situation this year in the area to the east that didn’t burn in the Station Fire.”
Forest Service officials were also criticized for not providing straight answers to the residents at the forum.
“I feel like some of these generalizations that you are giving, aren’t answering the questions these people are addressing,” said Sandra Thomas, Altadena Town councilwoman.
Tom Harbour, Forest Service director of aviation and fire management, spoke about the improved communications between agencies and the commitment to protecting property and lives in the event of another fire.
Harbour’s words fell short of comforting the audience.
“I got out of there with my car, my clothes on my back and my cat,” said Duncan Baird, retired battalion chief from the Pasadena Fire Department, who lost his Tujunga Canyon home in the blaze.
The Forest Service launched a feasibility study to examine the use of night-time helicopter water drops. The tactic was prohibited by the Forest Service during the Station Fire despite the proven effectiveness of Los Angeles County Fire helicopters in fighting fires from the air after dark, Harbour told the audience at the Altadena Library on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Forest Service entered into an agreement with Los Angeles County Fire to conduct nighttime air operations upon request, Harbour said.
“We are in the night flying business right now with the helicopters being supplied by Los Angeles County,” Harbour said.
But limitations in the equipment could curb the volume of night flights.
Harbour told the audience that operating the helicopters on consecutive shifts with separate flight crews could “wear out” the helicopters.
Harbour’s comments set off groans and one man yelled: “In other words nothing has changed.”
“We are going to wear out our aircraft,” said Laura Olhasso, in a rare moment of sarcasm during the meeting. “That’s less than confidence-inspiring.”
Olhasso, a councilwoman in La Canada-Flintridge, harshly criticized federal officials for not releasing information from the investigation into the Station Fire some 20 months after the disaster struck.
“I am dismayed by the pace of the inquiry,” she said.
The GAO agreed to investigate the management of the Station Fire in 2010. After seven months of inquiry, Stephen Gaty, the agency’s assistant director of natural resources, declined to comment on the initial findings from the federal probe and told the audience the report won’t be released until late 2011.
While Harbour promised the residents that the Forest Service would throw all available resources at a fire, he noted that air operations are “expensive.”
Those comments also elicited groans from the crowd, some of whom openly wondered how much a lack of funds played into the grounding of aircraft during the early stages of the Station Fire.
“If those early decisions were made because of money, I ask you not to make that decision again,” said John Grancich, of Millard Canyon.
Written by Brian Charles
=======================
UPDATE May 3, 2011
The Montrose Patch also wrote an article about the forum. Here is an excerpt:
Duncan Baird, a homeowner in the Big Tujunga Canyon area, where several dozen homes were lost, echoed the complaint of many that the Forest Service did not try to protect the area in the 48 hours after the blaze started on Thursday August 27, 2009. The Big Tujunga Canyon residents lost their homes on Saturday.
“There was a period of time all day Thursday and all day Friday when some serious mitigation could have been done with an aerial assault to pre-treat fuels in our canyon,” Baird said. “As it turned out there was absolutely zero work done in the canyon before the fire took our homes and everything we owned. ”
Baird and others questioned whether the Forest Service calculated whether saving their property would be worth the cost of deploying additional fire resources.
Harbour defended the agency’s response as being an”aggressive, assertive initial attack.”
He said cost factors are not considered when trying to put out a fire.
“We are not constrained by cost…we want to get the fire out. There is, hopefully, no question about that,” Harbour said.
UPDATE May 18, 2011:
Found another version of what happened at the forum, this time an article by Paul Pringle of the LA Times.
Employees of the U. S. Forest Service, both presently employed and retired, testified yesterday during a four-hour hearing in Pasadena, California about the response of the agency during the first 24 hours of the Station fire, which in August and September of 2009 burned 160,000 acres near Los Angeles and killed two LA County Fire Department firefighters. The hearing was called by members of Congress to try to determine the reasons for the reported lack of aggressive suppression efforts, especially the use of aerial resources, while the fire was still small on the first night and the second day.
The list of witnesses testifying included:
Will Spyrison, a Division Chief on the Angeles National Forest and the Incident Commander of the Station fire during the first night; now retired.
Don Feser, former Fire Management Officer for the ANF; he retired a couple of years ago.
Tom Harbour, Director of Fire and Aviation Management for the USFS in Washington.
William Derr, retired Special Agent for the USFS.
Jody Noiron, Forest Supervisor, ANF
Casey Judd, Federal Wildland Fire Service Association
Here are some excerpts from an article in the LA Times written by Paul Pringle:
Will Spyrison, the then-division chief who oversaw the operation on the second morning, said before a standing-room-only, often boisterous audience Tuesday that he made several calls for the air tankers between about 12:30 and 3:25 a.m. and was never told that they would not arrive until two hours after he needed them.
Station fire. Photo: Inciweb
“I knew if I didn’t have the aircraft at 7 o’clock in the morning, there’s a very short window of time … between 7 and 9 a.m. was that window of opportunity to make a difference,” said Spyrison, whose account had not been made public before.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D- Burbank), who organized the panel, asked Spyrison if a 7 a.m. arrival of the tankers “could have made a critical difference in whether this fire got out of control.”
“Yes,” Spyrison said, “if it was possible to have them there at 7 o’clock in the morning.”
He then retreated a bit, saying, “You could play the what-if game” and “it’s hard to say” that the tankers would have helped knocked down the blaze before the sun heated the hillsides.
But he later said, “I went back and tried to confirm that aircraft because I knew the sense of urgency…. I needed it there by 7 to be able to, you know, make an effective attack.”
Rep. Howard P. McKeon (R- Santa Clarita) asked, “Did you ever receive an answer back?”
“No,” Spyrison said. “I asked several times for confirmation.”
Spyrison also said he did not know that a separate Martin Mars tanker had been in the air the evening before and was available to dump more than 6,000 gallons of water and gel on the fire but was turned away and directed to unload at another location.
“It would have helped,” he said.
Two former Forest Service officials said that the agency let Spyrison down.
“There was a void in overall command and control,” said former Angeles National Forest Fire Chief Don Feser.
[…]
To loud applause, L.A. County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich suggested that the county Fire Department become the lead agency for fires in the Angeles National Forest.
[…]
[Tom] Harbour and other Forest Service officials repeatedly denied that cost concerns prevented them from turning immediately to state and local agencies for crews and equipment, including aircraft, to bolster the assault on the fire. The Times reported Monday that an internal review conducted for the U.S. Agriculture Department, which runs the Forest Service, found that financial worries delayed the arrival of “critical resources” at the fire.
Below is a video report about the hearing from from KABC:
The LA Times has some excellent photos taken on day 2 of the Station fire between 8:02 a.m. and 8:39 a.m. showing the fire first jumping across the Angeles Crest Highway. After that, the fire became very difficult to suppress.
More about the hearing:
Photo gallery
Washington Post Glendale News-Press
LAWeekly: “Largest Fire in L.A. History Could Have Fizzled Sooner, If Not For Mystery Slacker”
Whittier Daily News
