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Wildland Fire Fighter Dies from Hyperthermia and Exertional Heatstroke While Conducting Mop-Up Operations – Texas
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NIOSH Investigation – CR 337 Fire LODD
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Always Remember! - Caleb Hamm
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See article at www.WildfireToday.Com — NIOSH releases report on CR 337 fire, fatality in Texas

Las Pilitas Fire – 07/05/1950:

Gerald “Jerry” O’Reilly, Foreman, California Division of Forestry, Sonora, CA
Pvt John P. Smith
Pfc Lawrence R. Morris
Pfc Turley McFarland
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Click on any image (above) to enlarge.

Other sources of info:
Wildland Firefighter Memorial
Wildland Firefighter Foundation
National Fallen Firefighters Foundation

A paradigm shift needs to be made in the fire service (law enforcement, disaster management, emergency management, etc.).

That “simple shift” is that PUBLIC INFORMATION is no longer  actually a simple process of providing INFO to the public, but rather a process of communicating with our stakeholders…  It requires two-way communication skills and processes.

The process is pretty simple:

Incident (Forest, District, Fire Department, Unit, etc)<–>PAO/PIO<–>Approver/Vetting<–>Web<–>#SM<–>User/Stakeholder

Here’s an example:

On a “fire” earlier today, SEVERAL users of  ”social media” heard the air attack (ATGS) say the fire was 300 acres. It quickly spread to the media and was reported.

Shortly after,  the “official agency” said that the fire was 50 acres via their version of “social media” —> One way communication.

The info provided by the “official agency” was outdated; not timely; not accurate; and therefore, NOT TRUSTED as reliable.

One thing for sure. You lose public trust in information, if what you are sharing isn’t completely:

1.) Timely,

2.) Relevant

2.) Factual,

3.) Verifiable, and 

4.) Shared to the WIDEST audience.

If the “official agency” had a PIO/Intel person assigned to the incident working on the two-way communication concept rather than the “traditional media” info  flow concept, things WOULD be much better.

IMHO.

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Further Reading:

It’s Not My Emergency

Note: This posting is derived from info received by various current and retired Type 1 and Type 2 Incident Commanders; Incident PIOs and Agency Public Affairs Officers; Senior Emergency Management Officials; and from various Social Media visionaries and practicianers. For more info, please follow the hashtags #SMEM and #SMEMchat on Twitter to keep up to date.

It was from a grieving family who had lost a family member in service to our country. It was the birthday of their son who was lost at war and they wanted to remember his birthday in a special way.  It was something I can relate to and remotely understand from my work and assistance with the families of fallen and injured wildland firefighters.

The message had a simple request:

@MarineDadGA: Pls help me trend. My son LCpl #ChristopherBlakeRodgers Birthday is today. Happy Heavenly 22nd Birthday son I ❤ you. http://t.co/BZ5Txhux

After forwarding the info in terms of “re-tweets” and emails, I watched the video that @MarineDADGA (Chris Rodgers, Sr.) has on his profile. It put me into tears…

It was a tough watch, but something everyone SHOULD watch to help understand the service and sacrifices of our veterans and their families.

To the family and friends of LCpl Christopher Blake Rodgers: THANK YOU!! We WILL always remember, and never forget!!

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1.) Smoke-Jumpers, 1965 (11 min’s)
2.) Air Tanker Attack, 1960 (unknown min’s)
3.) Fire Weather, 1964 (28 min’s)
4.) Fire vs. Fire, 1966 (26 min’s)
5.) California Fire Disaster, 1970 (35 min’s)
6.) Introduction to Fire Behavior, 1960 (16 min’s)
7.) The Marble-Cone Fire, Los Padres NF, 1977 (25 min’s)
8.) Red Flag Fire Alert, 1976 (18 min’s)
9.) Soldiers of Fire, 1970 (12 min’s)
10.) Fire Scenes at San Bernardino, 1958 (10 min’s)

All of the above videos are being converted from 16mm films from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Seven of the films have “intermediates” available, while three of the films were only available as “preservation”.

In order to receive permission from NARA for conversion to digital, all films are being converted at Colorlab Archival Film Services. Colorlab is one of only four labs (called vendors) authorized to reproduce NARA films from “intermediates”; and one of only two labs authorized to produce “intermediates” from “preservation” films.

** We hope you’ll enjoy the great additions to WildfireTUBE.Com.**

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National Archives Terminology:

Intermediate – An “intermediate” is a copy of an original archival film from which copies are made.

Preservation – An “intermediate” is not available, and before a film can be reproduced or digitized, an “intermediate” must be made and produced by the lab. This significantly increases the price of preservation.

1.) Mobile Compatibility for:
— iPhone
— iPad
— Blackberry
— Android Phones
— Android Tablets
— Microsoft Phones
— Kindle Tablets

Simply visit the site with your mobile device to check it out. If you don’t automatically get directed to the mobile version, please visit: http://WildfireTUBE.com/m. Note: An MP4 player is needed on your device.

2.) Server Upgrades:
— 2.68 GHZ CPU
— 1.8 GB RAM
— 1.5 TB Bandwidth
— Guaranteed 20Mbps connection per user / 1Gbps stream

3.) Increased Spam Protection
– Multiple layers of spam protection.

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If you haven’t visited WildfireTUBE yet, you’re missing out. As always, WildfireTUBE supports the following organizations:

Wildland Firefighter Foundation - “Helping the families of fallen and injured wildland firefighters.”

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital - “Finding cures and saving children.”

Ronald McDonald House - “Create, find, and support programs that improve the health and well being of children.”

Wounded Warrier Project -  ”To foster the most successful, well-adjusted generation of wounded service members in our nation’s history.”

National Fallen Firefighters Foundation - “Helping survivors attend Memorial Weekend; Support programs for survivors; Scholarships; Fire Service tools; Firefighter safety programs; and a national Memorial”

Most Viewed Video: Panorama Fire (1980)

View more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.

What is the Federal Pay Freeze Costing You? Use This Handy Calculator to Find Out!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

(National Federation of Federal Employees)

Have you ever wondered how much the two-year federal pay freeze will cost you a year, ten years, or twenty years down the line? Concerned about what you would lose were Congress to succeed in freezing pay for another year?

Thanks to our brothers and sisters at the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), those answers can be yours in the blink of an eye! Use this handy calculator to determine the impact a 2-3 year federal pay freeze will have on your pocketbook.

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On Thursday, January 12, 2012 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, the LAFD Hockey Club had the honor of facing the Patriots Hockey Team in a match to benefit the Wounder Warrior Project.

Our friends at Fox News tell the story in this video:

Comprised entirely of active duty, reserve, retired and military veterans, the Patriots Hockey Team was founded as a way for members of our Armed Forces to enjoy the game while giving back to the military community.

The LAFD Hockey Club and Patriots Hockey Team were proud to honor and empower wounded warriors through their charitable competition. To learn more about the true winner of their faceoff, visit:

For the original article, please visit: LAFD Hockey Team Honored to Support Wounded Warrior Project

See also: WildfireTUBE.Com rotating banners for this info, and other important Wildland Fire Community not-for-profit fundraisers.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Marcus Robert Doty

Marc Doty was born in Missoula, MT, where he still resides. Until recently, he worked as a forest fire fighter, which has taken him all over the western United States to help put out large fires from Arizona to Oregon. After developing a back injury while fighting the West Riverside Wild Fire of 2011, Marc discovered that his injury was more serious than he had hoped it would be. His sore back was actually a cancerous tumor that had developed over a year and had grown into his spinal cord. He has been diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cancer that started near his stomach, moved into his spinal cord, and has now spread into his lungs and his lymphnode glands in his neck. He has started treatment by chemotherapy, and will continue to do so for the next year or longer.

Marc Doty’s friends and family are reaching out to the public to ask for assistance in raising money to help pay for the numerous medical expenses that come along with this disease. A donation account has been set up in his name at Sterling Savings Bank, and we will be holding numerous fund raising events to continue to raise money.

Find us on facebook, at: www.facebook.com/themarcdotyfundraiser; and at indiegogo.com/marcdoty

Thank you from Marc and The Doty Family

Three  causes for concern exist: 1) There have been several episodes of sustained periods of offshore winds with very low relative humidity (low fuel mositure/low soil moisture); 2) There have been several frost/freeze events that have stunted/burned/killed grasses and soft wood shrubs; 3) Rainfall that supports growth in hard chaparral is the precipitation that occurs in February and March. Hard chaparral is dormant during the winter months and only takes on minimal live fuel moisture until its greenup period in the spring (Plant Phenology 101). See Fire Effects Information System for a description of chaparral phenology.

The past 40 years have witnessed remarkable changes in American fire policy, institutions, sciences, and practices. Yet the standard history, Fire in America, ends in the 1970s. It misses the momentous events that make America’s great cultural revolution on fire. But more is at stake than missing years. The revolution changed the storyline. It deserves its own narrative.

The federal agencies have generously agreed to fund a sequel study that will survey the history from 1960 to 2011. The project will result in two books. Between Two Fires: A Fire History of America, 1960-2011 will relate the basic narrative. To the Last Smoke will assemble an anthology of essays to highlight particular places, personalities, and practices. Between Two Fires will thus serve as the play-by-play record, and To the Last Smoke as the color commentary.

Plans for 2012: Primary research travels to the Great Plains, Northern Rockies, and possibly Alaska, with shorter, targeted trips to NIFC, Washington, DC, and significant sites in the Southwest, all to end by the start of classes in August.

Funding comes from the U.S. Forest Service, Department of the Interior, and Joint Fire Science Program.

Documentary description from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: CLICK HERE

Note: This video is currently available on YouTube from whophd (not associated with any of our sites), but our partner site (WildfireTUBE) is currently working on properly licensing the documentary from ABC and making it available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.

Click to Enlarge

This article is going to be short and to the point. It will show WHAT IS HAPPENING.. AND SHOULD CONTINUE in our federally protected wildlands (national forests, BLM public lands, national parks, etc.) as opposed to the policy and direction coming from agency bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.

The 2011 edition of the Interagency Standards for Fire & Aviation Operations was recently released. Here are some of the policies (standards) that it describes taking the wildland firefighting profession back 30+ years:

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Structure, Vehicle, Dumpster, Trash, and Landfill Fires

Firefighters will not take direct suppression action on structure, vehicle, dumpster, trash, or landfill fires. Structure, vehicle, and landfill fire suppression is not a functional responsibility of wildland fire resources. These fires have the potential to emit high levels of toxic gases. This policy will be reflected in suppression response plans.

Click to Enlarge

Firefighters who encounter structure, vehicle, or landfill fires during normal wildland fire suppression duties, or who are dispatched to such fires due to significant threat to adjacent agency protected lands/resources, will not engage in direct suppression action. Structure protection (not suppression) activities will be limited to exterior efforts, and only when such actions can be accomplished safely and in accordance with established wildland fire operations standards.

Forest Service firefighters suppressing a bus fire and protecting structural and wildland exposures.

Public Emergency Medical Response

Click to Enlarge

Public emergency medical response is not a functional responsibility of wildland fire resources, and should not be part of a preplanned response that requires these duties. When wildland firefighters encounter emergency medical response situations, their efforts should be limited to immediate care (e.g. first aid, first responder) actions that they are trained and qualified to perform.

Forest Service firefighters on scene of a multi vehicle/multi fatality vehicle accident with fire. Photo Credit: Roger Murray

Forest Service Units Assist On A Vehicle Accident 500 Feet Over The Side

Question: Should properly trained and equipped federal wildland firefighters be allowed to continue doing what is RIGHT in serving the public, or should a bureaucratic legacy of biologists, botanists, foresters, and hydrologists (etc) continue to set “policy” for wildland firefighting … and continue to increase the risks to OUR communities and the public that we serve?

HELLO…. This IS the 21st Century. We don’t have to continue a model developed in 1905 when folks still thought that the “horse and buggy” was high speed transportation.

National Fire Director Tom Harbour with members of the Forest Service Honor Guard

Please feel free to comment.

Can’t wait to see what the 2012 Interagency Standards for Fire and Aviation Management (Red Book) says? Will they be All Hazard Doctrine based? We’ll see. 

See also:

Dusting Off The Shelves and Applying Doctrine: U.S. Forest Service – Foundational Doctrine for All-Hazard Response

Fire Management Today (Volume 71, Number 1) – A New Look at Risk Management

Have a favorite place to eat a hamburger? Let us know.

Recently, I asked a question to the @RamblingChief followers on Twitter. Who has the best hamburgers in California?

Why would I ask this question? It’s simple… firefighters regularly travel around the state while on emergency assignments. Often, we are unfamiliar with the areas we are traveling to, and need suggestions for a quick bite to eat before continuing on to our assignments.

We’d like to hear your thoughts. You can reply here in the comments section, or via @RamblingChief on Twitter.

Here are the suggestions and recommendations so far:

@piodave: The Habit Burger Grill, Northridge. Location: HERE

@TheFireTracker2: Original Joe’s, San Jose. Location: HERE

@SamBradley11: Original Tommy’s, Los Angeles. Location: HERE

@timchavez: Eureka Burger, Redlands. Location: HERE

@JaelC13 and @Eng25ine: Chris’s Juicy Burger, Hemet. Location: HERE

@rangercurt: Alpine Inn, Portola Valley. Location: HERE

@apollosfyre: Doc’s Texas BBQ & Burgers, Sonora. Location: HERE

@dispatchdemon and @RamblingChief: Walker Burger, Walker. Location: HERE

@swellyn: Village Drive Inn, Sacramento. Location: HERE

@dispatchdemon: La Grange Saloon and Grill, La Grange. Location: HERE

@dispatchdemon: Jamestown Hotel, Jamestown. Location: HERE

@setla: His house, Benicia, Location: HERE

@firemama517: Diamondback Grill, Sonora. Location: HERE

@garytx: Many suggestions.. See BELOW in comments.

Jeremy: California Burger, Citrus Heights or SmashBurger (nationwide)

Tom Janney:  Suggestions for great burgers when visiting Idaho (below in comments).

Several folks offered In-N-Out Burger as the best, unfortunately it’s rarely found off the beaten path that firefighters often travel. I agree, it’s a great burger (I know most of their locations and visit often), but where’s your favorite? Please send your suggestions to @RamblingChief on Twitter or post in the comments section (below). We’ll update the above list as replies come in. Thanks in advance.

WHAT GAO FOUND

From 2006 through 2010, at least 2,467 wildland fires occurred in the Arizona border region. Of this number, 2,126, or about 86 percent, were caused by human activity. The majority of these fires—1,364—burned less than 1 acre each. About 63 percent or 1,553 of the 2,467 fires were ignited on federally managed land or tribal land.

Human-caused wildland fires that burned 10 or more acres had a number of economic and environmental impacts on the Arizona border region, but these impacts cannot be fully quantified because comprehensive data are not available. Specifically, these fires resulted in (1) over $35 million in fire suppression costs by federal and state agencies, (2) destruction of property, (3) impacts on ranching operations, and (4) impacts on tourism. Similarly, these fires had several environmental impacts, such as the expansion of nonnative plant species, degraded endangered species habitat, and soil erosion. However, the full economic and environmental impacts cannot be determined because complete information about these impacts is not available. To read the entire report, scroll down and click on full screen.

GAO: Wildfires Along the Arizona Border Region

Monday, August 7, 1911

100 Firefighters Hurt; Forest Fires Rage

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Men Accused of Starting Fires to Hold Jobs — Shoes Burned From Their Feet

San Bernardino, Cal., Aug. 7. – An unidentified fire fighter, fatally burned, was found by a patrol lying where he had fallen exhausted on the San Bernardino mountain fire lines. As the government refuses to allow claims for expenses in caring for injured fire fighters, a collection was taken up to pay for the dying man’s medical aid.

Shoes Burned; Clothes in Rags –

At least 100 sick and disabled fire fighters, with their shoes burned from their feet and their clothes in rags, are stranded here. Forest fires are raging in City Creek canyon, twenty miles east of here. Another fire is eating its way down the eastern slope of the San Bernardino mountains. Forest Supervisor Charlton said that within forty-eight hours his men would have both fires practically extinguished. He also declared that many fires, once out, had been relighted and hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of property destroyed, by deliberate incendiarism of men, who hired as fire fighters, started new blazes to continue their positions at 25 cents an hour. He is seeking definite evidence.

Associated Press – August 7, 1911