www.nfc.usda.gov/personal/

Thanks - Fire Bug

Later, this came in...
Ab, answered my own question...

USDA’s National Finance Center shuts down in face of Katrina

www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/technology-policy/36824-1.html

FireBug

www.wildlandfire.com/docs/2005/hr408.htm Ab.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT THE FEDERAL WILDLAND FIRE SERVICE ASSOCIATION AT (916) 515-1224 OR FWFSAlobby@aol.com

IT'S YOUR FUTURE

Cedar Fire:

http://archive.hpwren.ucsd.edu/Photos/20031026/
http://hpwren.ucsd.edu/Cedar/Images/
http://hpwren.ucsd.edu/Cedar/

Last week:

http://hpwren.ucsd.edu/~hwb/20050824/

For those of you who are called to help, and I have no doubt many will be, stay safe ya'll.

There are many hazards.
BEWARE of red ants, water moccasins (rattle snakes, coral snakes), alligators, mosquitoes with West Nile virus (take DEET), humid heat, lack of drinking water and food, lack of sanitation, downed live power lines, bubbling broken gas lines, underwater hazards that can snag a boat engine, HAZMAT on the surface of the water, burning buildings, dead bodies floating, wildlife, pets, cows, other animals including zoo animals, unstable buildings, hazard trees.

The size of this disaster is just hitting us. My personal thanks to the Fin and Feather folks with their flat boats, the Coast Guard and other SAR folks and EMTs, and to those volunteering their pirogues and other flat-bottomed vessels. For some people out there survival is a matter of getting help in the next 12 hours or breaking free of attics with rising waters. We starting to see on the news what's happening in New Orleans, Biloxi, Mobile. We don't see what's happened with the 25-30 foot storm surge in Plaquemines Parish, Saint Bernard Parish, Chalmette, Slidell, Bay St Louis, Pass Christian. I have real fears that the death toll will be astronomically high when all are tallied. I heard from a friend that a large part of Plaquemines Parish has gone back to the Gulf.

I thank the collective emergency response family for coming to help in our time of need. I hope good plans are made and the effort is coordinated. Ya'll take care, hear. God bless.

DeSotoNF

The National Interagency Coordination Center is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to support Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Emergency Support Function #4 is staffed at the Regional Response Coordination Centers in Atlanta, GA and Denton, TX. Two Type 1 Incident Management Teams have been assigned. One team will establish a base camp at Port Allen, LA and the other team will be at the logistics staging area in Meridian, MS. A third Type 1 Incident Management Team will establish a base camp at Stenis NASA site in MS.

FYI...

Todd

Thanks for passing the word on Ken's run in firecamp! The pledge list is increasing as run time nears! Please pledge!

Ab.

You are right...........It is highly unlikely you/I will ever see a "national" IM Team on an ODF fire. Why? The landowners (Private, Industrial, Contract and others) pay an assessment to the Oregon Department of Forestry and several Fire Protection Associations to provide fire protection services on their property. When there is a fire on their lands they want/expect to see the Department, that they are paying, providing the Incident Management on their lands. ODF makes every effort to meet those expectations.

ODF has 3 Incident Management Teams, although it is rare for all 3 teams to be managing fires at the same time, it has happened in the not too distant past. I suppose under that scenario you could see a "federal" IM Team (most likely a Type II) managing a fire on ODF protected lands. However, there would be a strong ODF presence with single resource OH involved in many of the operations positions.

OrFF (Not to be confused with Oregon FF - 2 different individuals)

CAJON PASS - A crash involving a boat-towing pickup truck and a fire engine shut down Interstate 15 Sunday and injured five firefighters responding to a brush fire. The collision occurred at 1:26 p.m. on the northbound side of the freeway at the base of the Cajon Pass....

A U.S. Forest Service firefighter, Jason Megowen, was airlifted to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. After regaining consciousness, he appeared fine, said Forest Service spokeswoman Ruth Wenstrom. Another Forest Service firefighter, Travis Thogmartin, and three county firefighters Chad Patterson, Don Hulquist and Juan Deleon suffered minor injuries, she said. One of the county firefighters was thrown into oncoming traffic, said county fire Battalion Chief Gary Bush.

See full story: www.sbsun.com/news/ci_2981894

From the hotlist forum and appears to be true:

ALRAY Incident, is the correct spelling, an engine was struck,
two FF's transported. Reported to be doing well.

Ab.

JS

Hi JS, nice pic, but we would need permission. Ab.

SoCal CDF

"The Marietta Mobilization Center is being opened today, and the Red and Blue Type 1 IMTs will be reporting there tomorrow by 1800. The 2 Logistics Management Teams (LMTs) currently in place are being relocated: Custer’s LMT-A is moving to Mississippi tomorrow, while Prevey’s LMT-B is moving to Tallahassee. An additional LMT has been ordered for Alexandria, LA. FEMA is placing an order for 5 Type 1 Crews, and more requests are anticipated. A long-term Planning Team is operating in Orlando.

2 ERT-As are set up – one each in Alabama and Florida, while the USFS is also staffing an ESF4 function at the RRCC in Atlanta (Days – L. Howard and J. Caffin, Nights – S. Weaver and S."

Jackson

I haven't seen such web pages before... More to learn.

Implication... It ain't real to me until it hits the web???

Mellie

Congratulations to the Men and Women who corralled those incidents.

Both are excellent examples of good aggressive fire fighting.

viejo

The weather has cooperated up until now... However, neither of those fires are reported as completely contained and there's a RED FLAG WARNING for this afternoon. Although they are mopping up, there could still be rollout that gets fanned by the winds in some of the steep areas. Be Safe. Maintain situational awareness. Ab.

The Deer Creek Fire (Near Cave Junction OR) is under unified command --

State of Oregon www.oregon.gov/OOHS/SFM/Conflagration_Info.shtml
and Anderson's Type I PNW Incident Command Team 3,

but in addition to that, it has been declared a FEMA fire...
www.fema.gov/news/event.fema?id=4785

Hmmm, that must be a first. Is this suggestive of things to come?

Speaking of FEMA, my best wishes to those facing the hurricane in New Orleans
and the surrounding Gulf Coast area. Camille was pretty bad and we didn't have a
direct hit on N.O. on that one. Katrina has sustained winds of 175 mph now (Category 5).
The levees are unlikely to survive the storm surges. There aren't too many highways
heading north or west. For sure the causeway across Lake Ponchartrain will be
closed in high winds. Recipe for disaster... LCES! BE SAFE ALL!

Mellie

www.pstramway.com/cams-weather/cams-detail.html

CDF Jake

Looks like it's being managed almost exclusively with private resources. 725 of 872
personnel are private with 70 state of Oregon overhead.

SoCal CDF

OR firefighter

www.nwccweb.us/information/fire_info.asp Ab.

Tahoe Terrie

Hello,

First wanted to say thanks to GIS Girl for the maps. Pretty cool, and much better than the hand drawn one.

I am out of the loop right now in a little town on Lake Chapala, Mexico called San Antonio. Wish I could say I was on vacation. Unfortunately My Mother passed away Monday morning. I am still training high in the central mountains. Nothing like Thunder and lightning inside the bowl of an extinct volcano. The tropical humidity is something I'm surely not used to, either.

Anyway.....Tony D, I had planned on getting ahold of you when I came back from Reno for Mandatory days off. I have no cell coverage here, and unfortunately your number is in my phone sitting on the counter at home. If you've got some interesting stuff, you can get my E-mail address from Ab.

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU THAT HAVE PLEDGED. IT SEEMS TO BE SPEEDING UP AS WE GET CLOSER TO THE DAY.

See ya,
KCP

Sorry about your mom. I'd be happy to pass any messages along. Folks make those pledges. Ken Perry/WFF Benefit Ab.

Hobo

SoCal CDF

You can see it here http://newweb.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/ click Eureka then animation and look for the little rising column at the Shasta and Tahama Counties' shared border. Ab.

I read a few days ago about Ernie Johnson's passing on. My eyes welled
up with tears as I read about the people I knew who were there to meet the
plane in Shelton and what was said. I echo all those and add that the
world and fire fighting community was a better place by his presence in it,
and a poorer place in his absence. I worked for 9 seasons on the Quilcene
Ranger District, and started as an 18 year old firefighter the same year
and age Ernie did. I remember burning slash with him, working on helitack,
fighting fires with him, learning from him. The longer I work in this
agency, the more I come to appreciate people like Ernie, a person of
integrity, a great fireman, good teacher, good leader. I am a witness to
a part of his legacy and am proud to be a part of it. thank you Ernie, you
are missed.

Lance Honda

You betcha the practice of not being at the dispatch location and using an address as a shill was a big problem and still might be a problem in some areas. I personally think those type of violations or misleading actions should result in severe punishment... maybe a trip down the Rogue River with Viejo? I can see your point that this latest round of actions for permit failures may have a more positive effect by keeping everyone honest and move the industry forward as a safer and more professional resource. In a position to see the documentation, between the scammers and those caught in the bureaucratic permitting process, I guess I didn't want to see otherwise good contractors to be lumped in with those contractors that outright falsified dispatch locations in an attempt to gain more work. Not complying with the contract is wrong.. and that's the bottom line. Thanks ab for the clarification and the comments you included in my post.

Oliver

Catching up on They Said, just got back from the Blossom Complex. Toughest combination of terrain & fuels of any fire I ever saw. Two weeks ago, I put our chances of hooking it at about 50 percent. Containment acreage was about 15,000 acres.

Viejo, Are you still flapping about Blossom? Most wise They Said posters admit when they are wrong and eat crow if they deserve it. If you still feel this fire has been a boondoggle, I'll make you an offer: I'll give you $100 if you can travel on foot from Rogue River Ranch to Hanging Rock in three days time. Google up a topo map of the Wild Rogue Wilderness and scope it out. It is only about three miles as the crow flies, a mile a day should be easy, eh? See all those squiggly lines on the topo map? You'll be glad to know that most of the Wild Rogue Wilderness is covered with dense 15' brush and old growth Doug Fir and Cedar. The brush will give you something to cling to as you develop a better understanding that a slow ROS doesn't mean squat in that topography.

The FAA Administrator, That is the funniest damn thing I've read in awhile, I about hurt myself laughing! You have to be a pilot. I think there is a promising career ahead for you in government, you speak bureaucratic gibberish quite well.

Casey, Many of us feds appreciate your tenacity and support what you are trying to do for wildland firefighters. I don't know you personally, but I know you well enough from your postings to say that I would trust you more than OPM when it comes to doing the right thing for us. Keep slugging, keep explaining, it is nice to know that you are out there tackling these issues. We will never get what we deserve without a dedicated person leading the charge for us. Keep it up.

Julie's tribute to Ernie Johnson was touching. I didn't know Ernie but it is obvious he was well loved. It is always sad when we lose one of the good ones.

Misery Whip

I thought the FAA Administrator post was a spoof making the rounds behind the scenes, although it came in from 2 different regular, credible posters. Wow, if that's for real, we're in trouble! Ab.

I had our IQCS person try to put READ into IQCS. Would not take
it..................... It is on a hardcopy list we got as an approved
position, however it is still not in IQCS.

TC

Wow, very impressive and useful to have historical fire information. I've added this site to the maps list on the News page. (I like the WFF member # note at the bottom of your email.) Ab.

Oliver, what you say about some folks operating out of their homes may be true, but it is definitely not the whole story. Behind the scenes for the last several years we have gotten emails from a variety of people that certain OR contractors were purposefully setting up false locations to get around the "no more than an hour away" (or whatever it was) requirement. Generally such posts do not see the light of day because we can't absolutely confirm (don't have research staff to confirm) their veracity, so we're not willing to post them. That said, the discrepancy between professed resource location and actual location - sometimes tens or a hundred miles away - could have been a safety issue in some instances. And we did encourage people to go through whatever channels were available to them to make the problem known. I think we're seeing some of the results of that process. This is simply one aspect of becoming a professional and safe private sector fire force, in my opinion. When contractors who have done this understand they will now have to follow the rules, they will. This clarity of contract benefits all of us. Ab.

Here's a very brief answer...

Portal to portal will be paid when an employee, as defined, responds to an Emergency Incident and that incident exceeds 24 hrs. When we originally drafted the bill, we literally listed every conceivable response we could think of before settling for "emergency incident."

Given that prescribed burns are "planned" they would not constitute an emergency incident... unless the fire got away and started a bigger, longer incident. Of course as I've mentioned, we are working on getting hazard pay for firefighters on prescribed burns.

With respect to severity details, if an engine is sent anywhere for 60-90 days, that is not an emergency incident and thus each period away from your duty station exceeding 24 hrs would not incorporate portal to portal pay.

However, the issue deserves looking at...perhaps some type of additional per diem etc. If anyone wants to contact me personally and give me a bit of instruction on severity details I can review the issue with the FWFSA Board of Directors for guidance and perhaps develop some ideas.

Casey

JR

Thanks for bringing together the links to gather info on breaking fires. I use Hot list and post there. The GACCS are also providing more real time news & notes (good job usfs northops), I like the firemaps link on the news page too. Thanks for adding the new map showing the S OR fire last night. That was great. WildCAD is getting better but should be set up and maintained more outside of CA. I also like tuning in on the scanner list sometimes. The Redding CA scanner site tends to get shut down when a fire ignites around Shasta, but that's not surprising. What about web cams?

Anyway, thanks. Information is valuable.

Todd

You're welcome. Web cams are sometimes useful, for example the hpwren site, but it's limited to socal. If anyone has more ideas or links to suggest for any kind of fire news, let us know. Ab.

Here's the link: www.wfap.net/recruitment.html

Your reference to the GEL Drop on the Spruce Fire and the Ukiah AAB is interesting. Where was the Spruce Fire? There is no record at Ukiah AAB of dropping Gel on this Incident. By chance did you get a Tanker Tail number? It may have come out of Hollister or Columbia AAB. This is good information as with Long Term Retardants or any other product, quality control is a must in order to improve the product or the delivery method.

LW

SPRUCE (CA-LNU-5590) from wildcad. Ab.

The current rate for an AD READ is AD-5 at $24. If a trainee, then $3 dollars
less than that. (Same as for any trainee AD-5)

NOPSer

http://newweb.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/

Click Medford then click animation. It's getting dark fast, but check the plume!

R6 FF

08-24-05
Talking points regarding the Central Oregon fire crew suspensions

1. ODF suspended nine private contract fire crews Aug. 16 for failing to have Deschutes Co. business permits for their dispatch locations there.

2. We were notified of this violation of county ordinance by the Deschutes Co. Board of Commissioners.

3. In February 2005, we sent out a bid solicitation to fire crew contractors. The contractors were required to sign and return it by March 4. The document stated that they must have business permits for their dispatch locations, if so required by local governments.

4. Under the contract (Interagency Crew Agreement administered by ODF for the Pacific Northwest Wildfire Coordinating Group), a dispatch location must be a physical site (not a P.O. box) where a fire crew can assemble and be inspected. It is a place of business; therefore, local governments can require a business permit or license.

5. In mid-July, we also suspended six crews in Medford for failure to have business licenses for their dispatch locations in that city. Most of the crew contractors subsequently applied or the licenses with the city and received them in a week to 10 days. We then immediately reinstated the crews whose contractors had obtained their business licenses. (Deschutes Co. has said their processing time on a permit application is six to eight weeks or longer.)

6. The loss of the nine central Oregon crews still leaves us with more than 200 crews on contract. Barring an extreme event, such as a large-scale dry lightning storm, we think that we have an adequate number of crews to get through the season.

It is at your fingertips. This site, hit Links then hit "training and education" and you are there -
at NWCG Taskbooks. It is amazing how a little surfing can release the stress and strands of
day to day life...

Enjoy, stay safe and walk tall,
Arlo

Mellie

Thermo Gel has been used in aerial drops in Washington State on BIA fires with great success. It not only hangs on that canopy but also coated fine fuels in the forest floor when used with the proper viscosity. When the NorCal Captain said he was on the active flank and was just about hit with gel, good thing he missed us, I too ask him WHY? I have worked with the product in the past and have had it on my person repeatedly with no side effects. The fact is it was not dropped on you and you were not affected by any results of such a drop. I find it interesting that you say it "was chunky and too thick to coat the vegetation". The make up of the product does not lend itself to be "Chunky". I am also not sure what you mean by kind of weird smelling. First are you just used to the strong smell of the long term retardant when it takes your breath away? What have you been doing for the last 10 years when you have been inhaling the long term retardant? I have worked with Thermo Gel and have found the odor to be inert. I work with a group of 6 private contractors who have been trained to apply Thermo Gel and none of them are aware of your weird kind of smell situation. The comment made about the product staining is also interesting because I have personally sprayed my truck with Thermo Gel, put a blow torch to it and then rinsed it off with NO ill effects

Thermo Gel has been tested by the US Forest Service at a great expense to the company and the Forest Service has found it to be environmentally friendly and non toxic. After working with this product as well as a number of the other unapproved gel products on the market today, I have found that it is easy to work with, effective and easy to clean up. Thermo Gel did not just appear last week. Thermo Gel is the result of years of study and testing and modifications. The product has been approved by MTDC in Missoula and meets all of the forest service requirements set regarding fish, water and wildlife. These comments coming from the NorCal Captain and the guinea pig seem to be coming from someone with another agenda.

The reason the CDF is willing to use this product is because it works

The reference to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) is an interesting one because it insinuates that Thermo Gel introduces them into the fire situation, when in fact the PAHs already exist due to the wildfire itself. If you go to the website recommended by guinea pig, you will find that PAHs are found in all foods that are grilled. and if you contact Thermo Gel directly, you will be told that the amount of PAH produced is the equivalent of a cooked piece of meat.

I agree that this is a new way of fighting fire but I ask that we just wait and see how effective it is, how safe it is, and how in the long run it will do more to protect firefighters than harm them.

Joseph P Hickey
Wildfire Defense Systems

Snapper

Photos

SoCal CDF

The Missoula center tests Foams, Retardants, and Water Additives for both environmental impact and for corrosiveness to magnesium. The CDF staff toxicologist has given the o.k. as far as impact on humans. The USFS (Missoula) has approved Thermo Gel for use, the issue is not the product or the environment, or toxicology, but the fact that the USFS does not have a policy for its use. The science is approved but not the policy. Once the policy is written, the USFS will be able to use Thermo Gel. Thermo Gel is approved for use in California and South Dakota. The material used in ThermoGel is a cousin to the material found to hold moisture in baby diapers...

f/f4

Please sign me: Oregon Rose

www.bendbulletin.com/news/results.cfm?story_no=17620

Doc

Posters have been clamoring for years that managers tighten up the permitting of fire crews and do some checking up. I wonder if Chuck Burley or one of his staff reads theysaid??? Ab.

Hmmmm, and I thought posters were fairly restrained for this time of the fire season. There certainly has been good information shared and a variety of viewpoints on issues. I know discussion is good when I find myself agreeing with one poster then another, as alternative viewpoints are argued and additional issues are raised.

As always, I thank contributors for participating with good questions, answers, information and perspectives. I learn something new almost every day. Probably for a lot of casual non-firefighter readers, a lot of this back-and-forth goes over your head... Ab.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: AD Firefighter Association
To: AD Firefighter Association
Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2005 4:21 PM
Subject: ADFA Update: ADFA Board Members Meet With Idaho Delegation Staff

Dear ADFA Member:

Hugh Carson (ADFA Chair), Dick Grace (Vice-Chair), and Carl Pence (Legislative Affairs) met for 1½ hours on August 7 with representatives from 3 of the 4 Idaho Congressional Staffs

Key players were Mike Freese, Senator Craig’s Natural Resources Field Coordinator, and Layne Bangerter, Senator Crapo’s Natural Resources staffer.

Items of discussion included:

1. History of the AD Pay Authority
2. How the Authority has been used over the last two decades
3. ADFA initiatives to achieve “fair pay for job performed”
4. Agency review of the 2005 Proposed AD Pay Rates (this proposal was the one that would reduce pay $2-$7 an hour for 99% of the positions and which was rescinded due to significant negative comments from both within the agencies and externally (gubernatorial staffs, ADFA, etc.)

From our perspective, and without exaggerating, the meeting was an unqualified success. We obtained the following commitments (Mike Freese has the lead on this):

1. The Idaho delegation will “closely examine” the results of the outside third-party review of the process and procedures utilized by both the Position Evaluation and Rate Setting Working Groups of NWCG’s Interagency Business Practices Working Team that led to the 2005 Rates. OPM will be involved in this review.
2. The Idaho delegation believes the agencies are honestly working toward a solution, and just want to help them get there, including evaluation of alternative methods of obtaining supplementary incident personnel such as Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts.

It is our impression that Judy Carvelho’s Position Evaluation Group did a good job of evaluating and ranking all ICS positions, though in some cases the levels were perhaps one grade too low. Between this group’s output and the issuing of the rates, the process went “south” with someone or some group essentially ignoring and discarding the Position Evaluation Group’s two years of hard work, and arbitrarily setting the 2005 rates you saw in the Proposal.

As a sidelight, ADFA and the legislators’ staffs discussed the lack of Forest Service response (as required by law) to the FOIA submitted by Shari Downhill of Wildland Firefighter Magazine. This FOIA requested 5-year data on AD utilization and all written, verbal, e-mail, and telephonic records regarding the evaluation of ICS positions and the setting of the 2005 rates. There will be immediate follow-up on this FOIA.

ADFA will also be submitting a FOIA all written, verbal, e-mail, and telephonic records regarding the evaluation of ICS positions and the setting of the 2005 rates (the 5-year data will be too expensive).

Comments on the above more than welcome.

Hugh Carson
Chair, AD Firefighters Association
www.adfirefighter.org

Don't get the wrong idea, not all CDF'ers share the same view. You're absolutely right, we don't do the same things the same way- so what? What do run totals prove?

Bottom line is you guys aren't paid all that much in the first place, and if you cant go have a beer or hug your kid or do whatever you feel you need to do because of your job or assignment, THEN YOU SHOULD GET PAID FOR IT!! -any drunk monkey can figure that one out!

firecat

I added it to Engines 15 photo page. I also added two photos of the Deer IA to Fire 29, one from Mellie, one from Bard. Ab.

Brian

I put 'em on Equipment 9 photo page. Ab.

I put it on Logo 11 photo page along with the Sandia Helitack (Cibola NF, NM) logo from JA and 2 logos from Venezuelan firefighters. Ab.

Can you possibly help me? Thank you so much.

Robert

JS

		Federal Interagency Communications Center
		Calendar 2005        (Prepared 08/24/2005 20:30)
		
		Incident Type              # of Incidents
		Aircraft Down 	             15
		Emergency Standby             7
		Hazmat 	                     24
		Law Enforcement            5558
		Medical Aid                 422
		Miscellaneous               914
		Prescribed Fire              18
		Public Assist               686
		Resource Order              153
		Search and Rescue            94
		Smoke Check                  12
		Structure Fire               12
		Traffic Collision           545
		Vegetation Fire             320
		Vehicle Fire                 49
		Total Incidents            8829		

"Why can't we all just get along"

I’ve got an opportunity to help prepare a portion of an upcoming fire report commissioned by the governor of California to assess how California prepares and plans wildfire management. I think this is also a great opportunity to let firefighters (who really know what is actually going on) have their say for a change.

Below is a brief description of what I am supposed to be addressing. If any of you feel moved to express your thoughts, please do (especially for numbers 3-7). They can be posted here or sent directly to me if you would like complete confidentiality (email address below). I want my report to reflect reality rather than what we usually get. In my short career as a firefighter myself, I’ve experienced a definite disconnect between what we know and what politicians and the press say. I’m tired of it.

Now’s your chance…

Rick

The questions I will be focusing on…

1. Who is directly involved in the fire planning process (CDF, USFS, local fire agencies, etc.)?
2. What other groups are involved (County Board of Supervisors, insurance agencies, developers, regional planners, etc.)?
3. What kind of coordination exists between such entities?
4. Over what time horizons are plans made?
5. What information is used to plan over the short term/long term?
6. Is climate variability and or other future changes accounted for in their plans?
7. Vulnerabilities/assumptions of fire planning over the next 50 years?

Readers, this is a really worthwhile opportunity to be heard from another direction. Rick is a strong supporter of fire and has done much to educate the public and politicians to the need for fire in chaparral. He's also a member of this community. Ab.

		Inyo National Forest
		Calendar 2005        (Prepared 08/24/2005 11:11)
		
		Incident Type              # of Incidents
		Emergency Standby             1
		Law Enforcement             504
		Medical Aid                   6
		Miscellaneous               171
		Prescribed Fire               9
		Public Assist                22
		Resource Order               81
		Search and Rescue            38
		Smoke Check                  49
		Structure Fire                1
		Traffic Collision             8
		Vegetation Fire              89
		Vehicle Fire                  3
		Total Incidents             982		

Thanks Ernie's Friend for keeping us up-to-date. Thanks also to Julie and to Van B. What eloquent and meaningful tributes.
...And the circles on the surface of the pool move outward... Ab.

embt

Yep, that is a good site and a good resource. I'll bet those who keep it up-to-date know how time-consuming it is to work on photos and photo files. Ab.

I would hope folks would step back and evaluate this in terms of the skills, training and experience necessary to handle this number of complex incidents. My guess is may of these skill are in no way reflected in the current 462 Position Descriptions or performance standards. Because of that lack there is very strong case for reform of position descriptions, standards and an increase in pay to properly compensate folks for the work they are actually performing. This lack also hurts the FS as employees who gain these skills can easily market them to municipal departments at a much higher pay rate. The FS loses the skill and experience after a fairy significant investment. Staffing levels are in constant flux, crew cohesion is hurt, and in turn safety can be compromised.

		Angeles National Forest
		Calendar 2005        (Prepared 08/24/2005 07:53)
		
		Incident Type              # of Incidents
		Aircraft Down                 1
		Emergency Standby             4
		Hazmat                       19
		Law Enforcement             763
		Medical Aid                 238
		Miscellaneous              1496
		Prescribed Fire              24
		Public Assist               241
		Resource Order              126
		Search and Rescue            80
		Smoke Check                  37
		Structure Fire               21
		Traffic Collision           411
		Vegetation Fire             188
		Vehicle Fire                 86
		Total Incidents            3735		

Rotor

Info on the SEAT crash was posted on the Hot List Forum yesterday. Pilot walked away with minor injuries. Quick Google News search shows this article Reno Gazette. Ab.

Blue Gel 4 and Blue Gel 6

I added them to AirTankers 19 photo page. Ab.

Extra congrats for doing it safely!

Steve M, by "wildland firefighters", I know you're including the "militia"
equivalent, aren't ya? If you're not, we be in a heap 'o trouble! <snicker>

Mellie

I will pledge the equivalent of 2 months of my recent pay raise, of $72 per month, for a total of $144, or in other words $2.77 per mile.

If someone is willing to match me dollar for dollar, I'll pledge an additional 4 months of my pay raise.

(sorry Lobotomy, that still doesn't equal your $10; but it does show that FS Division Chiefs don't make that much more than their Engine Captains)

sign me,
not doing the job for the money

Good one. I might just have to dig deeper! Congrats on your promotion. Ab.

Ab

• 247 sub-folders
  
• 10,807 files
• occupies 173 megabytes of space
• used 23 gigabytes of bandwidth during the month of July

Ab Note: Thanks OA. You're right on the time involved as you well know from the early days... but the rewards are great. Besides enjoying looking at them myself, I get personal satisfaction in knowing they get used for nonprofit purposes - in firefighting training every winter, for presentations large and small by firefighters to each other and to the public, by fire ecologists and older students, by kids making websites for school projects, by agency fire management talking to congress, in parts and pieces in university fire training websites. Soon I hope, some will be on display on walls at the Fire Academy in Sacramento. I need to get back in touch with the person putting that together... FYI, I am checking with contributors on those photos of interest to make sure we have go-ahead.

Firefighters, if you have any opportunities left in the season to take high resolution, large size action photos of firefighters working or crews walking in a line or with their engine or helicopter, etc, please send them in. I'm looking for photos that inspire those at the Academy, educate the Public and get the old dogs that walk the halls to stop and remember. I think I'm caught up on photos to be posted here (more or less, as much as I can be...).

In the Ruth Enginecrew photo, the 2nd from the left is John Arrigoni, the 2nd from the right is Mary Brooks. I'm doubting the date of 1977, because the guy in the white t-shirt looks like Chris Griggs, and he didn't start until 1980. The guy in the headband looks like Marvin Curry, who started in '82 or '83. So, If these are these folks, the date could be as late as 1983. -

MJ

Please, Readers, let family, friends and co-workers know. Ab.

I am the author of the book in question. The review was passed along to me by <snip>. I was shocked at how the book was slammed. First of all, I don't think the reviewer bothered to read the author's note that talks specifically about what hotshots do, which would've made clear the intent of what groundpounders et al do.

Backing up, this was the third book on fire I did, the first being (based on my experience as an urban firefighter with some wildland firefighting experience-FIREFIGHTERS A TO Z which was a New York Times best seller. The second was SMOKEJUMPERS ONE to TEN. In the former I used my own experience. For the second I spent time at the USFS base in Redding CA, the visit organized by Chuck Sheley, VP/ NSA. Ironically, when I told Chuck about the hotshots idea he contacted a couple of people in