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Revisiting The Inyo Wildfire Complex

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This post by the administrator of Wildlandfire.com draws attention to the injured CDF/Cal Fire firefighters hurt in the burnover on the Inyo Complex in July.

Firefighter Blog followed the Inyo Complex Fire from beginning to end but I never heard details of the burnover other than up to 7 firefighters were injured to varying degrees. The injured firefighters were evaced to Fresno for treatment. Local (Fresno) news reported their arrival but the reporting ended there and no further information on the condition of the men has been mentioned publicly since.

I assumed the burns were minor but the thread on Wildland Fire indicate an engineer may have permanent lung damage.

CDF/Cal Fire does not cover up injuries or accidents. An accident investigation team has certainly been assembled and the team will review every step leading up to, during and after the incident.

Various accounts confirm the pilots of a P2V from Neptune Aviation Services made a crucial, possibly life saving drop on the crews that at a minimum mitigated their injuries.

Something very dramatic happened during that time line and I am hoping you can read about it here, in time.

I’m also in agreement with the suggestion the persons involved should not sign any papers until the full review is completed, and then only under the supervision of legal counsel.

If any parents or concerned parties wish to share information anonymously or otherwise.

Mikes web mail @ Gmail dot com

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Posted by on September 8, 2007 • Filed under: 2007 fire season, Firefighter Injuries, Inyo Complex

11 Croatian Firefighters Die In Line Of Duty

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Two were 17 years old.

From BBC International;

“The blaze, which broke out on Kornat island, killed six firemen on Thursday last week when a sudden change of wind direction trapped them in the flames.
Five more firemen have now since died in hospital.
Police have detained a national park receptionist on suspicion of causing the blaze with a discarded cigarette.
The wildfire is the worst incident of its kind in the country, wreaking havoc on Kornat island, 30km (20 miles) south of Zadar.
Kornat is the largest of a group of islands that makes up a national park in the southern part of the Kornati archipelago.

Another two firemen remain in hospital in critical condition.”

The two teenagers were Karlo Severdija and Mario Stancic. The fire commander has been arrested for sending under-trained fire personnel into a region with ‘erratic winds predicted’. It’s also reported he did not evacuate injured fire personnel nor did he send adequate backup even though he knew conditions were deteriorating.

These poor kids were looking for an adventure and to make a few bucks. Their lives were just beginning. Someone should be held to pay.

One thing for certain is this two-bit fire chief won’t be trotting out an ACLU type lawyer with a pr company as supporting cast to defend him. They mete out old school, old world justice in that quarter and unless he is able to hide under the skirt of a paid off general he’s looking at some serious time on a chain gang, or worse and so be it.

In the USA you need a 40 hour basic wildland firefighter course and be able to yell out the 10 Standing Firefighting Orders and 13 (18) conditions that Shout Watch Out before you can get on a fire line.

So much went wrong with this Kornati Island fire that it’s hard to avoid the obvious point that some Croatia fire commanders lack even basic knowledge of wildland firefighting.

Hopefully the deaths of these 11 firefighters can come to mean something, maybe what can be learned from their deaths will help prevent future tragedies.

More about Croatia.

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Posted by on September 7, 2007 • Filed under: 2007 fire season, Fallen Firefighters, LODD

Lick Fire Chars 27,000 Acres So Far

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On September 3 the Lick Fire Incident Commander took a good look at the scene and estimated the fire could grow to 30,000 acres. This estimate was based on existing fire breaks, natural barriers and the weather at the time. According to last night’s official Incident 209 report the fire has already taken out 27,000 acres.

Winds and smoke have both helped and hurt fire command. Winds initially worked to push the fire away from populated areas which minimized the potential for property damage while at the same time moved the fire to areas with limited access.

Smoke has hampered the fight as well. Once the wind died down smoke blanketed the fire ground making it difficult to put the assembled air force to work. Smoke from the Moonlight Fire near Lake Almanor added another layer of smoke on top of the Lick smoke that shut down air attack.

The fire is too large to fight effectively on the ground alone so fire command is fighting the fire with one hand tied behind their back. Once the wind clears some smoke the 1,800 + contingent will hit this thing with all cylinders firing.

Here is a video of the DC-10 Supertanker, Tanker 910 making a drop on the Lick Fire. (date unclear)

Below is a great shot of the Supertanker making a drop on the Lick Fire Tuesday September 4.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpi0oTDYG8I]

Lick Fire and Moonlight Fire updates later!

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Posted by on September 7, 2007 • Filed under: 2007 fire season, DC-10 Supertanker, Lick Fire, Tanker 910

Moonlight Fire Midday Update

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Have a look at this animated weather loop and notice the Mono Winds or East Winds are still driving this fire. Last report the fire was at 19,000 acres with 8% containment.
The satellite image below is from yesterday but you can see from the weather movie above the wind is driving smoke towards the Bay Area and as far down the central valley as Visalia.

Of course the larger concern is the status of Greenville as we noted in an earlier post. The Moonlight Fire is burning in a fairly remote region of California, not a glamour spot like Silicon Valley, San Francisco or Santa Barbara so front line reports will be limited. A dramatic story may be unfolding in the Plumas.

Posted by on September 6, 2007 • Filed under: 2007 fire season, Moonlight Fire

Vanity Post

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Firefighter Blog made the front page of Blogger “Blogs of Note”!

Thank you Google Blogger Team

About Blogs of Note at Blogger Buzz
Posted by on September 6, 2007 • Filed under: Firefighter Blogs, Vanity

Moonlight Fire Bearing Down On Small Town

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Moonlight Fire bosses ordered up State OES engine strike teams for structure protection for the town of Greenville California, population 1,100. According to Wikipedia there are over 450 homes in the town.

View Larger Map

From the Incident 209 report;

Significant events today (closures, evacuations, significant progress made, etc.):
Mandatory evacuations in effect in Greenville and Greenville Ranchera area. 5 local engine strike teams and 5 emergency need OES engine strike teams in place and ordered for structure protection. Efforts to re-establish control lines lost last night will take place today.

The Moonlight Fire facts are as follows;
Size/Area
Involved
24,300 ACRES
% Contained
or MMA
8 Percent
Short Location Description (in reference to nearest town):
6 mi. NE of Greenville
Growth Potential – Extreme
Difficulty of Terrain – Extreme
Today’s observed fire behavior (leave blank for non-fire events):
Active downhill crown fire and long range spotting ( up to 2.5 mile). Active backing fire was also observed. Strong northern wind pushed fire in southern direction.
Incident Commander
Molumby/Waterman

Bill Molumby and his team just went from bad to worse this fire season. You will recall he and his command team took over the Zaca Fire early on. They were later feted at a “going away” reception in upscale Montecito.

If he saves Greenville he will be toasted with Budweiser and treated to a down home backyard BBQ. Something tells me he and his crew will like that more than the fuss made in Santa Barbara.

Posted by on September 6, 2007 • Filed under: 2007 fire season, Molumby, Moonlight Fire

Satellite Image of Lick Fire Smoke Trail

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S.F. Bay Area, Monterey Bay Area and Central Valley residents are seeing and feeling the effects of smoke from two major wildfires. The Lick Fire east of Morgan Hill has burned 11,000 acres and the Moonlight Fire north of Sacramento has burned 15,000 acres. Both fires are less than 20% contained. If you look at the image below it appears the Lick Fire smoke has entered the central valley and hooked north around Mt. Hamilton. In fact the smoke invading the Bay Area is from the Moonlight Fire. Monterey Bay residents are receiving smoke from the Lick Incident.

Satellite Image ActiveFireMaps.fs.fed.us
(Click Image to enlarge)

The Lick Fire as seen from Mt Hamilton (Hamcam) 4:30 today.
Although there’s not much of a smoke column you can see the smokey conditions firefighters are working under.

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Posted by on September 5, 2007 • Filed under: 2007 fire season, Lick Fire

Lick Fire Midday Update, Day 3

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San Francisco’s CBS 5 reports on their Bay City News Page that the National Guard has committed resources to the fire.;

“Cal Fire has now utilized 155 engines, 24 bulldozers, 34 crews, nine air-tankers and eight helicopters, including two Nevada National Guard and three California National Guard helicopters. About 1,298 firefighters have been deployed to combat the blaze.”

Henry Coe area weather is cooperating so far today but winds are projected to stiffen later this afternoon.

This is a textbook CDF/ Cal Fire operation. Don’t look for biologists to be flown in from Maine or any ICP tours here. No touchy feely kiosks or wine and cheese going away receptions either.

This is how fires are fought.

Posted by on September 5, 2007 • Filed under: 2007 fire season, Lick Fire

Lick Fire Day 3

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One of the unique aspects of the Lick Fire a webcam from above points at the action. This morning the camera shows us a sleeping beast waiting for it’s wake up call from nature. Just beyond the peak in the foreground are a few hundred men and women scraping the ground on a steep grade. Daybreak on the fire line is a special time. A time to stop for a moment and look around. Later as the day heats up and the winds perk up a different mood sets in.

The fire has consumed 10,000 acres. CDF/Cal Fire has assembled an army of 1,700 to combat the flames.
More as the day progresses.

8:00 AM Wed. Sept. 5
(click to enlarge)

Posted by on September 5, 2007 • Filed under: 2007 fire season, Lick Fire

Lick Fire Update: Tanker 910 Spiked In Sacramento

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KPIX 5 News reports the Lick Fire is now over 7,000 acres. The news channel also brings news on the DC-10 Supertanker, Tanker 910 is now pre-positioned in Sacramento.

““The DC-10, known as Tanker 910, is normally based in Victorville in Southern California. The new Sacramento-area refueling and resupply station will allow the tanker to be much closer to the Lick Fire and other wild fires in Northern California, according to Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant.

Tanker 910 made one drop on the Lick Fire on Monday evening and firefighters on the scene are hoping for additional drops from the behemoth.

“It drops about 10,000 gallons of slurry,” Hoyt said. “It’ll lay down a large swath of slurry that’s very effective, especially in structure protection.’‘”

In other Lick Fire news, the Mt Hamilton webcam (Hamcam) is back up and delivering more spectacular images of the fire currently burning downwind from the telescopes at the massive Lick Observatory complex. This indicates to me CDF/Cal Fire is kicking some butt in some very tough terrain. More when the incident command post’s their evening report.

Posted by on September 5, 2007 • Filed under: 2007 fire season, DDC-10 Supertanker, Lick Fire Tanker 910

Lick Fire Quadruples Overnight

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According to the Incident 209 report the Lick Fire has grown to 5,000 acres. The fire is moving to the S/E generally. The IC claims the fire is 10% contained.

As only they can CDF/ Cal Fire amassed an army of nearly 800 overnight to battle the flames that they expect to eat through 30,000 acres.

The webcam on Mt Hamilton has been shut down (since midnight) so a live view of the fire is unavailable. I suspect their servers were hit hard by viewers pointed to their unique fire view. I hope they boot it back up later this morning.

The good news is the fire is moving away from populated areas.

Posted by on September 4, 2007 • Filed under: 2007 fire season, Lick Fire

Lick Fire In Henry Coe State Park

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Update: 700 acres, moderate rate of spread, spotting in all directions.

This is an updated image (20:10 Hrs) from the Mt Hamilton webcam facing South.
(link below)


They tilted the webcam on Mt Hamilton to give us a view of the Lick Fire burning East of Morgan Hill in Henry Coe State Park. The San Jose Mercury News has information that 10 CDF engines are on scene as well as Tanker 910, the DC-10 Supertanker CDF/Cal Fire has contracted.

You’ll recall the firefighting supertanker responded to another South Bay fire last week above Cupertino and helped contain that fire to 150 acres even though initial attack brass suggested that one could go to 3,000 acres.

The Lick Fire is currently at 200 acres. From personal experience I know this country has not burned in 30 years or more and most of the country it’s headed into is inaccessible.

Prayers for all the responders.

Posted by on September 4, 2007 • Filed under: 2007 fire season, Lick Fire

Linda Graffagnino Is a Hero Too

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Linda lost her husband Firefighter Joseph Graffagnino two weeks ago in a fire in an abandoned building near ground zero. Also losing his life was Firefighter Robert Beddia, a 24 year veteran of the department.

Linda is not playing the victim role as she speaks out against the city and those responsible for placing her husband in the dry building. Her powerful words should be heard;

From Gothamist.com

“With the city, it’s really all about money; it’s not about human life. Now who is paying the price? Me, my in-laws and my children. The firefighters, they’re the good guys, and it’s the city’s responsibility to protect them…

Someone screwed up major…You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know if there’s no water in the building, you get the people out of there as fast as you can…

If you don’t have water to put a fire out, I don’t know how you’re going to put it out. I don’t know who you’re going to save…

Has this country not learned anything from 9/11? You would think after thousands of people died, someone would learn a lesson, but it just didn’t happen…

It’s sad to say that my husband had to die for someone to take notice and take action, but if I could maybe change someone else’s life and save another firefighter’s life down the road so they don’t have to go through this, that will make me feel some peace.

She added, “This is the worst thing that could have possibly happened. I’m 33 and now I’m a widow and I have two small children. I never thought that I would be here.”

Linda’s kids were living with two heroes.

Posted by on September 2, 2007 • Filed under: Fallen Firefighters, FDNY

Castle Rock Fire Air Assault Video

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If you like to see air tankers at work then check out this video shot by Forest Service crews atop Bald Mountain above Ketchum August 28. I got this video from a webcam page link on SunValley.com.

Posted by on September 1, 2007 • Filed under: 2007 fire season, Castle Rock Fire

Castle Rock Fire, Some Work, Some Host

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Today the Castle Rock Fire Command will host tours of the “fire camp.” The fire is 55% contained and weather appears favorable. However while hand crews hike, dozers carve, engine crews prep their equipment, air tanker and helicopter pilots fly dangerous missions and field overhead work to keep them all safe, some are hosting tours of the comfortable base camp.

From Inciweb
ANNOUNCEMENT Tour the Castle Rock Incident Command Post Saturday and Sunday
When – Saturday and Sunday, September 1 and 2 at 11am and 2pm, UNLESS the tours are cancelled due to fire activity – Where – Meet at the Incident Command Post located at Highway 75/Serenade Street…….
Follow the signs to the parking area and meeting location All tours will take 60 to 90 minutes. Please wear comfortable shoes and be ready to walk on uneven surfaces

The weekend events will fall between Bart Simpson shown here staring at Smokey and this tour reception menu parody.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGmekBVOo6s]

By my accounting this is the final weekend for Incident Commander Jeanne Pincha-Tulley. Her 14 day stint will time out this weekend so the party and tour will serve a duel purpose. Recall the thunderous applause she received from grateful area residents for doing her job.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT4V3nr2OqI]

Sun Valley is celebrity filled at times of the year so it’s conceivable she may get a going away surprise reception as Zaca Fire Commander Molumby did when the legendary Comedian Jonathan Winters toasted him at a going away reception in Santa Barbara.

I’m not party pooper or a killjoy but my guys are on the line, never see the command center and generally don’t sleep well. If anyone deserves anything it’s them. I’d be surprised if the poor schmoes in the field even get a mention today or tomorrow by the tour guides or those serving finger food.

Here is what I would like to see. If the local communities want to thank the guys who really worked this fire they can can get creative by handing out season passes for Bald Mountain or divvy out some free weekend condo packages. Maybe that is impractical, certainly not expected by the guys and gals but with a little creativity the residents could come up with something for the real heroes.

Posted by on September 1, 2007 • Filed under: 2007 fire season, Castle Rock Fire