Just a quick note on what is going on in East Texas. I arrived with my crew, the South Dakota Black Hats (type 2IA), in Lufkin TX. on the 26th. The original mission of the Incident Command Team we are assigned with was utilizing hand crews to clear roads and homes of downed trees. That rapidly changed when we found out that the basic needs of folks (water, ice & food) were not being fully met. Now the team is managing 10 Points Of Distribution (POD) that I know of. Most crews have been split into 2 modules with each module managing a single POD and a DIVS overseeing several PODs within several miles of each other. From what I have been told by my DIVS the other PODs are being operated like the one we are managing here in Pineland TX. Open for business at 07:00, hand out ice, drinking water and MREs until 20:00, go back to the local High School for dinner and a shower. Our POD has been serving 1500 cars a day and we go through an entire trailer load of water, a load of meals and half a load of ice a day. No word on when our assignment will change, but as nice as we get treated by the locals, we would be happy working here for some time.

Matthew Branch
South Dakota State Wildland Fire
Hand Crew Superintendent

Abs and all:

Hoping this finds you all well. I am currently deployed in San Antonio assisting with Katrina and Rita evacuees. I work in Region 1, and am one of five 20 person type 2 crews flown out of Montana on a charter plane. I wanted to write you all (texas slang) and let you know what we have been up to. Currently we are working in an evacuee shelter on the decommissioned Kelly air force base. We are working night shifts, 7pm to 7am. After about 5 days of haggling with the Red Cross and FEMA, we finally have our responsibilities lined out. We are supporting the Red Cross, and our duties are a lot along the lines of a camp crew, with a personalized twist added in. We set up and take down cots, manage supply of basic necessities including water and hygiene products, and are tasked with taking care of those evacuees that sometimes walk into our shelter with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Granted there are many here that genuinely need our help, but there are others that are here taking advantage of "the system". Residents here get medical care, 3 meals a day, showers, laundry services, a cool place to sleep, phone and internet access, television (news) and a little compassion. We are being assisted by the San Antonio Police, National Guard, and Texas State Guard, as the activities in a normal population still occur, prostitution, drug deals, fighting etc.

Initially when we arrived, there were logistical problems with finding us a place to stay. We were put in a building with approximately 500 other "assistants" with showers, food and A/C, a necessity in 100 degree temps. Our first night we were fed by the Red Cross, and afterwards, by the Mexican Army's Kitchen, set up a lot like fire camp. This is the first time since the Alamo that they have occupied Texas soil. With all the evacuees form the greater Houston area, they determined that they would use our housing for a special needs medical facility so for two nights we stayed in another abandoned building. It was a general disaster. The toilets were plugged, sinks filled with dirty water, no trash cans, A/C or showers, a pretty miserable experience. We had 3 (3 HOUR) periods of uninterrupted sleep in the first 48 hours. Thankfully that problem has been resolved and we are actually getting adequate rest in a lot better facilities.

With approximately 3,000 people in our shelter, people have been getting sick. We have been trying to remain healthy and hydrated. Some of our crewmembers have come down with the flu or upper respiratory infections. We had a confirmed case of the chicken pox (resident) earlier tonight. Those considered infectious have been moved to areas away from the general public.

We have been told that our occupation here is to establish some sort of consistency for groups like the Red Cross, that have ambiguous management strategies that often change on a daily basis. Although this is frustrating, things are getting better, and the difficult personalities are being weeded out or reassigned elsewhere.

Overall the assignment is a lot like fighting fire, with the personal danger not being in the flames, but becoming overwhelmed by those around us. The paycheck is the same, and every night (morning actually) we go back to our hotel knowing that we made life better for these people. They know that those of us in the "yellow shirts" are here to help, human beings first and "forestry technicians" in classification only.

MT FIREFLY

Thanks for the glimpse of your assignment, MT Firefly. Ab.

Reprint of the Fire Killer piece below. As Fire Killer says, it is just land, and land that knows and needs fire... And the interface homes, well, bottom line is that they're just another kind of fuel -- true, beloved fuel to their owners, but not worth a firefighter's life. Be Safe All. Ab.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

7/25/03
Today two families are in sorrow. Friends mourn. In the near
future, two new holes will be dug in the ground, flags will fly at
half mast, two new crosses will be erected, bagpipes will wail out.
Why must we morn again losses of fellow firefighters? Why? Why
did these two young men believe they had to save this piece of land
so bad that it cost them their lives? Every loss affects us all.

These are not acceptable losses.

I did not know these two. But I very well could have met them
and shared a simple handshake at the helibase. I mourn their loss.

Lest this happen again, let us remember what we fight- wildland fire,
not a structure fire with a kid hanging out the window. This loss is
not right.

May we remember that it is not a command of god to "save" this
piece of land. Land is only that, a piece of land that evolved with
fire on it. We are a family, and to lose two from our midst over a
piece of land is truely tragic.

We are not separate in our feelings of loss or in our desire for
understanding. Nor contractor, nor hotshot crew alike, these
deaths affect us all. Let us morn these losses in respect by finding
out what happened and not repeating mistakes if there were any.

My dearest respects to the family, to firefighters, and to friends
alike. We all share a bond that will not be broken. May these two
be in our thoughts and prayers - as we continue to mourn - while
continuing with our duties - as the job calls. Stay safe. Let's make
these the last deaths this year, and for all years to come. We are
one, yet we continue without two..., again...

Fire Killer

Los Angeles KCAL 9:
Topanga Fires Burn more than 17,000 acres
with link to video

List of SoCal news media with stories, photos and video of the fires.

• CBS Channel 2
• KABC Channel 7
• KCAL9 Los Angeles
• NBC Channel 4
• TheSanDiegoChannel.com
• Sign on SanDiego.com
• Los Angeles Times
• Riverside Press-Enterprise requires free registration
• San Bernardino Sun
• San Diego Union-Tribune
• Ventura County Star

Thanks, I made a summary table here: SoCal Fires '05 and put it at the top of the theysaid forum. Ab.

Someone wrote a personal email this morning saying that the 209 for the Topanga fire listed 5 strike teams of hotshots and 4 type 1 helicopters fighting the fire, but listed the number of FS personnel as only 25 -- and what did that mean? I think Topanga Fire overhead were scrambling to gather resources and it's hard to keep track of the numbers and what agency they hail from... The CNN reporter I saw at lunchtime talked about a crew of hotshots that had saved a community of homes in Thousand Oaks by successfully burning out their line. He didn't say they were FS, but they were. Ab.

Carol

JERRY ROBERT BISHOP
(small photo of Jerry)

Jerry was born to Virgil and Isabel Bishop on August 24, 1955, in Clovis, CA, lived in North Fork all of his life, and graduated from Sierra High School in 1973. He passed away peacefully at home on Saturday, September 17, 2005.

His family, wife Mari, son Joey and daughter Jamie, were everything to him. It showed as he watched Joey play basketball, Jamie play soccer or softball, and early morning walks with Mari. Jerry and Mari's 30 years together were blessed with many memories, much love and devotion.

Over his 33 year career with the U.S. Forest Service, he touched many young men and women's lives. As Captain of Engine 51, his crew was his second love. Engine 51 was known as "Jerry's" engine.

His ability to work with children and his love of basketball was shown by his many years of coaching at North Fork School and teams in the Mountain Area Youth Basketball League. Jerry was known for his kindness, patience, thoughtfulness, selfless consideration of others and his gentle heart.

Mari, Joey and Jamie wish to express their heartfelt gratitude to the Forest Service Family and the North Fork Community for their love, kindness, support, prayers and endless help, day or night, during this difficult time.

Jerry was preceded in death by his parents, Virgil and Isabelle Bishop; brother Bobby; and sisters, Olga and Della. He is survived by his wife Mari; son Joey; daughter Jamie; loving dogs Chewie and Paco; brothers Ernie, Virgil Jr. and Eddie; sisters Mary Ellen and Ada; and many nieces and nephews.

A Celebration of Jerry's Life will be held at the North Fork Town Hall on Monday, October 3, 2005, at 11:00 a.m.

The family requests donations in Jerry's name to the North Fork Elementary School's Basketball Sports Program, 33087 Road 228, North Fork, CA 93643, (559-877-2215).

Carol and all of Jerry's friends and family,
I am so sorry for the loss of Jerry. I didn't know him personally, but I do know many of you who called him most excellent friend, firefighter, mentor, and teacher. Ab.

Wildland Firefighter Foundation
2049 Airport Way,
Boise, Idaho 83705

If you don't remember what you pledged, don't be shy! Call me and I can tell you what the damages are - we want to make this as painless as possible!

Thank you ALL for your support!

Melissa
Wildland Firefighter Foundation

If you've forgotten you can also email Ab and I'll look it up. The 1st of the month paychecks will be coming in soon, like tomorrow if you have automatic deposit. Hopefully, a number of people will get their pledge in then. Ab.

http://webcambiglook.com/wilson.html

Also, we have a vacancy for a GS-455-6/7 Dispatcher, which just opened
today in Roswell, NM. Would appreciate your help in getting the word out.

Thanks!
Vivian : )

P.S. Feel free to give my number, to anyone interested in the vacancy.

I posted the info on the jobs page as well. Ab.

Keep up the good work of saving homes while fighting fire safely in SoCal.

I heard an interview on CNN from a grateful homeowner in Thousand Oaks.
She tagged a comment on the end. "We appreciate what these guys do...
That's why we need to keep our firefighters, our teachers and our police."

Good plug for the firefighters and against the propositions in the CA
"Terminator's" special election.

SoCal CDF

Ab comments as a taxpayer:
It could be problematic to have a non-govt person overseeing those who decide which resources are dispatched or directly deciding which resources are dispatched to a fire. Money is involved. There could be a real or perceived conflict of interest. For example, it might be hard to defend against future claims of favoritism or cronyism if ADs have the last say in which non-fed fire suppression resources are ordered. In the last few years there have been two non-R5 teams that have had to evaluate whether their team members from the private sector steered more business to their business co-workers. An AD who does not work for a company (or state, local non-fed etc) fire organization would be in a somewhat different category. But if that AD has affiliations they could profit from as a result of their decisions, a real or apparent conflict of interest could exist. Ab.

Here are names and numbers you may need-FEMA PIO-Bill Laymon-504-202-xxxx,
Jim Krugman`s type 1 team PIO-Dennis Neill-407-703-xxxx.

I hope this may help. And yes we are here in numbers and we are being used everywhere
you can imagine and some I am sure you cannot imagine unless you were here.

Take care and stay safe,

Arlo

Thanks Arlo. Ab is passing these numbers on to firenwater. Anyone else needs them, please email.

Anyway enjoy.

Bob West

Thanks I put them on the AirTankers 20 photo page. Ab.

Fire Near Chatsworth CA Erupts Amid Strong Winds

Fires Burn More Than 2,500 Acres in Calif.

Could someone please let us know about the injured firefighter. Best wishes. Ab.

Thanks for the quick photos. Ab.

Ab will pass the ppt on.

Todd

LV

For the color of flame question, google on the following: "color of flame" combustion.
Alternatively, Ask Jeeves "Why are fire and flames colored?" (Hint: Think of what is required for fire to burn.)

Look up Canyon in the dictionary.
A Wide Canyon is just a wide one: the Grand Canyon is one grand extreme. Canyons increase the possibility for fire to spread into fuels across the drainage due to spotting or radiation. All other things being equal, the narrower the canyon, the more likely such spread will occur. Canyons also influence air flow which influences direction of fire spread, rate of spread or intensity. Such air flow is likely to change during the day. During a fire, it's good to ask locals if there are typical up-canyon or down-canyon breezes or winds at particular times of day. Set trigger points to reevaluate fire behavior in light of the expected shift in air flow.

For Saddle go to our acronym glossary page (link at the top of theysaid) and then, under definitions in the top box, choose the Complete NWCG - ICS Fire Glossary (pdf). Hint: Think of the shape of a cowboy's saddle.) Air movement influences direction, intensity and rate of fire spread. Saddles and mountain passes constrict air movement and can speed it up or create an upslope wind. This happened on the Cedar Fire and was a contributing factor to the deadly burnover. Know how to read a topo map and visually evaluate the topography you find yourself in when you're fighting fire.

Ab comment: Before your training is done, be sure you know the effects of slope, aspect (N, S, E or W facing slope) and time of day on fire behavior.

Have fun.

Ab.

Ab added the contact links.

I've been following the hurricane response by "federal agencies" and am completely baffled as to why there is virtually no mention in the national media of the wildland fire service and its personnel, who are helping with all aspects of the recovery effort. According to the link Ab posted below, we have over 5000 folks out there. A local paper has a picture with a flattened landscape and firefighters in nomex walking in the foreground. I could't find that picture on the internet, but found this one: In receding floodwaters, more damage found. Why is it our people are not mentioned?? On CNN there was a report about a couple of native crews from the southwest, but they were referred to as "law enforcement crews". What's up with that??

With all the Incident Management Teams out there, isn't there one single Information Officer that is working to get us proper recognition? Or dare I suggest that there is some effort at the Washington level to downplay our involvement so that the public and congress won't recognize that the the old firefighting workforce has completely crossed the line into national incident and emergency management professionals? Maybe there is a little paranoia that the wildland fire service might get taken away from the agencies and joined together in a professional organization with a clear mission having nothing to do with cleaning the toilets in campgrounds.

Many of us already know our incident management teams provide the leadership and organization FEMA is sadly lacking. We are the ones that have been teaching THEM, not the other way around.

At the very least, I would encourage people to ask your Congressman or Senator if they know how much support the wildland fire service is providing for hurricane support. Do it in relation to the effort of the FWFSA in getting HR 408 passed, or if you are radical enough, ask them why the Wildland fire service isn't its own entity.

And while you are at it, write in to CNN or Fox or your favorite news service and ask them why they haven't noticed the thousands of incident management personnel sponsored by the resource management agencies. Haven't they figured out what yellow and green nomex looks like?

FirenWater

Current Info:
Current Katrina-Rita Briefing Paper (pdf file)
Map of Resources (pdf file)

31 days from Aug. 27 (this means in the next day or so), cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sale calls. You will be charged for these calls.

To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: (888) 382-1222. It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years.

Or you can register online at www.donotcall.gov.

Hope everyone is staying safe out there during these rescue and cleanup operations in the South and all the lightening fires in the West. Call home, get rest, and be careful!!

Lori

Lori, that specific email about the 31 days has been floating around: it's listed as an urban legend. BUT Consumer Union (which puts out Consumer Report) had to fight hard to get cell phones included on the do not call registry, thereby letting consumers control who they get calls from and what they get charged. Urban legend or not, I recommend that people put their cell phone numbers on the do not call list. My whole family and many friends have. Why give the money grubbing marketers so much as a potential foot in the door? Can you tell I hate those harassing calls? Ab.

An Ab and an "Ab in training" are having a great time "playing" this morning. "Original", we hope you're having as much fun as we are! Wish you were here or that we were there!

Lightning fires (CA) reported on the Hot List Forum. Thanks for taking care of business, firefighters...

Ab.

https://thunderstorm.vaisala.com/tux/jsp/explorer/explorer.jsp

Todd

Mellie

From SoCal...

• Arroyo Seco RHC, ANF, en route to Lufkin TX.
• Horseshoe Meadow IHC en route to Lufkin TX.
• Palomar RHC,
• Stanislaus IHC is going to Stennis MS,
• Vista Grande IHC, BDF, is on the way to TX.

IHCs and RHCs from NorCal are also flying to Texas to support Hurricane Rita today:

• Diamond Mountain IHC,
• Elk Mountain,
• Plumas IHC, PNF, to Lufkin TX
• Shasta Lake.

Anyone know any others from anywhere in the US?

Keep your saws sharp, keep water outta your gas! Be safe.

JS

Our teams, crews and other resources are working hard.

Status of Fire (All Risk) Resources on Hurricanes Katrina & Rita:
http://gacc.nifc.gov/sacc/predictive/intelligence/KatrinaBriefingPaper.pdf (pdf file)

Map of Katrina-Rita Resources:
http://gacc.nifc.gov/sacc/predictive/intelligence/Resource_Map.pdf (pdf file)

Todd

If the US Forest Service was a private corporation the entire Marketing Department would have been fired a long time ago. In my career as a "Forestry Technician" no one knows what I do for the US Forest Service, never less that we fight fire, or even have the Largest Fire Department in the US. I am called every thing from a park ranger to a CDF firefighter almost on a weekly basis. I would like to applaud the CDF for their Marketing efforts. There are excellent, the USFS has a lot to learn. No wonder FEMA is getting all of the credit for the IMTs and crews working at Katrina.

I have never once seen a commercial or ad to come and visit our National Forests. The National Public has no clue to who the US Forest Service is. There are all kinds of ads out there for total bazaar things brought to you by the Ad Council for federal programs, but I never have seen one for Federal Firefighters or the US Forest Service. It seems there is money out there for other Government Agencies, heck the US Postal Service used to sponsor a cycling team, and the armed forces sponsor Nascar Teams.

As a FWFSA Member I would not mind seeing an ad campaign in the media, but I am realistic and know with only a few hundred members out of the thousands of Federal Wildland Firefighters we could never afford it. But thanks to Casey and all of the FWFSA Members for all of your hard work on a shoestring budget.

Thanks Ab for the Site and all you do for the Wildland Fire Community.

Thinking Outside the Box

Hello,

My name is Maureen C. Lafferty/Ervin and I am the 5th born grandchild to Charlie Lafferty. We all called him, "Pappy" when he was alive. He died about twelve years ago or so in Willows, CA and he was 93 years old. His wife, my grandmother, aka, "Mimi" Flora Lafferty just died last August, 2004. She was 92 years of age, she also died in Willows, CA.

I would like to first off thank you for allowing myself and other family members to learn about our grandfather more than we did. The Rattlesnake Fire Story blew my mind..... as a little girl I can remember how boring and unfair it would be on the fourth of July, because Pappy would never ever let us play with fireworks, let alone sparklers even. One year Mimi finally talked Pappy into letting my brother and older sister and I light some sparklers and hold them, but Pappy never came outside to watch us. I remember Mimi saying something like, "Pappy has a terrible sad memory of a very big fire he once experienced" so I just left it at that. I always wondered why he was so filled with anger and darkness inside of himself as I was growing up, but I always just figured that it was best to let it be. I loved him despite his negativity, for there were some happy, good times that I have memories of.

If you could, can you please send me an email response and/or any photos of my grandfather during the Rattlesnake Fire? Please, anything would be so great. Thank you so much for reading this, I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Shalom,
Maureen C. Lafferty/Ervin

Ab will forward any emails to Maureen.

Someone mailed me this the other day...I think it was
one of my people trying to tell me something.

www.fema.gov/fima/recoveryemployment.shtm

Hickman

4. B.
...The incident agency may authorize, through written documentation, replacement of government property items that have been destroyed or rendered otherwise unserviceable while being used on the incident. However, non-standard cache items should be replaced by the home unit. The incident agency may require that damaged property be turned in before replacement is authorized....

Non standard cache items should be replaced by the home unit. about only 40% of the items used by most Hotshot crews are cache items, and that is a generous percentage. I am curious if whoever wrote this has ever been on a hotshot crew. If we were to only use cache items and no specialty items, it would be a joke. We are not looking at getting items to be used after the fire season, or for personal use, but stuff to make our crew more productive and versatile while on assignment. With exception of a few items such as our packs, sleeping bags and tents (tents and sleeping bags available on Pro deal) we are able to purchase most items that are not available through the cache through GSA Advantage as the mandatory source for purchasing government supplies. Why can not we replace items purchased by government funds through the mandatory source that were damaged or lost on assignment? This is boggling to me.

Yes we can get some of these items replaced through Supply Numbers while on assignment, but the scrutiny we have to go through is unbearable. On the last assignment in R4 we had to have the Finance Section Chief and Supply Unit Leader APPROVE all items, then the list went to the forest that the fire was on and they had to approve the items. We still have not received our Supply Numbers - 12 days later - while our finance folks on our home unit are requiring us to allocate the funds we still have to purchase for the past fiscal year, but cannot because we are waiting for the Forest in R4 to send us the Incident Replace Requisition with the Supply numbers so the items can be ordered. All we are asking for is a stream lined way to get our damaged supplies replaced so we can be fire ready for the next large incident.

On this same incident with over 20 shot crews out on the lines, requisition of a saw guy to be in camp was turned down because it would cost $12,000 just to bring him into camp. To me this is critical link in the chain to have all of our saws working and saw parts on hand in camp so there is no down time fixing saws. They sure were not in a hurry to demobe helicopters off of Helibase when Helibase was costing $200,000 a day before rotors were even turning. Maybe I am comparing apples to oranges, but this is a big deal to me and my crew.

On the subject of not giving out vitamins at camp where it is 20 degrees in the morning and no showers available is just wrong, and should be changed immediately.

Thanks Ab for the site.

Reynolds

"Great Benefits: We start all our new Associates at a minimum of $9.00 an hour for one simple reason...you are important to us! And our commitment to a higher starting wage is just one of the ways in which we show it. Another way is through offering excellent benefits like flexible schedules to accommodate school and other activities, paid vacations, free meals, comprehensive training, and a 401k plan. For our full time Associates, we provide a benefits package that also includes medical, dental, vision, life and travel insurance coverage."

For those of us not in the fast food profession, $9.00 per hour plus excellent benefits is a darn good salary and benefits package for an entry level person in their industry.

In contrast, we expect new federal wildland firefighters to make $8.63 to $9.41 per hour, have no benefits, and only work for 3-6 months of the year while accepting personal rsik and shunning family. At the same time, all levels (entry level to upper management) of the federal wildland firefighting community wonder will it ever change and how long will it take to recognize that wildland fire management is a whole lot different than forestry, range, and natural resource management. Yes, they are related and tied at the hip, but they are different professions all the same, just like biology, botany, archaeology, and countless other professions that support the federal mission of protecting the wildlands . Just like the differences between In-N-Out Burger and being a firefighter.

In-N-Out has made a commitment to being competitive to draw the best employees who are interested in the fast food industry and retain them. CDF, various state wildland agencies, and municipalities have made the same commitment. When it comes to recruitment and retention in the fire service, safety is the paramount concern. I wonder if the federal land managers and political appointees will ever get it?

Lobotomy

If you missed it, I did create this page that lists the differences... Comparison of Burger benefits to Firefighter Job. Ab.

I put them on the Handcrews 19 photo page. Ab.

More handcrew photos from Washington and Oregon. Check the Handcrews 19 photo page. Ab.

Ahtanum 20 series: More photos of the Ahtanum 20 person fire crew, for Washington State DNR. These were taken while working the Wood Gulch fire, in Bickleton, WA. Photos compliments of Kris B.

Farmington Regulars: On the Blossom Complex, Agnes, Oregon, 2005. Photo Compliments of Forrest P.

Nucleo di Protezion Civile A.N.A. Squadra di 2°Livello Antincendi Boschivi Regione Lombardia; Villa D'Alme' (Bergamo) Italy.

BYE BYE.
Geom. Dolce Gabriele.

A few hundred members of the FWFSA are working... and paying the freight, to bring these benefits to thousands of federal wildland firefighters across the country... many who are only now starting to hear about us and what we do, others still cynical of the federal government enough that they won't take the time to improve their own pay & benefits package.

I want to reiterate what Congressman Jon Porter (R-NV), Chairman of the Subcommittee on The Federal Workforce & Agency Organization said on the record at hearings for HR 408 just last month. He stated that his priorities were to "properly classify our federal wildland firefighters and bring them the compensation reform they deserve."

Further, if a representative from the Nevada Professional Firefighters can appear at the hearings and offer their support for our federal wildland firefighters, and testify that you deserve portal to portal pay and other benefits that the FWFSA is working for, then surely you can join our own efforts to improve your lives, improve your safety and bring greater peace of mind to your families.

I don't know if the FWFSA will take a position on the "boycott." But at this point, having busted my butt for so long and watched others spend years doing the same for federal wildland firefighters, I would urge all of you to stay where you're at in the federal system. Don't fall victim to the bureaucratic rhetoric from the Agencies about budget cuts, reduced staffing etc.

We've got folks in DC just waiting to go after the land-management agencies if they start dissecting our firefighters, start looking at out-sourcing etc. However, you all must realize that it makes our job that much harder if we don't have a strong voice across the federal wildland firefighting community.

You want to go to the CDF or other "greener pastures"? Go Ahead. If you want to do what you do best and fight, and claw and get dirty for what you believe, then I'm right along side of you. I've always told the members of the FWFSA that I want them to know that when they are on the lines, in some remote, inhospitable place, tired, hungry, smelly etc., that someone (the FWFSA) has their backs and is fighting for them just as hard as they are fighting in the field.

If you want to join us, you know where to find us. FWFSAlobby @aol.com or (916) 515-1224.

I'm waitin' for the call...

With Great Respect for All of you,

Casey Judd
Business Manager
Federal Wildland Fire Service Assn.

I just finished my APP and it will be in the mail on Monday. Molly I agreed with everything you said up until you slammed CDF with your comment on the Cedar and Tuolumne fires. All agencies have lost firefighters in the line of duty, we can't finger point to one agency. If you're with a Federal agency, are you proud of the Cramer or Storm King fires? That is why I feel we can't finger point when a tragedy happens to a specific agency. Instead we need to look at what happened and share with everyone how that tragedy could be avoided no matter what agency you're with.

Maybe an ex-R5er

I strongly urge those who desire to take the upcoming Calif. Department of Forestry and Fire Protection examination for Fire Captain to do so! Why would you purposely deny yourself a chance at a better position? I believe the union is making a terrible mistake on this one! They (Union) don't want the current TAU Engineer's to take the exam but I'm sure that they will take dues from whoever passes the thing. Bad advice from the Union...TAKE THE EXAM, you can always choose not to accept any positions offered if you are successful. Good luck.

COPTER100

And this use of wildland firefighters is multiplied many times over: Katrina-Rita Resources Map (pdf file). Ab.

Katrina - Interoperability of Communications

COMT

Looks interesting. Ab.

The California Department of Forestry does not rappel, but they do perform “short haul” rescues. Under strict rules/procedures, if a firefighter on the line is injured and they can not be transported by other means, the CDF Helitack crew is trained to deploy a rescuer at the scene.

The helicopter is rigged for the short haul; the rescuer is lowered by those in the helicopter to the ground. After the rescuer assesses the victim, a Stokes and additional rescuers can be lowered to the ground. The victim is loaded/secured in the Stokes, attached to the rope along with a rescuer and flown hanging under the helicopter to the nearest appropriate landing site.

Firefly

I'm from the Klamath and I personally have seen what remains of the engine and so I think
these pics should be up to respect the crew.

thanks, Risky

Memorial to Heather, Steve & John

* inexpensive medical, dental & vision insurance; training & travel expense
reimbursement; uniform allowance; physical fitness allowance; and an
incredible safety retirement plan with built in COLAs.

Does any other state offer similar benefits?
Professional wildland firefighting has never been "even ground".
Hope springs eternal.

northzone

I'm working on some photos of the new memorial at Chester. Ab.

Check the Type I and II IMT pages. Look on the Links page under federal. Ab.

Thanks,
/HC/

North Carolina dept. of forestry has/ or had a military-style fast rope
program for its convict crew helitack for IA in the more mountainous areas
of the state.

Don.

1. Brain cancer.
2. Cancer of the blood or lymphatic systems.
3. Leukemia.
4. Lymphoma (except Hodgkin's disease).
5. Multiple myeloma.
6. Bladder cancer.
7. Kidney cancer.
8. Prostate cancer.
9. Testicular cancer.
10. Cancer of the digestive system.
11. Colon cancer.
12. Liver cancer.
13. Skin cancer.
14. Breast cancer.
15. Lung cancer.

`(D) The following infectious diseases:

1. Tuberculosis.
2. Hepatitis A, B, or C.
3. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
4. Diphtheria.
5. Hemorrhagic fever.
6. Meningococcal disease.
7. Rabies.
8. Any uncommon infectious disease the contraction of which the Secretary of Labor determines to be related to the hazards to which an employee in fire protection activities may be subject.

`(3) The term `employee in fire protection activities' means an employee, including a firefighter, paramedic, emergency medical technician, rescue worker, ambulance personnel, or hazardous materials worker, who--

`(A) is trained in fire suppression, has the legal authority and responsibility to engage in fire suppression; and

`(B) is engaged in the prevention, control, and extinguishment of fires or response to emergency situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk.'.

(b) Effective Date- The amendment made by this section applies to an injury that is first diagnosed, or a death that occurs, on or after the date of enactment of this Act.

All Texas resources working on Katrina relief are being recalled by the Texas governor Perry. Hurricane Rita is expected to be a category 4 hurricane by 1400 EDT tomorrow (131-155 mph sustained winds; storm surge 13-18 feet). It is expected to make landfall late Friday evening to early Saturday morning, someplace along the Gulf coast of Texas, possibly between Galveston and Matagorda Island or, slightly less likely, in western Louisiana.

A briefing by the New Orleans Mayor Nagin, LA Governor Blanco, General Honore, and Vice Admiral Allen is being held in New Orleans now. Extensive plans are being made to evacuate citizens and to house first responders. Among other things, a field hospital is being set up in New Orleans in case the hurricane impacts that city.

Ab.

In working with the Interagency Operations Steering Committee on the
re-write for the 2006 310-1 revision the Interagency Helicopter Operations
Steering Committee is supporting the attached proposal to combine HCWN and
HELB back into one position. What would result is having only one position
code for Helicopter Manager. Please share this with your Aviation Managers
and Helicopter folks, we are looking for a short turn around on feedback
for this idea. Please respond back to me no later than 09/30, call if you
have any questions......brad (gibbs)

IOS Briefing 2005

Thanks, Justin. I put them on Helicopters 20 photo page. Ab.

Ron S.

Thanks Ron. I put them on AirTankers 20 and Helicopters 20 photo pages. Ab.

Thanks Zag. I put them on AirTankers 19 and AirTankers 20 photo pages. Ab.

Evangeline, take care girl.

Robey

Thanks to -thinkingtoomuch in theoryville. Lots to sort through and digest on that bigMAC one.

Mellie

Fish asked, "So what would be the five major components that make up a Ray Quint?"

A Ray Quint:
We don't know about his pump or his hose, but it looks like his water tank capabilities have shrunk because he's been working out... (see photograph below). He has a lot of ground ladders and strong aerial support. He has all he needs... Oh, no bucket there! He's also quite flexible with his pieces of apparatus. You hear about the wildland firefighter's toolbox; a Ray Quint (supported by his crew) is the toolbox.

Here's a good picture of this not-so-typical Ray Quint with the wildland firefighter statue. (The Ray Quint is the one not in bronze.)
Please note: This Quint is not so well known in the structure world, but very much appreciated in the wildland fire world. Some structure quints have been criticized in that they're a compromise. Unlike those, there is no compromise here!

Fire Babe

Thanks very much for the info and the thoughts, Ab.

For employees with rates of basic pay equal to or less than the rate of basic pay for GS-10, step 1, the overtime hourly
rate is the employee’s hourly rate of basic pay multiplied by 1.5. For employees with rates of basic pay greater than the rate for GS-10, step 1, the overtime hourly rate is the greater of—

1. the hourly rate of basic pay for GS-10, step 1, multiplied by 1.5, or
2. the employee’s hourly rate of basic pay.

The hourly overtime pay limitation does not apply to prevailing rate (wage) employees or to FLSA overtime pay. Additional information on overtime pay for FLSA-exempt employees is available at www.opm.gov/oca/pay/HTML/FACTOT.asp.

Overtime pay for Federal employees who are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (i.e., FLSA-nonexempt employees) is subject to special rules. Under the FLSA, overtime pay is determined by multiplying the employee’s “straight time rate of pay” by all overtime hours worked, plus one-half of the employee’s “hourly regular rate of pay” times all overtime hours worked. All overtime work that is ordered or approved or “suffered or permitted” must be compensated. (See 5 CFR part 551.) Additional information on overtime pay for FLSA-covered employees is available at www.opm.gov/oca/pay/HTML/computeflsa.asp.

For law enforcement officers, agencies must use the GS-10, step 1, special base rate for law enforcement officers. (See 5 CFR 550.113(a).) Also see information on availability pay for law enforcement officers at www.opm.gov/oca/pay/HTML/AP.HTM.

Special rules apply for wildland firefighters under 5 U.S.C. 5542(a)(5). Special pay computation rules also apply to GS-081 firefighters under 5 CFR part 550, subpart M.

Are there discrepancies with typing in the fire service? My question might sound silly but the folks I have been around were taught the same. Is it ego or different schools of thought that make our typing systems so different? In my humble opinion Ken Perry is a Type 1 stud for his huge contribution to the Fire Family. His support staff did a bang up job as well. His ICT is welcome up here in North Zone anytime. I ask that all of us, regardless of agency, learn from his run and stick together. The guys and gals that work for the Forest Service are more of Firefighters than I am and I work at a Municipality. They are not "Techs", "Aids" etc...etc....They are FIREFIGHTERS, they deserve equal pay and benefits. I hope that the crap that the WO and other political types are putting on them is heavily publicized. If the public only knew how poorly you guys were compensated they would poop a purple Chihuahua. The amount of much appreciated hard work that a Shot crew or Engine puts out in one shift is inspiring. If we had that kind of work ethic at our fire house, I would personally buy a case of BEER a week for a year to everyone in it. Bottom line, better PAY, Full Benny's and a FIREFIGHTER classification. Once a month I banter the same song, I promise to keep BITCHING until someone helps out our fellow Forest Service Brethren and Sisteren.

Signed,
FED up

Evangeline

FEMA doesn't understand the skill set that the incident management teams could
bring to the table in an emergency. Right now teams are just tapped for logistics.
They're not being used optimally.

I think it ludicrous that FEMA says they have 8,500 responders on the Katrina
aftermath as though it's FEMA doing the work. FEMA only has 1,200 employees
total! Near as I can tell, the Land Management Agencies have the most responders:
the FS has 3,000+ people and DOI has 1,900+ people. Good grief! Why aren't
the agencies using this opportunity IN THE MEDIA to tell the public what we do
with approximately 5,000 of the 8,500??? That's 60% of the resources
attributed to FEMA coming from the Land Management agencies.

That's newsworthy! And they're talking about cutting the budget for those resources??

NorCal Tom, nice piece. I'm thinking through a "backat'cha" on the IMT discussion.

Tahoe Terrie

example: briefing USDA Forest Service Non-Fire Emergency Management, Interagency Hurricane Support (pdf file)

Anybody know if the teams working on hurricane relief get OT? Is that
only for fire "suppression"? How did getting OT go with Newcastle Disease
all risk incident and Columbia Disaster all risk incident? Since Katrina
recovery seems like it will go on a while, how are we going to get people
to volunteer to be pulled away from their regular land mgmt jobs?

Then in CA there's the drawdown issue too.

KG

So far as I have been able to figure out, fed firefighters working on Katrina relief do
not get hazard pay. I'm fairly sure you earn hazard pay for suppression fire and
WFU only. Used to be only suppression, then there was some question about
ff working on WFU and Rx getting it. I think the WFU people do now, but not
Rx since it's supposed to be "controlled".

AL

Abs and all.

I have been watching and read the posting on this site for sometime now and have finally decided to throw in my two cents!!

Kristina has shown the best and worst of the Federal response to large scale natural disaster. FEMA was gutted and trying to reinvent the wheel. The teams had become interagency, so they had the needed specialists on the rosters to handle all risk assignments.

Several postings have shown, that after nearly thirty years, we still do not have an standardized system that is used by all agencies, both law enforcement and fire/EMS for ordering, communications or for operational configurations of resources.

Finally the US military is a great organization, with great leadership and personnel at all levels, BUT! they are not trained nor equipped to handle or be the primary, long term disaster management agency. FEMA, with the help of the fire/rescue/ems organizations and the four major federal land management agencies, should continue as the nation lead in these types of situations.

OlympicFF

Katrina, What Went Right, a commentary

JR

JR, it's too bad a commentary that gives well-deserved credit to first responders also bashes the media, who in this case did give an important heads up that people were dying in the immediate areas that they (the media) had access to. To have Lessons Learned, we must look at all the lessons. That's all this Ab will say.

This item is considered to be a personal product and not a preventative product to the
Buying teams. Not sure how this saving the tax payer money. I think that one trip to the
hospital would cost more then 10 bottles of 200 count vitamin c tablet. Not sure this is
the place to cut cost.

Fossilbird

The Abs.

Cheers
be safe
West Aussie Flame

You couldn't have explained it better! Yeah I totally agree, it's a system that works great. Sure there were growing pains and still are in many different aspects and there will always be, but the system works great. Just FYI, having friends in law enforcement there is a bill in congress right now trying to get all police and like law enforcement agencies to have a clear text system that can be used by all law enforcement such as "ten codes" . I know in SoCal that CHP has different codes than local agencies. But as well, they are trying to get Fire agencies to communicate with law enforcement. That was a recommendation from the 9/11 commission, which I do think is important but so is safety for those folks on many aspects. But anyway, good point!

SoCal FF

In his speech to the nation from New Orleans on September 15, President Bush mentioned that the military alone was prepared to provide significant disaster response. One wonders if reforms in the National Response Plan, inevitably to be made in the wake of the Katrina disasters - the hurricane, the flooding of New Orleans, and the halting federal response - will reduce or eliminate the participation of Incident Management Teams in the planned response to both disaster and terrorist events.

Should IMTs remain a vital component of the country’s response to disaster? Should we rely on the military alone to provide the response?

Our IMTs are practiced, current, adaptable, and more than willing to serve. Accustomed to working on short notice with affected and participating entities, IMTs have proven their ability to direct and/or contribute many times, in emergencies of all sorts and magnitudes. The principle mission of wildland fire suppression builds and binds the teams, and the flexibility inherent in the ICS enables teams to contribute to order whatever the circumstance.

Certainly, the military possesses resources in kind and number like no other entity, as well as the capability to employ them, but when called to respond to an incident, the military is substantially burdened with its internal protocols, authorities, and boundaries. Coordination within and between units and branches is complex and time-sensitive. Meanwhile, meeting with local affected officials and resources, gathering and displaying initial intelligence, conducting needs assessment, and laying operational frameworks are well within the capability of IMTs. Liaison with military units are established and assurances given that the military will likely be branched and will not be hindered in its conduct of operations. The military rightfully guards its autonomy from civilian authority; understanding this and artful diplomacy must characterize the relationships between IMTs and military assets. It’s never easy, but the result offers a far more effective use of public resources and a more capable response.

Effectiveness when the need arises is fostered when planning occurs and relationships are encouraged. Late in the 1990s, FEMA assessed the potential for disasters nationally and initiated planning efforts in several parts of the country. The best available projections were used as the basis for appraising local capabilities and limitations in the event of potential events, bringing together federal, local, and state resources, and holding tabletop exercises with broad participation. After 9/11, however, the enormous shift in priorities allowed those efforts to languish.

It will be tempting for many to find essential fault with the NRP and to call for the creation of a from-the-ground-up plan, and there may be strong and visible support for that effort in order to hold blameless those who had responsibilities to act. Katrina does not offer a sound test of the NRP or the capabilities within it. Newsweek’s September 12 issue gives a full and clear accounting of the tortuous steps that occurred between the disaster and recognition of its effects at the White House, DHS, and FEMA, notification, approval, mobilization, and effective response. Last year’s response to the Florida hurricanes, even though the impacts were so much less than those of Katrina, provides a better example of the nation’s capability to initiate a response, inasmuch as federal authorities were in place, and mobilization and prepositioning of resources occurred in advance of the event.

Hopefully, the investigations and inquiries to come will clearly separate the soundness of the NRP from its performance in Katrina. I believe we will all be best served if we build upon the NRP, and provide the funding and focus to improve our mutual performance under the Plan. Clearly, the victims of disaster cannot fend for themselves beyond some level of impact, and the need for an integrated, national strategy is absolute. That strategy is already provided in the National Response Plan.

NorCal Tom

I put it on the page that lists 2 and 4 year schools with fire education. If anyone has additions, send 'em in. Ab.

It started just before dark on a Sunday night on a sheer bluff and ran uphill fast. 50 foot flame lengths in brush and timber not burned since the 1970's, and boulders the size of desks were coming down the hill so fast they were denting the steel guardrail 2 feet in. The slope was 90% to 100%, in brush so thick you couldn't see through it, with no place to put a safety zone. So no, we did not put anyone on direct attack until daylight. There were structures in the area, so we set up structure protection for the night, and started making plans for day shift.

By daylight, it was already almost the full 175 acres, and we went direct on it with handline, supported by bucket work. On the east side of the fire, it was a roadless area all the way up into Wooly Creek and the Marble Mountain Wilderness Area, and the fire was heading that way. If we had not hit it hard the next day, the fire could have burned through the entire wilderness area for 20,000 acres plus. As for ordering the T2 team, I don't know how others do it, but on the SRF we use a Complexity Analysis worksheet to decide the complexity, and on the first night, this fire had too many "Yes " boxes checked, and by policy, had to go to T2. The team ordered up most of the aircraft, and that drove the cost way up. To save the Oak Bottom Station, over 20,000 gallons of retardant, and 60,000 gallons of bucket drops were needed.

I agree, we should be able to get Fuels money in advance, but this fire's location would have never been treated anyway due to the slope. We have had more fires in the area lately, all of suspicious origin, so it's not lightning lighting these.

Folks shouldn't second guess the I.C. unless they have had to make the same decisions in their careers, sometimes these choices are tough, but under those conditions, would YOU have gone direct on this fire at nighttime?

-MJ

I don't mean to be tough on you, but you statement of expecting "5 of whatever" when you ask for a strike illustrates two other problems.

First, not all resources come 5 to a strike team. Crews and dozers are examples. This may be a California vs the World difference. In California, a crew strike team is two crews w/leader. Dozer strike teams are two dozers w/leader and a dozer tender. Additional operators are typically additional (overhead) requests, but not always. The additional operators are for 24 hour operation.

Secondly, the federal agencies outside of California are not as keen as California on ordering strike teams. Most of the times I have dealt with requesting federal resources outside of California, the order is for, typically, 5 single resource engines. Later, at the incident, they may be formed into a strike team, and a STEN is ordered on a separate overhead order.

California, due to it's large number of resources, is much more comfortable with strike team ordering.

bluezebra

The dull chain issue be batted around here is simple, yes there may be a few take this saw and go cut, and lot of experienced keep-the-chain-sharp folks are there also. The keep-it-sharp folks are probably tired of sharpening their chain after every cut... Why? Flooding with all the sediments, etc have settled, embedded into the bark or surface of whatever needs to be cut.

Mt. Saint Helens created a whole new (temporary) job in the timber industry when recovery of lumber started. At first chains were discarded after very few bucks. The new job created was a person going ahead of the sawyer clearing the bark from the trunk of the tree all the way around at the mark for the buck, extending the life of the chain in the Blast down timber. The fine ash from the eruptions was very abrasive to the chains.

Not in NO yet,
Chogi

Thanks Martin and Tom. Sorry for the delay in posting. This got caught in the spam filter. Please continue to let us know what's happening. BTW, the crew with the Fort Apache banner were on CNN tonight. Ab.

Hello from Louisiana,

Plenty to say, little time to say it. As you can imagine after three or four days this has been an incredible incident to witness or be involved with. We have 10 of our normal 22 person Team #10 members, plus an additional three non-Team #10 CDF personnel added to the Plans Section.

They are calling us CDF Katrina Task Force. Our assignment or task is to help the Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Department (who is the Incident Command for this incident) implement the ICS system and help plan their response to hurricane Katrina. A lot of the people assigned to the state of Louisiana or FEMA are not very knowledgeable or fluent in ICS. Each one of our CDF personnel is assigned to our equivalent counter part for the state of Louisiana. The expectation is that we advise, teach, give technical expertise or help in anyway possible. I work with Operations Section Chief Colonel Bill Doran. He is very capable, has been great to work with, and very much appreciates our input.

We’ve been accepted with open arms and have made great strides. We’ve been sleeping (a few hours a night) in an open tent that houses about 100 cots/metal beds. CHP has a tent of 110 personnel in a tent across from us. Don’t feel too sorry for us, there is Cajun caterer called Monda’s that has prepared three outstanding meals a day. After the initial day of meeting our counterparts and receiving some down and dirty briefings we went to work. By the end of the first day we had the Colonel Cliff Oliver who is the IC saying we need to do that “Unified Command Thing” with FEMA on this hurricane. Our team is working out of the State EOC in Baton Rouge where the state response is based out of and the Joint Field Office (JFO as the locals refer to it) where the Federal or FEMA response is based out of also in Baton Rouge. The second morning we did an operational briefing for the approximately 200 people working on the EOC floor. They said it was the first briefing that they’ve had. The second day the Louisiana personnel did the first of their briefings and are doing very well.

We also have been working with an USFS Area Command Team out of the Southwest and Washington D.C. to help implement unified command. Some of the FEMA people are even completing a real basic ICS-215 and starting to do a planning cycle.

I haven’t flown over the devastated area yet, but a couple people from our team have and tell me you can’t believe it until you see it. Besides the ICS stuff I mentioned, the local, state, and federal people have significant body recovery, long-term housing, hot political issues and other major recovery items that they will be dealing with for a long time. There is year’s worth of work to do here regardless or what they decide to do.

The security and news media really increased today; there is an army of TV and satellite trucks parked outside of the SEOC and the JFO. It was rumored that President Bush and Vice President Chaney were going to be here today, but I didn’t see them. I did see General Hanore and almost tripped over the Reverend Jessie Jackson who was sitting in the EOC lobby this afternoon.

I don’t know if you’ve seen any of them yet, but our team has been sending daily briefings back to Sacramento H.Q. on a daily basis. It’s my understanding that Sacramento is encouraging the local units to distribute media releases, etc. regarding CDF’s response to the hurricane.

I better get going and go to bed. I’ll be checking my email periodically and my cell phone service/coverage has been very good if anyone needs to get a hold of me. I’ll talk to you soon.

Thanks,
Kevin

I believe the ICS you are referring to is wildland related. In the municipal fire service different departments use different terminology according to their geographic location, some departments refer to a grouping of engine/truck companies as a "Strike Force" or "Task Force" depending local sop, but they use the Nationally taught ICS (the last 30+ years) and the Unified Command System but theres no mention of "type 6 engines" LMAO. Not meaning to be critical but there is a more complex side to firefighting than wildland fire. But what do I know I just teach for the National Fire Academy and Mellie...A Quint doesn't not necessarily have to have a bucket on the end of the aerial, a Quint is just a beefed up pumper with a aerial stuck on it lol.

About these blogs about National IMTs managing major incidents, anyone that knows any better, knows that the National IMTs do just fine handling the logistics of an major incident as was posted earlier here. Just because the political lackey that was the head of FEMA didn't know his butt and a hole in the ground, doesn't mean that people need to go screaming for a major change as to who takes charge of a major incident. FEMA now has a top notch man running the show, a REAL Firefighter. Keep the National IMTs doing what they do best.

Jess T
Division Chief

Hi Jess, in your kind of ICS, what are the ICS training requirements for the leader of your "strike team" of 5 varied resources? I'd like to know if they're the same as the requirements for our "task force" of 5 varied resources. If there are no common terms and training in the shared system, how do we know if those we work with are qualified? For that matter, when the IC gets on the horn asking for a specific kind of resources, how does he know what he will get? Ab.

<rolling on floor laughing>

I think a quint is one of those long engines with a telescoping ladder with
bucket on top that can put out high-up fires and rescue people from tall
buildings.

Do city engines not have drafting capabilities at all?

Mellie

Congress is in fact working on legislation to make more spectrum available for public safety
agencies however it is tied to the transition from analog to digital television... a controversial
issue.

Energy & Commerce is planning to move a spectrum bill this session of Congress and Rep.s
Weldon & Harmon held a press conference a few days ago to push for quick action on
the spectrum issue in light of the interoperability problems stemming from Katrina.

I'll post more as it becomes available.

Casey Judd
Business Manager
FWFSA

Readers, please keep fulfilling your pledges to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. Thanks. Ab.

Mescalaro Apache

Firehead must not be given false hope. To be a private contractor is very difficult (politics play a huge role) and expensive.

We have two top of the line type 6 engines and trained crews (we also have a no tolerance rule) from our local fire departments (this was to help us out crew wise and help local dept get their people out for more training). This is our second year of struggling. Contractors have a bad name just about everywhere any of them go and the govt hasn't helped to resolve the situation to weed the bad from the good (on every assignment we have had we have received an excellent performance review); but that hasn't helped to continue to promote a good working relationship to mend the fences as far as contractors go. Our mission statement is "Setting a new standard".

Firehead is better off getting on volunteer department and going forward that way. They are always accepting volunteers.

As for us, we won't give up until we absolutely have to (financially) but the govt has to give us the chance, and our contracting officers I think should help to promote us -- especially when we have proven how exceptional some of the contractors are with good working equipment and crew members with all of their credentials.

Setting a new standard.

Thanks for going to help New Orleans. The USAR team and other resources from California definitely provided some needed skills from what I've heard.

You're absolutely right on in saying I should update my research on fast response times. The times I posted were from 2000 - the BIG WILDLAND FIRE season when the military came to assist the IMTs. Now that's always uncomfortable with both sides going thru the "mating dance". (Not surprising with the alpha male leadership thing - and I'm PROUD of both groups. Both my parents were military.) Anyway, the military at that time of the 2000 conflagration said they didn't have as quick a response capability as the IMTs. We all know that practice makes perfect, or at least faster; and the Iraq War has provided lots of practice for quick response for the military since then. So, as you suggest, I will check and update.

That said, I don't think this should be a "deployment time competition" between the military and the IMTs. I do think we need to figure out how to use our real capability as best we can to have the fastest response possible. I do think there's a better use of both military and IMTs for this country than what is currently being suggested. It will take planning to coordinate it and a leader with the President's ear to oversee it.

As far as my comment about Cavuto, you're absolutely right. With some more research, I've found it was Cafferty. I didn't remember which person at CNN I wrote to. I guess Cafferty is fairly new in his function on that segment of CNN and may still have name recognition problems. [I usually don't watch much TV and I don't think I ever watch Fox (?). So when I was writing to theysaid and couldn't remember, I hollered out into a room of people "who's the media guy who asks questions and you send emails in and they read them on the air?" Some names got hollered back and I picked the wrong one. Oopsie. Thanks for the correction. (With embarrassing similarly, I was educated by this theysaid bunch several years ago as to who Vanna White is. <grin>)]

On another note, I talked with a friend working relief in New Orleans last night. He told me about people still being rescued (by the military). One 91 year old house-bound woman was rescued yesterday. She hadn't the means or the money for evacuation beforehand. After the storm passed and the levee broke, she was in a wheel chair and alone and couldn't escape. The water had risen up her body to her neck following the levee break, then it stopped at her chin. It slowly receded. Weeks of time went by. She had drunk the water to stay alive and eaten packages of food that had floated by, she had pooped as she sat. The water was at calf and ankle level for many days. It finally got low enough for her to push debris aside, wheel herself to her door and to catch her rescuers' attention. Now I'd say that's a case of serious Deep Survival. With spirit, courage, resourcefulness and commitment like that as an example, it seems we could all come together to figure out how to craft a truly workable rapid response plan for this country.

Finally, if anyone knows and could tell us about the difference (and pros and cons) regarding the Federal Response Plan (FRP) that had FEMA stand alone in contrast with the newer National Response Plan (NRP) under DHS, I'd like to hear it... FEMA has always been cumbersome, but FEMA tapped the agencies. What about the NRP? I know they can tap the agencies as well, but with an added level of bureaucracy. Is there any built-in standard in the NRP that they activate the IMTs automatically?

On human factors... When we get thru the "deer in the headlights" initial mental chaos phase of any emergency, individually and collectively, we fall back on what's known and practiced. When we don't know and haven't practiced the optimal responses for collective survival, bureaucracy (and rules) may provide a level of comfort for those in charge, whether federal, state or local. It's no wonder there was a "relaxed mobilization" in the case of Katrina. It's an effect of human factors at every level. I think we can PLAN and PRACTICE to do better.

Wes, thanks again for your contributions to the effort. Seeing those USAR and fire resources from my state in the city of my childhood made me feel a tad bit better - less helpless anyway, like someone was there to try to help those I couldn't help.

Mellie

Let me offer a belated congratulations to the men and women who fought the Geary Fire.
They hit it hard on IA and had the fire 50% contained by the time the team mobilized.

I agree that fuels treatment is a lot cheaper than open checkbook fire fighting. Who knows,
maybe the pendulum will swing and fuels management and logging will take precedence
over owls and other critters.

viejo

“When Captain Craw first arrived at the FEMA JFO he began to establish a relationship with his FEMA counterpart in order to provide State representation and advice on Incident Action Plan (IAP) development.” 9/14/2005

“His accomplishments to date include assisting FEMA with proper IAP development and insertion of an Incident Command System-203 into the IAP.” 9/14/2005

“Captain Craw is preparing to teach I-100 and I-200 to interested FEMA and State personnel that are working out of the JFO.” 9/14/2005

“Yesterday, Chief Smith and his USFS OSC counterpart had an opportunity to introduce the ICS-215 process to FEMA and State personnel during the Planning Meeting at the FEMA JFO.” 9/14/2005

“Chief Winton is pleased with the performance of the Task Force and believes that they are headed down the right path. He encourages the Task Force to continually re-evaluate their mission, maintain situational awareness, and provide the mentorship necessary to make the State of Louisiana successful in the aftermath of an unprecedented natural disaster.” 9/14/2005

Here are some additional links that may be of interest.

www.fema.gov/txt/nims/nims_ics_position_paper.txt
www.fema.gov/txt/nims/nims_is700.txt
www.fema.gov/txt/nims/letter_to_governors_09082004.txt
www.fema.gov/txt/nims/nims_compliance_fy2005.txt
www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20030228-9.html
www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/12/20031217-6.html
www.fema.gov/txt/nims/nrp_letter_from_secretary_ridge.txt

Lobotomy

You may get an answer from another source sooner, but I have contacted
an acquaintance who is a staff person for the House Homeland Security
Committee and will post info just as soon as I receive it.

Casey Judd
Business Manager
FWFSA

If it the incident falls in the severity category, people should be using the correct code. Ab.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

September 15, 2005

Federal Wildland Firefighters Respond to Katrina

Dear Colleague:

Our Nation's federal wildland firefighters continue to risk their lives battling devastating blazes throughout the West to save many lives and property of others. Now the call of duty has brought them to save lives and property where Hurricane Katrina has uprooted families and communities. Once again these brave men and women work side by side those who toil in the same harrowing conditions, but are not paid equally for their valor. These firefighters deserve our federal support by rectifying long-standing inequities in their pay system.

The standard pay system forces these firefighters to work long and dangerous hours to receive premium overtime compensation. The high risks and poor pay not only create safety hazards, but also hurt the recruitment and retention of quality firefighters. And when the need arises, be it fires in the West or rising waters in the South, these federal firefighters respond. Government should issue equal pay for equal work.

The federal Wildland Fire Service Association (FWFSA) reports, "whether they are 10 miles from home or 3000 miles from home, federal wildland firefighters are paid for only part of any 24 hour period while the federal government pays other firefighters on the same fire their full, 24 hour salaries."

Further, the FWFSA says "in many instances, our federal wildland firefighters are dispatched for up to 21 days away from home. They may go from one fire to the next without returning to their home state for 3 weeks." The catastrophic devastation in New Orleans and elsewhere is a poignant reminder of the heroic work of our firefighters who respond in time of need.

The Federal Wildland Firefighter Emergency Response Compensation Act will properly compensate these firefighters for all their time on the job and allow their retirements to be supplemented for their hazardous service. For more information, or to become a cosponsor of this bill, please contact me or Lucas Frances at 5-1947.

Sincerely,

RICHARD POMBO

JR

Aviation P25 Radio Implementation within the All-Risk/Fire Community

Tom Cable, Incident Commander
News Release Hurricane Katrina, Jackson Support Base, New Orleans, LA
Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 12:00
Incident Information
Contact: Martin Esparza or Tom Lavagnino

New Orleans, LA., -- Important logistical support for the various emergency workers and agencies continues and expands as the California Interagency Incident Management Team 5, under the command of Tom Cable, organizes and coordinates facilities to provide hot meals, wash stations and showers in and around the City of New Orleans at different support bases.

The base camp established at the City of New Orleans Water Treatment Plant is in full operation and city workers now have a location where they may comfortably and safely live while repairing the entire water distribution system. One of the top priorities for the city before citizens may re-enter the city is an adequate supply of potable water. The treatment plant did not sustain major flood or wind damage, but the water distribution infrastructure throughout the city must be inspected and repaired as needed. City workers will stage their operations from the treatment plant each day and return at night to a hot meal, showers, and a cool place to sleep.

Hand crews assigned to the Jackson Support Base are cleaning up important parks, historic sites and public places in the city. One example is the Jackson Square Park which sustained heavy wind damage in the storm. Located in the heart of the French Quarter, this recently cleaned park may serve as the stage for elected officials to address the media and demonstrate the recovery of the city.

The morale of the emergency workers and members of the military remains high as their basic living conditions are met and enhanced. Each day many obvious improvements to the city become evident as the recovery and clean-up progresses. Full recovery from the storm will take many months to complete. The long-term health and welfare, or maintenance of the emergency and recovery workers is an important function in the restoration from Hurricane Katrina.

The Incident Command System (ICS) has proved itself time and again as a reliable and flexible organizational tool ready for any major incident. This major interagency effort brings together many recovery and relief agencies whom have learned to appreciate the power and success of this universal system. ICS provides a common "language" and structure for all agencies and the military to use when communicating with each other. Wildland fire fighters have successfully used this system for years along with many police and structural fire fighting organizations. As more agencies are introduced to the merits and concepts of ICS, a greater acceptance will develop. The emergency response to Hurricane Katrina will be studied for years, and ICS will be one of the many highlights of the overall effort. California Interagency Incident Management Team 5 is proud to be a part of this historic emergency recovery effort.

• Federal and civil transportation support
• Transportation safety
• Restoration/recovery of transportation infrastructure
• Movement restrictions
• Damage and impact assessment

ESF #2 – Communications

• Coordination with telecommunications industry
• Restoration/repair of telecommunications infrastructure
• Protection, restoration, and sustainment of national cyber and information technology resources

ESF #3 - Public Works and Engineering

• Infrastructure protection and emergency repair
• Infrastructure restoration
• Engineering services, construction management
• Critical infrastructure liaison

ESF #4 - Firefighting

• Firefighting activities on Federal lands
• Resource support to rural and urban firefighting operations

ESF #5 - Emergency Management

• Coordination of incident management efforts
• Issuance of mission assignments
• Resource and human capital
• Incident action planning
• Financial management

ESF #6 - Mass Care, Housing, and Human Services

• Mass care
• Disaster housing
• Human services

ESF #7 - Resource Support

• Resource support (facility space, office equipment and supplies, contracting services, etc.)

ESF #8 - Public Health and Medical Service

• Public health
• Medical
• Mental health services
• Mortuary services

ESF #9 - Urban Search and Rescue

• Life-saving assistance
• Urban search and rescue

ESF #10 - Oil and Hazardous Materials Response

• Oil and hazardous materials (chemical, biological, radiological, etc.) response
• Environmental safety and short- and long-term cleanup

ESF #11 - Agriculture and Natural Resources

• Nutrition assistance
• Animal and plant disease/pest response
• Food safety and security
• Natural and cultural resources and historic properties protection and restoration

ESF #12 - Energy

• Energy infrastructure assessment, repair, and restoration
• Energy industry utilities coordination
• Energy forecast

ESF #13 - Public Safety and Security

• Facility and resource security
• Security planning and technical and resource assistance
• Public safety/security support
• Support to access, traffic, and crowd control

ESF #14 - Long-Term Community Recovery and Mitigation

• Social and economic community impact assessment
• Long-term community recovery assistance to States, local governments, and the private sector
• Mitigation analysis and program implementation

ESF #15 - External Affairs

• Emergency public information and protective action guidance
• Media and community relations
• Congressional and international affairs
• Tribal and insular affairs

If you think it could never work… think of each of the ESF functions as a Branch Director (A qualified Branch Director ordered for his or her skills representing the Agency with the NRP responsibilities of the responsible agency)…. The system is already in place… it is called the Incident Command System or National Incident Management System. FEMA and DHS has no clue on how it should really work when it is implemented properly.

All of the ESF Functions would just fall under the Command and General Staff of existing IMTs through a letter of delegation. It’s a pretty easy concept… Let IMTs manage incidents and continue to get the specialists they need as they have always done in the past. The Northridge Earthquake and Northern California Floods were great examples of letting Incident Management Teams do what they do best, manage incidents.

1) Incident Commanders and their command staff know how to manage incidents......
2) Operations Section Chiefs know how to perform operational elements of the mission or who to delegate those missions to.....
3) Logistics Section Chiefs know how to provide for the support of the mission and the team...
4) Planning Section Chiefs know how to organize a plan to get the mission done.......
5) Finance Section Chiefs know how to keep track of and manage the costs of the incident and how to get the bills paid and how to get things purchased or contracts secured to obtain the mission......

Sorry for the rant… ICS and NIMS works well, the process for incident management needs some big corrections when a Federal Disaster Declaration is obtained in the future.. it means we need federal help and assistance and are welcoming it without resistance...!!! Just a thought… Turf wars are not an excuse..... There needs to be some discussion about letting Incident Management Teams actually manage incidents they are called to.....

Lobotomy

I finally viewed a positive media report about the federal government yesterday morning on CNN. Although the reporter really had no clue about what the 5 land management agencies are all about, he started his live broadcast by saying "one federal agency known for emergency operations in remote locations is making a difference here in N.O. and they are the Forest Service". He proceeded to interview Tom Cable who did an outstanding job with the interview discussing how his team has been relocated to N.O. to develop a new camp.

Casey and all with the power of the keyboard,

1. We MUST make sure that the work of the 5 land management agencies are doing is known to everyone that has a say in the budget process.

2. Any White House review, Presidential commission, House or Senate inquiry or any group that will be formally asked to review the Katrina response, must know how our Land Management Fire Managers and employees performed. They must know of our efforts, they must know what our agencies can bring to the table to develop a better national response to emergencies. They must know of our sincere desire to get more involved. They must know what the MEL funding of 2001 did for our agencies and negative effects of the projected FY2006, 2007 and 2008 budgets will do for national emergency response. No formal report should be issued without the names of our agencies clearly recognized for our efforts, leadership and additionally document are abilities to manage emergencies while working with local and state governments and the military.

Portal to portal, HP for retirement----> OK that's important, however energy needs to be shifted immediately to a new priority------> Maintain our current MEL organizations and improving our role in national emergency management is now MISSION CRITICAL !

The average American family and for that matter probably the average American Congressional representative when they see us in our NPS, BLM, FS, BIA fire trucks or at our fire stations, campground or visitor centers, they say "look kids over there are Smokey's Helpers". That must change to: "look kids there are some of the America's finest emergency responders".

Whether we are in front of a camera like Cable or in front of our computer screens, we must get the word out about what we do. And more importantly, what we could do if given the authority and funding to perform.

Signed,

No Boundaries

HEAR HEAR. Ab.

Excellent. It's good they divided the report into downloadable chunks (pdf files). I put the link with the others on our Documents Worth Reading page. Thanks to everyone who worked so hard at getting this report up on the internet, including Colorado Firecamp which has a html version, and various people in the private sector and in the USFS who contacted CDF to press a bit. Thanks also to those in CDF who worked on this and dealt with the various bureaucratic and political pressures. Ab.

I updated several critical wlf.com pages the other day. In researching updates for our links page, I found that SOUTH OPS does have the beginning of their new GACC format, HERE. Hopefully they'll upgrade News and Notes as time permits.

FYI, I also updated our Type I and Type II teams pages and added a page for FUM teams, since they no longer have their own site. If new sites are created by any of those teams, please let us know. Ab.

Now is the time to let the media know what the IMTs do so well. Cavuto on CNN asked the question the other night: "Should the military should take over in natural disasters?"

I thought HELL NO, the IMTs should be given authority to do it. The military is pretty fast at organizing for disasters; years ago I did some research and like they could do it in 48 hrs. BUT, the IMTs are able to organize even faster, by half a day. AND their mission/vision/experience is not military, but disaster relief oriented. Water and food and formula drops would have been among first actions... along with rescue. Why is this country not using what we have? Cut thru the bureaucratic stuff and just let IMTs do their job!

I don't want to make response seem like it could, should, or would happen instantaneously, but you gotta admit, we have LEADERS with training and EXPERIENCE in setting up the practical priorities for survival, as well as the legal and financial structure for disaster response.

Anyway, I wrote in to CNN's Cavuto (first time ever doing the TV-media blog thing <snort>). It was only moments in my west coast time before Wolf Blitzer read answers on the air. So he obviously didn't read mine. But hopefully it and other responses like it will prompt CNN to look at the teams. Do they realize that the teams do most of the work. Look at this map! I tell you all...Those are FIRE TEAMS! Let's get the WORD out to the media!

Mellie

Safety Fax
IMT Safety Officers
Larry Grimes – Safety Team Leader
Hurricane Katrina Emergency Response
Date: September 14, 2005
PPE Fact Sheet for Flood Response Work

The Safety Assistance Team in consultation with the Center for Disease Control, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) provides the following interim guidelines and warnings to flood cleanup workers. The hazards in flood waters are likely variable and can include sewage, household chemicals and cleaning solutions, petroleum products, hazardous industrial chemicals, pesticides, and flammable liquids. Workers must also be aware of dangers from physical hazards such as obstacles covered by flood waters (storm debris, depressions, drainage openings, ground erosion) and from displaced reptiles or other animals.

Workers and volunteers involved with flood cleanup should avoid direct skin contact with flood waters if possible and through the use of appropriate PPE and clothing. In most instances, the selection of PPE will be dependent on site-specific conditions, hazards, and tasks. The list below provides interim guidance on PPE and clothing for flood response workers responding to Hurricane Katrina:

• Workers who must walk through debris and building material should wear serviceable workboots. Tennis shoes or sneakers should not be worn because they will transfer contamination and will not prevent punctures, bites, or crush injuries. Hip waders may be appropriate to help prevent contact with flood waters.
• Heavy, waterproof, cut-resistant work gloves or other types of protective gloves may be required if handling identified material hazards; gloves not disposed of after use should be cleaned with soap and water and dried between uses.
• Wear goggles, safety glasses with side shields or full face shields. Sun/glare-protective lenses may be needed in some work settings.
• Wear soft hat or other protective head cover. Wear an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) rated hardhat if there is any danger of falling debris or electrical hazards.
• Hearing protection is needed (when working in an environment with any noise that you must shout over to be heard.
• Comfortable, light weight clothing including long pants and a long-sleeved shirt or coveralls should be the standard dress unless otherwise indicated by a hazard assessment.
• Cleanup operations involving incidental exposure to airborne dust produced by drying silt or mist from pumping floodwater should include the use of NIOSH approved, N-95 dust masks. Those given the N-95 dust masks should be instructed on the proper donning and use. For work involving higher, prolonged level of exposures, an occupational safety and health professional should be consulted to reevaluate PPE selection for particular tasks.
• In the event of skin contact with the contaminated water or debris, employees should wash thoroughly with soap and water as soon as possible.

In all instances, workers are advised to wash their hands with soap and clean water, especially before eating or drinking. Workers should be encouraged to carry and use liquid hand sanitizer. Protect any cuts or abrasions with waterproof gloves and dressings.

Flood waters are associated with strong odors but these odors do not indicate the need for use of respirators. However, additional PPE, respiratory protection, or clothing may be required when specific exposure hazards are identified or expected at the work site. In some instances, the protective ensemble components (garment, boots and gloves) may need to be resistant to contaminated flood or other site-specific chemical, physical, or biological hazards.

The use of insect repellant, sun block and lip balm may also be required for some work environments. Drink plenty of bottled water and take frequent rest breaks to avoid overexertion. Updated vaccinations (within the last 10 years) for Tetanus-Diphtheria are recommended but not required for workers involved in hurricane response.

Contact: Larry Grimes or Allison Good (678) 441-5125

Here's what several people have told me about safety in New Orleans.

The Agencies with fire teams and crews are working hard, with daily conference calls to address firefighter safety. HR and Environmental Safety folks are involved. Safety advisories have come out and are pushed to the field (we hope) as as new issues have been identified. There'll be new safety guidelines that come out soon, perhaps tonight, that address respiratory protection and clothing, among other things, for crews in the field.

Everyone going to hurricane recovery country to help should

• know what you're getting into
• expect and demand safety briefings; each Agency should be doing safety briefings
• follow the safety advisories; even if they're just recommendations, get the crews to follow them
• be careful when you're there, even a simple scratch can be dangerous
• if you have safety concerns you feel are not being addressed on site, raise your concerns up the chain of command.
• If you're an ESF4, you are not supposed to be assigned without being under the supervision of an IMT.

This is a watchout situation, like going to a new region to fight fire in terrain and fuels that are not in your experience. Firefighters who worked at the Twin Towers did not know the air they breathed was a health risk. It's like that. Study up, then ask yourself what else could be dangerous.

New Orleans is reportedly a very ugly scene to see, smell, taste in the back of your throat, and feel. It is quiet, no gunshots lately, but here are some things I've been told that people have said stay in their minds:

• buildings like the superdome and Convention Center are so awful in smell, look, feel and health risk that they'll likely have to be condemned; there's no escaping the fact that people were there and suffered on a grand scale
• there's hazardous germ-y standing water and, in places that are drained, a thick layer of toxic stinking sludge
• there are piles of dangerous refuse everywhere, including medical refuse
• hundreds of thousands of houses are damaged by water and are being taken over inside by mold
• bodies still must be recovered and identified
• pets are waiting, sometimes crying for their owners on the porches surrounded by water
• there's a pervading stench of rotting flesh, fuel, and chemicals, made worse by the heat and humidity

Molumby's Type I Team with FEMA set up the Disaster Mortuary Operation Response Team (DMORT) for New Orleans. Paul's Type II Orca Team may now be aiding with process of recovering the dead. (I haven't been able to confirm that.) Cable's Type I Team is working in the French Quarter.

The NICC website has good information on Health and Safety.
The Center for Disease Control - Health and Safety website is pertinent.

Those in New Orleans and elsewhere are still having problems with communication. If you don't know about services for emergency personnel, there were two new services begun after 9/11 to help responders get a dial tone when phone systems are overwhelmed by everyone wanting to use them.

• WPS (Wireless Priority Service) is a service you can have added to your cell phone, set up by your cell provider, but it has to be authorized.
• GETS (Government Emergency Telephone Service) works on land lines. You get a phone card. When you use it, you get the next dial tone that's available. If you're going to help, look into these ahead of time or when there talk to the Communication folks who can tell you if you qualify and when you can use it.

When our folks get home, recognize what they're likely to have gone through. Be supportive.

If anyone has more to add or corrections, feel free to chime in.

Ab.

I've had safety concerns since I've heard some are dealing with body
retrieval and storage. Even refuse collection could be very dangerous.
Do people know that?

CNN reported last night that there have been more than 100 chain saw
accidents and some other kind of accident (can't remember). I think our firefighters
are trained in those, but I wonder about long term medical risk - the crap
and heavy metals and PCBs and rotting carcasses left when the water recedes
and the mold and germs.

As Mollysboy said -this recovery could go on for a while. What shouts
watchout? What's being done to insure safety?

Tahoe Terrie

PS The second one was carbon monoxide poisoning from running equipment like a
generator in an enclosed space. Carbon monoxide is a colorless odorless gas that
replaces oxygen in your blood and starves the brain of oxygen.

The year teams did hurricane, chicken, etc assignments everyone got pretty burned out. The fact that IFPM requirement deadlines are being pushed back indicates the need to look at the BIG manpower (& womanpower) issue... but at the same time top-down management is telling everyone that the federal fire budget is being cut significantly over the next few years.

I have a few things to say about the new fire budgeting program... It's being called it a train wreck... The new fire budgeting program (FPA = Fire Program Analysis) that replaces NFMAS is not workable or fixable. It's pie in the sky of some academic economist's mind. As the FS WO works on putting bandaids on the levee break, the Agencies, Congress and the Public are being flooded softly with BS as the water and the costs slowly but surely rise. By the time the higher ups admit there's a budget program problem with no solution, we'll have another financial and resource disaster on our hands. We will have spent millions on the Emperor's non-existent "new clothes". (OK what other nursery rhymes, kids stories and analogies can I throw in here???)

Bottom line is that FPA program DOES NOT WORK and the fact is being covered up.

NorCal Tom

PS. Excellent group effort on the socal ultra-run. Thanks Ken Perry and all. Thanks for the "window" on the action, Abs and reporters.

And there are still 45 days left in the "declared" hurricane season that ends about November 1st.

What happens if NorCal and SoCal both decided to have serious fire events like late 2003: can we respond? Does USFS tell FEMA that they can't redeem their ESF4 response requirements? How many of those Team folks are going to be willing to go on recurring Hurricane assignments throughout the Fall, Winter, Holiday season, and yes.....even into next Spring before family, bosses at home and individual burnout all say: ENOUGH!!! "Katrina" promises to be a bigger and longer duration operation than Columbia Recovery.

No answers, just questions and random thoughts. The coffee cup is dry, time to get some work done.

Mollysboy

There are 3 Type II Teams assigned to Katrina and parts of 2 CDF Teams. Does anyone have info on whether other western state teams have been called up? Ab.

It's pretty close. The WFF is saying that some people are donating more than they pledged and that others who did not pledge before hand are donating. We've taken down the pledge page itself. It's a matter of the work involved in keeping up with and merging additional pledges in the database that goes to the WFF. New folks can donate to the Foundation directly and say to put it toward that event. The WFF page is updated.

OA may rig us up some system that shows how much of the amount that's been pledged has actually been donated. Folks, keep sending in those donations. It would be rewarding to feel we'd hit the $52,000 goal with this. Ab.

www.ifpm.nifc.gov/documents/Decision_Paper_3_Final.pdf

Decision:
To ensure that fire management is able to fill these vital (temporary firefighter at the GS-05 and GS-06 level) positions and to provide consistency in IFPM Implementation all temporary employees will have until October 1, 2009 to meet the NWCG Incident Management Qualifications and Additional Required Training as outlined in the IFPM Standard. However, all OPM requirements must be met at the time of hire. Temporary employees will not be required to sign a condition of employment. After October 1, 2009, all temporary employees must meet all of the Minimum Qualification Standards at the time of hire.

For more on IFPM, go to the website: www.ifpm.nifc.gov/newdevelopments.htm

Nice job on the Run (Ken & Jaime, shots, etc) and on the support and fundraising Everyone. Awesome!

Mellie

Southern resource dude.

PS: I also heard from someone on one of the "Planning Teams". It was
indeed a planning section from an IMT sent to assist a FEMA office.
Perhaps the need for more interagency planning and coordination will
happen, and even fire folks incorporated seamlessly into a smooth operating
disaster relief system. With dreams, reality never happens.

To get a permanent career path firefighting job (primary fire) with the feds you must not have reached your 37th birthday. Readers, feel free to speak to other options. Ab.

Sexton, Krugman, Martin- combination of the Region 2 and 4

LW

I just had a question for you, I don't mean for this to be posted (in case I'm asking a dumb question even though there are no dumb questions!).......... On the National Rotation Schedule, the #1 and #2 teams are listed as Rocky Basin Area. However, on your list of Type I teams, there is only one Rocky Basin Team listed. When I go to their web site, I see that they indeed have only one Type I team with this name. My question is, if there is only one Rocky Basin Type I Team, why does the National Rotation Schedule have them listed as #1 and #2?

If you don't know the answer to this, I'm willing to post my mail. However, I didn't want to ask a dumb question, because after all, I am,

Information Diva

Readers? (She said I could post it.)

I wanted to send an e-mail to AB just to say that two little boys (Ken's nephews Connor 7 and Sean 4) were sleeping very soundly after their wonderful adventure of watching and cheering their Uncle Ken onto to victory. They still believe it was a race and the other guys just couldn't catch up to him. We finally just explained that it was a race against time. Maybe someday they will understand that everyday is a race against time for a firefighter - a hotshot or a smokejumper and we are the fortunate ones when they beat that clock on the fire. I also wanted to give thanks to Lori for the comic relief she gave the kids and those fabulous brownies and cookies (which Ian and I were enjoying at 8:30 pm).

Sunday morning, I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw how bright eyed and bushy tailed Ken was and the first thing he said to me was "You and the boys up for IHOP?" Ian and I were searching for Excedrin while Ken was lacing up his shoes with a smile. (Amazing stuff that Gatorade and Cytomax - maybe the support crew should have been drinking that too.) We went to a victory breakfast and then back to Ken and Wendy's house for a great morning of watching digital picture slideshows and the raw footage video Ian shot of the run. Ken held steadfast and strong throughout the entire run. Never did his footing falter and never did he give the impression that he couldn't finish. Tony and Melissa were also fantastic with their encouragement and guidance. Phenomenal were all of the other Firefighters and Hotshots running in support with Ken. A Big Thanks to all the Forest Service at Texas Canyon, Bear Divide and LA County FD for traffic support and the BIGGEST and BEST FINALE. Everybody went the extra mile to show his or her support and it is greatly appreciated.

Watching Ken run a distance that most people would only do for an out of town commute gave me the inspiration to start running too. So he gave me some shoe advice and a couple of hours later, I completed 4 miles on the treadmill and I ran 2 of them. It was a good feeling. Almost as good as the feeling of excitement for next years run!

Thanks for having the website available for posts.

Paula Perry

Fun for us too. Thanks for your family's participation. Ab.

I just sat down to the computer and started to catch up on Theysaid. As I read about Ken's run and the community support literally and figuratively running behind him tears welled up. When I was young, my mother always reminded me to say "Thank You". But "Thank You" seams so inadequate today. What I am really felling is Gratitude, with a capital G. The money is wonderful and necessary, but my feeling of Gratitude comes from way more than the monetary support. It comes from seeing the self-described Forest Gump poster child -- Ken -- running with all those wonderful fire folks behind him. Everyone involved clearly feels of the pride of belonging.

I am so grateful to ALL of you,
I want to thank Ken and also the Abs. I believe this website is the needle that weaves the different fabrics of us all together.
I know this office would not be what is today without our wonderful Melissa. (P.S. She is single.)
I'm pretty proud of ALL OF YOU........................

Vicki Minor
Director, Wildland Firefighter Foundation

Seems to us theysaid has been called names relating to needles, pricks, and other pointy objects before. (haw, haw) Saturday's run demonstrated once again that the value of the website is the community working together, whether sharing ideas or co-creating a project. There's amplified power for the good in collective voice and effort; the sum is greater than the parts. It's called synergy. The Abs on behalf of the community thank you for the compliment. (deep bows) We merely played our parts. We're proud of ALL of us too. The Abs.

There was a discussion in mid-July on La Sportiva boots. I think the issue had to do with how tall the boot was and that was only an issue for smaller people (who wore smaller boots). Do a search of that month and see what you find. Ab.

I just submitted my donation.

Kris B
Ahtanum 20

Todd

Hi Todd, I heard from Melissa that she and others did quite a number of press releases. The story was picked up by the Santa Clarita Signal and the hardcopy article had photos; it was described by the AP writer; and the LA Times even had a small story, which is big stuff. Melissa says thanks to Stanton Florea and Laurene Lopez of the Angeles National Forest for their hard work on getting the word out. Ab.

Former smokejumper runs to raise money for firefighters' families

Here's to next year! Ab.

Please go to www.wfap.net for applications. Look under Recruitment.

Thanks.
Scott Whitmire,
Assistant Coordinator

Our $5/mile, plus my $52 faith in ORCA hooking Blossom, prior to the run is in the mail.

Ken, you are a saint!

XXOO
Rush & Linda

You're welcome. Ab.

TF

CDF is in charge on this. They have not put the report up on their web or made it available on a large scale. To my knowledge, they have not announced it or released it to the media in any visible way. The FS is likely waiting on them, since that was the agreement. Here's the procedure our researcher had to follow. First you have to contact the CDF PIO who then contacts the CDF Legal Beagles, who burn a disk with the report and send it to you snail mail.

The procedure is likely complicated by bureaucracy and changing guidelines (or policy?). For example, in the future in federal investigative reports, firefighter positions only (not names) will identify firefighters involved. Reports will be written in such a way to make it clear that the person in a particular function did what without naming them. Lessons learned is about "the what not the who." The 2005 Accident Investigation Guide defines this. This investigative report, having been done in 2004, does not have to adhere to this new direction.

Regarding timing, remember, the Executive Summary was on the obscure CDF web location and discussed here weeks before the announcement of its location was officially made which then allowed the official FS letter to go out. I do think CDF will post it on their website fairly soon. In the meantime, you can read it via links HERE or HERE.

Accidents, burnovers, near misses, etc, etc "Lessons Learned" usually get discussed in the off season and included in training for the next year. I think that will happen with this report as well.

My thoughts and prayers for those feeling Eva's loss on this year anniversary of the burnover.

Ab.

Just a note to let you know Joe is home. He gets up walks around a bit. He just is in a world of hurt. One thing starts feeling better and something else starts hurting. He probably will be in his neck brace from 4 to 8 weeks. Ken and I want to thank everyone for all the good thoughts and prayers. The firefighters have rallied around and are helping out. He hasn’t lost his sense of humor because when the nurse in the hospital asked him how he felt he said turdlike. It is just going to take awhile. And of course Vicki, Burke and Melissa have been so good to us. They do so very much for families and firefighters.

Thank you,

Ken and Kathy Brinkley

Glad to hear he's home. Ab.

I got up this morning at 0500 to be ready to honor those who died at the World Trade Center with the rest of the US -- in the collective moment of silence at 0540whatever-early PDT. I was up early that morning of September 11, 2001 too. Like many of you, I remember exactly what I was doing when I first learned of the plane crashing into the World Trade Center. I was posting theysaid... when someone from the East Coast wrote in that a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers. It was the second email I opened. At that early hour, I immediately flipped on the tv and watched the horror unfold. I think my strongest lasting memory from watching various videos and reports that morning came after the first tower fell. The video went dark from the smoke and particles. All that remained was the sound of the doctor who was telling his story as it unfolded, and all the PASS alarms going off - which I knew indicated an inconceivable number of firefighters down and dying. I will never forget 9-11-01. Seems like a rich lifetime ago. I make every moment count.

Photos from the WTC and the Pentagon &
Elizabeth Cavasso's Journal

The finish was great! Carry on... Ab.

This is Johnny Mac and Murry Taylor writing to give you a high
five on your great run. You made us proud to say we knew you
and that you were an Alaska Smokejumper. Great spirit and thanks
for your inspiration.

Taylor and McColgan

Good job to you too, Ab, the maps and pictures were great!!

Jess

Thanks to those who continue pledging to the fund. Ab.

Ken - All I can really say is thanks. What you did was
great and it really shows what type of person you are.


I have also been looking through the pledge list and
have notice there still are a lot of Hotshot crews,
Type 2 crews and engine crews who haven't pledged yet.
Come on people show some support and donate. It
wasn't that slow of a year for most.

BILLFIRE

This Ab had trouble on my laptop yesterday until I downloaded it using Microsoft Internet Explorer. Normally I use Netscape (or Firefox). It may not have liked Netscape. Maybe I was just too busy to be trying to mess with loading a new program... Anyway, worked fine this morning in IE. After downloading iTunesSetup.exe, I ran it using the Run utility on the start menu (lower left green button) -->Ran it after browsing for where I downloaded the exe file to. It prompted for installing. As far as the video image... have you watched any other videos using a different program? Maybe your video card is not functioning... OA may have some other suggestions. If he does, I'll get him to email you. The sound was cool; now you know how our announcer sounds... and the wind, and the traffic... Video is even cooler. Ab.

Lori,

Thanks for bringing the brownies and cookies... they were the BEST!!!!! It was nice meeting you and seeing your great spirit cheering Ken, the runners, and the bikers on. What an inspirational day yesterday was......

It was awesome to see the wildland fire community come together so strongly to support the Wildland Firefighter Foundation during Ken's run. It is something everyone who was there, or contributed to by pledges or support, will remember for a lifetime. I am so proud of everyone who made Ken Perry's mega-run a success. It is the prime example of why wildland firefighters and their families choose this profession to be their "community".

Lobotomy

Could this be the beginning of an annual event? (OA, I'm feeling a little like Jerry Lewis, perish the thought!) I know, you don't ask questions about next year one until everyone has had one or more good nights of sleep... KCP's last email last night said he'd write in soon and he said

I had a great time. I feel amazingly good considering.. little sore, of course. But overall, great, and I'm sure that has a lot to do with my support team and everyone else.

I think I'll be enjoying the glow of Ken's accomplishment for a while... As one person said, this photo is priceless, Ken and Jaime lowering themselves to a sitting position as they get ready for the "official" photo. Discomfort there, the result of their 52 and 30 mile long runs... Awesome effort. The only part of my anatomy that was sore was my butt from the marathon of sitting while photo sizing and posting the great pics! Ab.

....how do I pony up? ..just send it in to WFF?

Pulaski

Sure, you can send a check or call them with a credit card number. Melissa may be back in the office in Boise tomorrow or Tuesday to take your info. I guess you could also PayPal it via the website, but PayPal takes a cut. We're mailing a check.

Wildland Firefighter Foundation
2049 Airport Way
Boise, Idaho 83705

Here's the website link for other options: www.wffoundation.org/index.html

When Original Ab talked with Vicki yesterday, she said that Joe is doing fine, all things considered. As of yesterday, he was released from the hospital and is going or has gone home. He's stiff and sore and healing broken bones. His dad said if he wasn't so hard headed the probably would have been hurt worse than he was. Word is that the McCall jumpers are taking good care of him.

When I talked with Ken Brinkley, Joe's dad, on Friday, he said Joe has gotten excellent medical care and seems to have no injuries that won't mend fairly well over time. Luckily Ken has some emergency medical background and knows what kind of questions to ask regarding treatment and prognosis. Not to minimize Joe's injuries or the healing that's necessary, but things apparently look pretty good.

Our best to all the Brinkleys. They asked us to share that your comments here and the support and love you sent means a lot to them, as does the support of the WFF. Ab.

According to the Hot List Forum, Anderson's Team is en route. Ab.

Just a note of thanks to the CA-SRF Fortuna ECC. A Wolf Creek HS needed an emergency demob to LeGrand, OR. Geary fire was in a remote location on the Klamath River on Hwy 96 near Somes Bar. Ground transportation was arranged to Arcata 2 hrs away. Fortuna ECC arranged a CWN aircraft for a direct flight from Arcata to LeGrand and had him on the plane by 1700. This was within 3 hrs of being notified in ICP Geary in Orleans, CA.

Also, a personal thank you to the California Highway Patrolman for extending a professional courtesy to our driver in his haste to make the airport on time, with only a very short delay!

Pass it on!
Pay it forward.

Rush w/NorCal Team2

Ed, Rick and the rest of the SRF dispatch crew, THANKS! Ab.

Katrina resources timeline

Bubba

Would you please keep us updated so we can have a historical record? Thanks. Ab.

Sincerely, Philip E. Hyatt

Yeah, me too. Photos are done. Thanks all. See ya again tomorrow. Ab.

More photos just came in --Champagne! Give me a minute to size and add 'em. AMAZING! Ab.

This has been and is so much fun for all involved.

THANK YOU EVERY ONE AND ALL!
Special thanks to Ken Perry (WOW), Wendy Perry, Tony Duprey (Ken's bike riding supporter who also briefed the Abs), Melissa Schwagerl (WFF bike rider who put up with my ribbing), Ken Kempter for his real-time photography, video clips and calls with updates, from Texas Canyon IHC -John Armstrong (Sup), Jeff Locke who ran 20 mi (!), Jaime Puente, who ran 30 miles(!)-, the rest of the Texas Canyon Hotshots and the the Bear Divide Hotshots who ran in support, USFS and LA Co engines that provided traffic control and support, Familysaid supporters who got together at Texas Canyon RD and elsewhere to cheer everyone on, Lori Greeno for support in so many ways including brownies, Shari, Lobotomy, FireBill and Others who kept beating the bushes in OR, WA, CA and elsewhere to keep the pledge list growing, GIS Girl for the original maps, Original Ab for weaving together numerous Google World maps and updating them, for posting Ken's real time video as well as for creating the pledge list database, Mike Lynn for the flyby and his wife Beth for support, Ken's family (brother, sister-in-law, and nephews Connor and Sean... and thanks to whomever else I didn't know about, probably some other fine folks at Lancaster Field. Anyone else? (Please let me know of any others so I can add 'em to this list!)

Thanks also to Laurene Lopez and Stanton Florea (ANF) for their good PR work with getting out the run info to news media.

Here's to a job very nicely done!

THANKS PLEDGERS!

Ab.

Chogi

Ab.

Check the photos and the videos. Ken K, the event photographer, even got a close-up pic of Melissa's calf while dodging her backhand! Way to go!

Ab.

Ken Perry passed the 40 mile mark about 15 minutes ago, at McBean Parkway and Copper Hill Rd. Only 10 more miles to go. Original Ab has updated the map. Bear Divide Hotshots (red shirts in photos) are running along with the Texas Canyon Hotshots (in blue). LA County Fire is providing traffic control.

Ken Kempter says he thinks Ken is stepping up the pace as he nears the end. He said he stopped to upload photos and had to go quite a way to catch up. Estimated end time is 1700 or before.

Carry on! Pledges are up to $43,087.20. Nice work! Ab.

Ken K called in at 1230 to say the runners were at the 29.6 mile marker. Jeff and Jaime ran with Ken to the reservoir in Spunky Canyon, almost a marathon length run! Good effort there! Jeff Locke stopped at the reservoir (20 mi) and Jaime Puente continued as he and Ken Perry were joined by a module of the Texas Canyon Hotshots. Jaime stopped at 29.6mi, but the hotshots will continue, to be joined by another module later and the Bear Divide Hotshots after that. (After the "lunch" break, Jaime later continued to complete 30.4 miles.)

Melissa and Tony continue to pedal.

Lots of good photos came in. This Ab is busy sizing them. Stay tuned. (Ken, we have a request for a photo of Melissa's calf muscles with her foot on the pedal.) Original Ab is looking for more quicktime of Ken running. Stay tuned on that, too.

People continue to pledge. We're at $42,463.20. Call your friends and family, your business acquaintances and suppliers. Get them to pledge! We can still do it!

Ab.

Tony Duprey called in at mile marker 10.3 just before going out of cell phone range to say all are looking good and feeling fine. John Armstrong, Supt of the Texas Canyon Shots handed out water as runners and riders went by.

Ken K called in at 1035 to say they were at the 18.5 mile marker and finally out of the punishing wind. He said they had gotten up the steep part of Bouquet Canyon and were heading downhill toward Bouquet Reservoir. The TC Hotshots - Jeff Locke and Jaime Puente - are still hanging tough and Melissa and Tony are still with them on bikes.

The families wanted to know if pledges were up since the beginning of the run. I was pleased to report that pledges are creeping nearer to the 52,000 dollar goal. We're at $42,151.20. Call your friends and family, your business acquaintances and suppliers. Get them to pledge! We can do it!

Ab.

Tony's "chase vehicle" is his bike and he's chasing. Also running is Ken's wife Wendy and the two Texas Canyon hotshots. Currently the runners are at 50th and Quartz Hill, West of Lancaster, mile marker 8.35 and doing very well.

The first batch of photos have come in and we're working to get them out. OA is updating the maps for time. The line goes from yellow to green as they complete a section.

This is fun! Those who haven't yet jumped on board, PLEDGE!

Ab.

Ken Kempter just called in saying that Ken Perry and his "entourage" just began the run. It's cold and windy. Not the best of conditions. Hopefully it will warm up. Two Texas Canyon Hotshots are currently running along. Melissa from the WFF is on her bike. Tony Duprey is in the chase vehicle. Ken K was heading back for his forgotten computer cable when he called. At some point soon we'll post photos of the start.

Here's a great map of the race route that OA carefully pieced together. It's from a variety of Google maps. You can make the map larger or smaller.

MAP of the full run

He's also broken it down into parts for repeated viewing. He's going to keep these updated with arrival times as Ken progresses along the route. You can access those from this list www.wildlandfire.com/kperry/maps.htm

You can still make contributions. Please do! We will keep the pledge list open. It's good to see authors Murry Taylor (Jumping Fire), John Maclean (Fire on the Mountain) and photographer John McColgan ("Elk Bath") jumping on board. Thanks for your support for the Wildland Firefighter Foundation.

Have a great day, All.
Run Central over'n'out (for the moment).
Ab.

Thanks Pierce and BME.
Thanks Western Shelter.

mvt

It's great to see all the overhead team friends in LA, MS, AL, TX and GA working on Hurricane Katrina relief. That map with the Incident Management Team locations (or whatever.youcall'um) is awesome. http://gacc.nifc.gov/sacc/predictive/intelligence/Resource_Map.pdf I wish there was the same for all the crews.

Having grown up camping, hiking, riding, taking vacations, BoyScouting around (my dad was scoutmaster) New Orleans and surroundings, I have mental images of each of the areas that are the ICPs, camps and staging rectangles on the map. The vegetation, the Spanish moss, the green leaves and water, the heat and humidity; the birds speak a different language and so too the people sound different. There's a different rhythm and speed. I'm glad to see teams are staying for 30 days and managing sleep as they go.

I can't help but think Rusty W and Dennis O and others got experience with typhoon devastation in the South Pacific working with FEMA and how passionate they are about making a difference; I wonder how's Jim S feeling and about Hattisburg MS and the heat, how Tom C and Pat K are handling the flatland and mosquitoes around Baton Rouge and what Jean P-T thinks of the Stennis NASA Space Center area of MS. (It used to be a lovely area.) I'm sure they're all fine and doing their jobs well. I appreciate their service. Same for the rest of you I don't know 'cept by name or reputation... Thank you all. We're in good hands when you're up and running strong... I can't wait to hear the stories and see the pictures.

If anyone knows what the BT means (in the rectangular bubbles on that map of resources) and what that BT person does - and the same for ESF4 - I'd be much obliged if you'd tell me. Yes m'am, yes sir.

Great Work on the mega-run plans and pledging for the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. Thanks Ken and supporters. I'll have to check in tomorrow to see how it's all progressing. Vicki, love your fire heart illustrations. You're right about that!

Be Safe where ever you are!

Mellie

To All Fire Equipment Distributors,

We at National Fire Fighter Corp. have decided to increase our donation to this benefit based on the extremely positive work that the Wildland Firefighter Foundation does for our customers and the fire industry as a whole and the need for a big push to reach the $1,000/mile goal. We are offering up a challenge to our fellow distributors to match or beat our $10/mile donation. This is a great chance to support the firefighting industry in a positive and immediate way. We hope that you will join us in support of Ken Perry and the Foundation.

The Staff at National Fire Fighter Corp.

Nice move! You should come and watch the run. Ab.

Ab and others, you know what I mean. It’s a feeling that can’t be explained with words. It’s a knowing. It’s a FIRE HEART that we have and that grows inside of us.

THANK YOU… ALL OF YOU, for your efforts in the fun…fundraising efforts.

Ken Perry THANK YOU. I am glad we don’t have to pay to fill you up with GAS $$ to go all those miles.

Vicki Minor

It's a feeling of being prepared for our families so we are free and can focus on the here-and-now with absolute single-mindedness.
Here's to all the FIRE HEARTS out there.
Ken and Participants, be safe on the road.
Ab.

Regardless of where you are at in 14 hours, I will honor my pledge for the full 52 miles.

sting

Ditto from the Abs.

Original Ab and I talked this morning. I will be available to post updates that Tony Duprey calls in to "Virtual Race Central" and photos and e-mails that Ken Kempter emails in. It should be fun. OA and I will provide more info as the day progresses. If others besides Ken K take photos and have a way to send 'em in, we'll do our best to post 'em. Melissa from the WFF who is riding along has leg muscles that would do a firefighter proud. Someone should certainly get a pic of her! Say hi to the Familysaid folks too. Ab.

Fair, equal and well put.

COPTER100

Thank you Cascade Fire. Ab.

Hurricane Katrina Response Daily Resource Summary
National Interagency Coordination Center
September 8, 2005

Hurricane Katrina Overhead/Crew Totals

Agency       Overhead  Crew Persons Agency Total
State/Other    448            490        938
BIA             17            280        297
BLM            112             40        152
FWS             99             20        119
NPS            147             60        207
USFS           978            320      1,298
Total People 1,801          1,210      3,011

Hurricane Katrina Crew Totals

Agency    Type 1   Type2 or   Camp   Total  Total
          Crews    2IA Crews  Crews  Crews  People

State/Other         23         3      26     490
BIA                  9        10      19     280
BLM          1       1                 2      40
FWS                  1                 1      20
NPS                  3                 3      60
USFS                11        10      21     320
Total Crews  1      48        23      72   1,210

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Date: Friday, September 9, 2005 Time: 09:00 am
Topic: USDA Forest Service Non-Fire Emergency Management
Issue: Interagency support for Hurricane Katrina

The following table contains current information on the location of Interagency Resources:

Resource Committed Mission Location
*Area Command Team      - Williams-Rhodes  Incident Coordination Atlanta, GA
Incident Mgmt Team (T1) - Quesinberry      Mob. Center Meridian, MS
Incident Mgmt Team (T1) - Pincha-Tully     Mob.Center/Base Camp Stennis, MS
Incident Mgmt Team (T1) - Gelobter         Base Camp Gautier, MS
Incident Mgmt Team (T1) - Wilcock          Staging Area Mgmt Selma, AL
Incident Mgmt Team (T2) - Hildrieth        Base Camp Mobile, AL
Incident Mgmt Team (T2) - Thomas           Base Camp Gulfport, MS 
Incident Mgmt Team (T2) - Smith            Base Camp Camp Shelby, MS
Logistics Mgmt Team     - Prevey           Mob. Center Maxwell AFB, AL
Logistics Mgmt Team     - Humphrey         Mob. Center Meridian, MS
Logistics Mgmt Team     - Jenkins          Mob. Center Meridian, MS
*Area Command Team      - Ribar            Incident Coord. Baton Rouge, LA
Incident Mgmt Team (T1) - Custer           Base Camp New Orleans Airport, LA
Incident Mgmt Team (T1) - Molumby          Base Camp San Gabriel, LA
Incident Mgmt Team (T1) - Cable            Base Camp Baton Rouge, LA
Incident Mgmt Team (T2) - Mullinex         Base Camp San Antonio, TX
Incident Mgmt Team (T2) - Stanford         Base Camp Hammond, LA
Logistics Mgmt Team     - Linebeck         Staging Area Camp Beauregard, LA
Logistics Mgmt Team     - Floyd            Staging Area Barksdale AFB, LA

• There are 33 Type 2 crews, 15 Type 2-IA Crews, 22 Camp Crews (70 crews total), 5 aircraft, and 2,100 overhead totaling approximately 3,900 personnel on the incident. Personnel represent 47 states.
• Currently the Forest Service has $215 million in spending authority.
• Assignments include the loading and unloading of supplies from aircraft and trucks, sometimes in record time. One wide-bodied jet was unloaded and refueled in only 55 minutes. 98 law enforcement personnel are assigned to the incident. Thousands of truckloads of supplies are being received and turned around.
• Two Type 2 non-FEMA tasked IMTs are assisting the National Forests in Mississippi in clearing downed trees and debris for opening roads on the Desoto National Forest and Chickasawhay Ranger District. Local families deep in the Desoto NF were happy to see the “saw teams” yesterday as access in and out of the area was restored.
• IMT (Wilcock) is facilitating the delivery of mobile homes for temporary housing. The team will manage the trailers from time of delivery until they are shipped to their final destinations. Thousands of travel trailers and mobile homes are in the process of being readied for delivery and/ or refurbishing.
• IMT (Philbin) is managing an evacuation center in Phoenix. A job fair was held at the AZ State Fairgrounds (evacuation site) with 44 employers participating. 50 evacuees attended and 30 were hired. There were 335 evacuees at the site yesterday.
• Early this morning, Hurricane Ophelia weakened to a tropical storm and was drifting away From Florida’s NE coast. However, forecasters are warning of the possibility the storm could regain hurricane strength once again and hit the SE US coast.
• On Wednesday, one of the largest solar flares on record was observed. NOAA forecasters predict this could cause significant solar eruptions for several days. This has the potential to disrupt power systems and high frequency communications for up to two weeks.

A link to a map with resources mobilized for Hurricane Katrina response is located at http://gacc.nifc.gov/sacc/predictive/intelligence/Resource_Map.pdf.

Just getting caught up reading all the post's. I noticed on the 9/7/05 post someone has spoke about a guy named Gordon. My name is Gordon and I am a supervisor/Captain in So/Ca and I know they are not speaking of me. Could this please be clarified to whom they may be speaking about. I know alot of folks in So/Ca that read this and may think it is me.

Thank You
Gordon- another one

Readers, this SoCal Gordon is another person, not the Gordon writing in last week.
Ab sez: Don't pick on the Gordons out there. And please note: the "Gordon" of that 9/7 "bad boy" post may only be a moniker...

I would like to agree with Shari. Choosing to spend your money at retailers that support your community is nothing new and it is a good way to hold business accountable to the community they profit from. Back in the old days most businesses were small general stores. Local people spent their money at a local store and that store put that money back into the business to offer more goods or services and spent that money at other local stores, making the whole community grow and supporting each other. Now fire equipment suppliers are not giants like Wal Mart, taking money from a community and then sending most of it to stockholders and CEOs in other states and even other countries instead of reinvesting back into the community that the money came from through living wages etc., but I would consider wildfire fire fighters and their families a sort of community and there are a few big suppliers of goods to this community.

There is nothing wrong with asking a company to help support the community that it profits off of, and there is nothing wrong with publicizing the response, or lack of, from that company. I know some people think this is a dirty word, but it is called 'activism'. Giving people in the community information so they can choose whether they want to spend money at a store that will not respond or respectful turn down a request for contributions is activism. The fund-raising itself is activism. Working for the greater good is not twisting arms, it's not like we are going to offices and staging sit ins and disrupting anyone's work, but information can bring powerful change. I don't see any slander or any other seriously uncool behavior going on, just a little pressure. People at companies will make up their own minds what to support and consumers will too. Hey, it's a free market baby !

I am happy with my Nick's boots and they'll be where I go for my next pair both because it is a good product AND they support a cause I believe in. There are good products from more than one company, what often tips the scales for me is the company's business practice. I think a little more awareness of how companies impact the lives and communities around them would go a long way, especially in America. Companies used to need a license to operate that had an expiration date on it and to get one they had to show how they would benefit the country. They needed to show that they provided a necessary service or goods that would help the country grow and prosper and the rights of a company were always subservient to the rights of the people. Now companies have more rights than people and they can even get politicians to use imminent domain to take prime real estate from its owners so they can line their pockets.

Sooo, keep up the good work and keep communicating with each other, you are making a difference!

Madfox

Well put. (Madfox, the delay in posting is that I just found this in the filter.) Ab.

You could have a look here:
www.firecache.com/prodinfo.asp?number=60.7455
www.firecache.com/products.asp?dept=76

FireCache/SupplyCache has excellent products and is a long time "give til it hurts" supporter of the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. Ab.

Whats up with <snip> company? If they cannot pledge or donate to something that helps all of us when we need it, GOD WILLING WE WONT, then why should we help them? I have spent alot of the tax payers money with them and now after I called them and got the same response I say hello Supply Cache..

Norcal Capt

Readers, I appreciate the strong response to Shari's post (thanks for "cutting through the BS", Shari), but please lets move on. I am not posting any more that names a company in a negative way than this one from Norcal Capt. (Hugh, gotta admit, your suggestion was particularly fun. And what did you call her? Girl warrior?)

I do hope that we all purchase products with a new consciousness, but remember that those who make big bucks off fire can't donate to the Foundation if no one has told them about it. We each can do a bit to educate and spread the word on what a great job the Foundation does. FireBill's way of thanking and also informing goes down pretty easy. Ab.

“Consistent with my objective of being completely candid about the Glen Allen Fire and its lessons, I have accepted this blunt yet effective teaching tool with full knowledge that it can be interpreted as being critical of many things. Yet, this tragic incident and this report must form the “anchor point” from which we shall progress, redoubling our efforts to prevent others from losing their lives in wildland fire fighting.”

“On that fateful afternoon, no one on Crew 2-2 intended to take extraordinary risks or to place themselves in jeopardy; none of them displayed a reckless disregard for their safety. Yet the sad outcome is now history. So that history does not repeat itself, this report must be accepted, not as a personal criticism of any individual or group, but as a recognition and sad reminder that the dynamics of a wildland fire have the capacity to mislead, deceive, maim and kill experienced, aggressive fire fighters.”

Colorado Fire Camp also said as part of their website, "Colorado Firecamp shares those beliefs. We believe the purpose of investigating these tragedies is to learn the lessons. The Tuolumne Fire report should be made public".

Thanks to the Colorado Fire Camp for putting on the heat and helping get the report released. Lessons learned are so important to the wildland fire community.

I challenge everyone who has not pledged or spread the word about the Wildland Firefighter Foundation to do so now. I especially thank everyone who has already pledged and spread the word!!

Keep up the good work and keep the folks safe!!!! It is the least we all can do.

Lobotomy

Ab.

Sounds like some Familysaid members might be gathering at Texas Canyon. Check Familysaid for Ken's estimate of times. We'll be keeping theysaid up with the progress if you call it in, Tony. Photos anyone? I'll be here... and willing to post... Ab.

Thank you Nimrod. Ab.

I appreciate your enthusiasm for the WFF and Ken's run. You have some good points about the choices we all have when it comes to where we spend our dollars, and I agree in choosing where we spend. May I suggest to make the calls but do not hold the companies hostage... to pay or we will make you pay. If they do not donate just do not use them anymore if that is your choice. The money built it - this run is a great thing But we do not need money by the twisting of arms, or threats. The world is full of well meaning, good people. The world is full of lying, greedy people. Walk through them with grace, Hold your head high and don't let the bast*rds get you down. Thanks for all your help for the WFF.

CW

So, here it is folks….here’s an open challenge to call those people you spend thousands and thousands of dollars with to purchase fire shelters, tents, fire clothing, boots, nozzles, packs, sleeping bags, headlamps, training materials, etc. and rattle their cages. Maybe they just need to hear about the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. Maybe they just need to hear what happens to families when they lose a firefighter husband, wife, son, or daughter...or friend. Maybe they just need to understand how important this foundation IS to us, and why.

Shari Downhill

:) FireBill

> From: "Gary Scott - Nicks Custom Boots"
> Subject: RE: Wildland Firefighter Foundation
> Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 12:27:46 -0700
>
> Hi Bill, thank you for the high praise. Dick, the owner, printed out the
> form and is sending a donation in. Thanks for the heads up.
>
> Gary Scott
> Nicks Custom Boots

Thank you Nick's Boots. Ab.

Chief Supply -Jackie Jones or Jeff Tousa
Lab Safety Supply -Paul
LN Curtis -Paul Curtis
All Star -Joe Sposo
Fire Etc -Bill Black
Masterbody -James Coats
Darley -James Long
Firehouse Trade Show -Mary G
Mallory Company -Avery Loy
Drews Boots -Pat
Eagle Gear -Joey Colombo

What about Total Fire Group, FireStore.com, and Fisher Safety?

no-name

Vicki from the WFF just called in. She was over to see Joe Brinkley at the hospital. She says it's hard to articulate the thoughts and feelings there... thankfulness, concern, community, family, fire, love...

The whole Brinkley family has gathered, as well as a steady stream of firefighters who are managing to tease, harass and tell jokes as firefighters do. So imagine a hospital room with two beds, one bed with Joe and the other with visitors sitting and visitors and family standing around. As people speak to him, Joe asks them to come over closer so he can see them without having to turn his head. He's pretty beat up with stitches and a neck brace but reportedly is doing ok.

As I write this, the WFF staff is rounding up a few of Burk's soft shirts that can be modified to fit Joe without having to go over his head. They're also moving a large donated travel trailer into the hospital parking lot to support the family.

There's been a request for a large old fashioned, canvas-style yellow shirt, if anyone has one to donate. I think it would look just fine there in that hospital room. Contact Ab for where to send it.

I just talked with one of your staff on the telephone regarding the Ken Perry fundraiser for the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. I was a bit taken back by their response and their quickness to hang up the phone, as well as their expressed disinterest in the Wildland Firefighter Foundation fund raiser or the work they do. While I’m proud of you for donating to the Hurricane, I’m disappointed that your company is not interested in supporting a foundation put in place to assist wildland firefighters and their families. If you should decide to find out more about WFF, the website is: www.wffoundation.org.

As there are many companies which market firefighting equipment and supplies throughout the country, I will be purchasing the equipment, clothing and supplies I need to support my company and employees from those who have stepped to the plate to support the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. I can only speak for myself, but I’m committed to making the money our company earns and spends count when and where I can. This is one place I can do that.

I hope you change your mind in terms of supporting the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. If so, we’ll see your name on the pledge list. If not, you won’t see my face in your warehouse, nor my check in your bank deposit envelope again.

Sincerely,
Shari Downhill
Northwest Timber Fallers, Inc.

Ab followed this up before posting and got the same abrupt response as Shari. Go figure.

What about E-one, Masterbody, Nextel, Motorola, Bendix King, Dell, even Wal-Mart, Oakley, Alaska Airlines, Time Warner (Ted Turner has a house in Montana.)?

The amount of money and support that some of these groups could give would be huge, and would really help out the WFF, and triple the goal for Ken.

How much do you think we all spend with our cell phones, and quite a few of us use Nextel, and they are at all of the major fire shows. If we all start to write letters or call, email etc. hopefully it would help.

RR

Want to check around for some contact info so we can email or call them? Ab.

Companies and contact info:

National Firefighter Corp has pledged. Thank you.
The Supply Cache has pledged. Thank you!
True North Gear has pledged. Thank you.

Cascade Fire Equip Co 800-654-7049 or sales@cascadefire.com
Ben Meadows www.benmeadows.com/custserv/contactus.htm
Galls 1-866-290-3390 help-desk@galls.com
L N Curtis & Sons 1-800-426-6633 or smackenzie@lncurtis.com or kwinsheimer@lncurtis.com or dsporleder@lncurtis.com
Stihl www.stihlusa.com/contact.html
All Star Fire Equipment, Arcadia CA 626-652-0900
Chief Supply www.chiefsupply.com/contact_us.html 800-824-4338

Please give our best wishes for a speedy recovery to Joe and extra strength to Ken and Kathy, Seth, Josh and the rest of the family. What a heart stopper! WFF folks, you hang in there too. Melissa, we still expect you to make it to SoCal for Ken's run.

Readers, for those of you who haven't met the Brinkleys who lost their son Levi on Storm King, they are a wonderfully remarkable, positive, activist, Wildland Firefighter Foundation supporters and part of our firefighting community. Our thoughts and prayers for them.

Ken and Kath, give those grandbabies a hug too. We must count our blessings. You Brinkleys are among them. Ab.

Readers - Call those companies that you buy fire products from and tell them to make a donation. Companies that are making big money off fire should also support our fire families. (FYI, National Firefighter Corp made a pledge/donation early on. Good for them.) Let's get those other distributors and businesses to pony up. There should be some big fire company names on our pledge list by run time. If someone wants to send in names and contact numbers so we can all get on the phone, please do that. We can keep a running list here that makes the contacting easier and lets us all know who's been contacted and who didn't pledge yet, as well as those who did. Carson Helicopters who was mentioned on theysaid over the last week should make a pledge, for example. Who else? Ab.

You, Buddy, have an attitude and it ain't a good one! It is distressing to know that there are individuals who knowingly and willingly ignore and break safety requirements. And then have the gall to brag about it. I hope I never see you on any fire that I am involved with. Ab is right, you're a disaster waiting to happen. I feel for the poor soul who has to do the paper work on you.

It is also distressing to know that there is one safety officer out there who didn't give you the correct safety equipment or have you return to camp and get the correct safety equipment. It's people such as yourself that give supervisors and safety officers night mares as well as too damn much paper work to do. We don't need people like you on the fire line!

I'm hoping that you are just being a moron and trying to get a rise out of people and that you aren't really serious about wearing inadequate and unacceptable safety equipment on the fire line. But, if you are serious............. do us all a favor and stay home. It is obvious that even if you have the correct equipment it doesn't mean you have the correct attitude.

OrFF

I didn't use the "D" word. My comments were strictly "tongue in cheek" (to keep from laughing). I doubt that Gordon is a risk to himself or anyone on the fireline. <tongue in cheek> Now that I consider it... Disaster? Well maybe... Ab.

Robert William Tonasket

Nice one. Ab.

http://archive.hpwren.ucsd.edu/cameras/MLO.jpg

http://archive.hpwren.ucsd.edu/cameras/MW.jpg

From the web cams. Mt Woodson and Laguna

SoCal CDF

As we understand it, the Forest Service signed off on it on May 11, 2005 with the understanding that it would be CDF's place to release it. The person researching its status for us has told us that CDF plans to release it on their website. They have not yet done so, although it is currently and officially a matter of "Public Record". If you would like to obtain a digitized print quality version of the report, you can contact CDF and they will send you a CD containing the report including high quality photos and appendices which you can print out. The file that is for reading online and which we provide here is complete, but only of web or computer presentation quality.

The wlf.com link to it follows:

Tuolumne Fire Report in pdf format (5.95 MB, 183 pages with web quality photos, maps, etc)

Note: This is a large pdf file that takes several minutes to download if you have DSL. The report contains no redactions.

Readers, please remember that making such investigations available is about "Lessons Learned", the goal being that firefighters will recognize dangerous past situations so as to avoid similar situations in the future. Ideally the lessons get folded into training. Please remember as you read it that it is about understanding "the what, not the who" -- that is what happened and what we can learn from it, not who did what so as to place blame.

Colorado Firecamp had the report available briefly a week ago. They have made it available again via links in their left-hand table. They have divided the report into 2 parts: the Report Body and the Appendices. We understand they'll also make available separate photos for training powerpoints. Stay tuned there.

My thoughts and prayers for family, friends and others touched by this tragedy.

Be Safe All, the fire season is not over.

Ab.

JR

As the date for Ken's run approaches, I realized that the day of his run will be the 6 month anniversary of John's death. I was floored by that fact. It seems like just yesterday that I saw John's friends and coworkers coming up our driveway with tears in their eyes to tell me that John had been killed in a helicopter crash, and in that moment, our lives changed forever. While reflecting on this, I started to do some soul searching and came up with some thoughts that I wanted to shared will all you firefighters.

John, like all wildland firefighters, spent much - if not most - of his summers away from his home and family. Not only was firefighting John's job and passion, it became our way of life too. Everything revolved around where dad was, how long would he be gone, and when was he coming home. While we learned to cope with this and go on with our daily lives, thoughts of John would pop up constantly. Is he doing OK? Is he eating alright? Is he getting enough sleep? I wonder what the weather is like - I hope it's not too hot for them. Are we going to hear from him today or will it be days before he can get to a phone? We would watch the news hoping to get a glimpse of what he was facing, always aware of the dangers. Vacations weren't taken in the summer and birthdays were sometimes missed. Time would go by and then we would get the phone call we had all been waiting for - Dad's coming home!! We lived for hearing his helicopter flying over our house after a fire assignment to let us know they were safe and that John would be home soon.

What I hope you all realize is that our story is not unique. All of you have someone - mother, father, sister, brother, husband, wife, boyfriend, or girlfriend who lives with these same experiences and thoughts everyday. While you are out on the fire lines dealing with stressful situations and problems, the families that are left behind are dealing the their own set of problems and concerns. When you are involved in a firefighter's life, the fire gets into your blood also, and it's a flame that can't be put out. Although it may flicker and burn a little less intensely for me now, it will always be there. I guess this is what makes losing John so hard. Not only have I lost the person who loved the kids and me unconditionally and who was my piece of heaven on earth, but I've lost a lifestyle, one that revolved around John's job.

While I am finding it harder than ever to cope with my loss, I know that much tougher times are yet to come. One of the constants throughout this whole thing has been the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. My first contact with these wonderful folks came in the form of a check to help us through the first months until some money started coming in, and then with the presentation of the wildland firefighter's statue at John's service. However, over the last 6 months, they have become so much more to me. Vicki and her gang have given me a shoulder to cry on, a place to visit where fallen firefighters are treated with the utmost respect, and they're always willing to give me a helping hand whenever I need it. Knowing That I had somewhere to turn in the days and months following John's accident, and that they will be there for our family in the years to come is a huge comfort. The only thing they have ever asked from us is our friendship. Our family will get through this thanks to the support we have received from the entire fire community. Our deepest thanks to all of you. I hope and pray that none of you ever have to go through this experience, but know that the Foundation will always be there willing to help in any way they can. All of us need to support them, now and in the future. So, if you haven't signed up to support Ken in his 52 mile quest, please, do so now. And the next time you head out the door to a fire assignment, make sure you hold you family close and tell them that you love them.

Lori Greeno

Greeno lives on in spirit and you will always be a part of this community. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Lori. Give the kids a hug from all of us. Readers, this is why we all need the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. Ab.

Greetings,

Just another update. For those that plan on being here for the run on Saturday, the latest weather report is calling for breezy conditions and drizzle in the LA basin. That is slightly different than yesterday's forecast which called for a warming trend over the weekend. Drizzle in the basin means more than likely a deep marine layer, which could extend into the Santa Clarita Valley (end of the run), so bring a windbreaker or sweater with you.. It shouldn't be that cool, however (70's to 80's). But bring sun block and warm Wx clothes too, for this afternoon Fritz may be telling us something completely different.

I will be out at Fox Air Base at 0630 on Sat. Clay Myers (base manager) will be there also to help us out. If you get there a little early, and the gate is closed, just hang out for a bit. The sunrises in the desert are awesome. Again, we will have a short briefing and hand out some maps. If you are a little late (after 0700) you can meet up with the group either at the fire sta. (130) on Ave J and 40th West (about 0745), or at the parking lot at Albertson's on Ave N and 50th West (about 0900) or along the route, of course. Just remember that this is not going to be a quick endeavor, so find a Starbucks, and hang out.

Again, thanks to all that have pledged this event. I am looking forward to this Saturday (even though I am also looking forward to a 52 mile headwind, if the forecast is accurate)....Thanks to all that show up, and to LA County Fire.... They're planning a visible presence. And to Wildlandfire.com for all of this help they've given.

See you Saturday @ 0630

KCP.

There's a hand-drawn map at the Foundation site above. Also, this post on maps came in several weeks ago from GIS Girl:

There are three (to scale) maps of Ken's run.
They are in PDF format
Start (1:24,000) 36x44
Finish (1:24,000) 36x44
overall run (1:150,000) 11x17

She was having trouble sending them over e-mails so she put them on an FTP site for you to check out.
ftp://ftp.nifc.gov/Statewide_GIS_Data/CALIFORNIA/WFF/

• what your current assignment is and
• everything else is a rumor.

R8 Guy

Being the Safety officer for our Dept, all I have too say is AMEN

Old Man of the Dept

<tongue in cheek> Yeah Gordon, and we all know if you try to outrun the Old Man of the Dept because he looks really ANCIENT, watch out. Undoubtedly he will outstay you, catch you and collar you - or worse. No firefighter has yet stepped up to admit they are older than he is and have passed the PACK test at the ARDUOUS level. My guess is that he's also old enough that he carries a "switch" for the bad boys... Ab. <carefully removing tongue from cheek>

Ab will forward any replies. Here's a good link for info on seasonal federal wildland firefighting for a start.

Hi Evert. I know there's not much wildland fire in the Netherlands, but it's interesting to visit your website. It would be easier for non-dutch speakers to navigate if you didn't use frames to restrict direct links. Ab.

Good progress on the pledges for Ken's Benefit Run. Keep up the good work! Challenge your friends! Ab.

MG

Matthew Branch
State of South Dakota
Hand Crew Superintendent

As a helitack foreman on the Sawtooth NF in 1973 I wore a metal Bullard hard hat.
I still have it. The IR crew was also wearing them. I do think that in 1974 metal was
out.

JR

right on!

Warren DuBois, FS retired

From IMWTK:

Q: When were hardhats first used?
A: Started looking online for information on hardhats. Found on the National Agricultural Library pictures starting in 1952 where hardhats were showing up in pictures of western firefighters in Idaho. Colorado firefighters weren't using them in pictures about the same time. But from 1953 on hardhats were common, which the 'Saladbowl' appearing to be the choice. One picture in '63 showed the cap style, but that's the only one found. (Hickman)

Evangeline

Well the Directors have done it again, we were canceled two hours into
flight to Mobile Alabama for Hurricane Katrina support. No reason....just
canceled. Don't they watch the news??? A Presidential declaration of
disaster... A media opportunity to show leadership and actually help our
citizens of this great nation! What is the FS thinking... work the disaster
you have, not the one you may or may not get.

S527

Where Did Your Money Go?

Did you know that more than $33 of your 52 Club Membership at the Wildland Firefighter Foundation goes directly to help families of fallen and injured wildland firefighters? We know that everyone wants 100% of their money to go toward the people we are here to serve. No one wants to help pay the rent, lights, or other necessary expenses. However, those expenses are necessary, and this Foundation strives to keep very low overhead.

We have 2.5 paid employees and one regular volunteer that work daily to answer calls, keep in contact with nearly 100 survivor family members, send out orders from our website, process 52 Club Memberships, correspond and reply to inquiries with a number of private, public, and government agencies. We attend a number of industry related conferences throughout the year. And, we work closely with spouses as they go through the process of getting, or appealing PSOBs, and provide a helping hand to agency and contract employers as they help spouses apply for benefits.

Our efforts for wildland firefighters are not all centered on raising money and processing 52’s. We have daily contact with many government and private individuals discussing and doing our share to recognize and tell the story of wildland firefighters. Our efforts this year have been big. Installing the first public piece of art and recognition for wildland firefighters in a public venue required enormous amounts of planning and diligence to come to fruition. The statue is gaining attention and will help in our efforts to install others in more public places.

Our first ever “Family Day” was an amazing event. We hosted 130 survivor family members at our warehouse over Memorial Weekend. Your 52 helped us pay for this wonderful gathering of families. So much more healing took place among these mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, and children than we could ever accomplish with phone calls, cards, or flowers. Laughter, tears, memories, and compassion flowed. The resounding input we’ve received from families: “We want this to be a yearly event. Yes, the memories still hurt and it stirs things up, but it is well worth it.” Next year we hope to have an actual fire camp set up for the families to get a feel for what their firefighter experienced as they worked the fire lines.

To give you an even better idea as to where your money goes, here’s a breakdown for you:

• 22 memberships helped us pay for parents of an injured firefighter to get to his bedside.
• 13 memberships pay for one bronze statue to be presented at a funeral or memorial.
• It takes 97 memberships to send $5,000 to one family that loses a firefighter.
• It took nearly 50 memberships to pay for 2 weeks hotel expenses for a wife to stay close to her husband while recovering from burns at a burn center in Minnesota.
• One afternoon for our office to shut down and spend four hours with 3 airlines to get 23 crewmembers to New Hampshire so they could say good-bye to their fellow ‘shot - priceless.

These are just a few examples of where your money goes. We haven’t scratched the surface as to the ongoing support we provide to our families, new and “old”, as they continue to live each day with their loss. That support requires money. We receive no federal, city, or state money. Our funding comes from you – we work for you – our efforts are for you. The thanks for this support doesn’t come from us, it comes from those families that you have helped serve in a time in their lives when they are truly suffering the greatest loss they will ever know. For them, we thank you.

Wildland Firefighter Foundation

Evangeline

1. Tetanus and diphtheria toxoid (receipt of primary series, and Td booster within 10 years)
2. Hepatitis B vaccine series for persons who will be performing direct patient care or otherwise expected to have contact with bodily fluids

There is no indication for the following vaccines given the anticipated conditions in the region:

• hepatitis A vaccine (low probability of exposure, even under these conditions, in U.S.) No transmission from contaminated water has been identified in the U.S. since the 1980's. Hepatitis A outbreaks have not occurred following other hurricanes or floods in other parts of the country, including the devastating hurricanes in Florida last year, and the Midwestern floods of the late 1990's. The Gulf Region has had few hepatitis A cases in recent years, with less than 10 in the past 3 months reported from the New Orleans area. Thus, even though the water and sewage systems are damaged or out of operation in many areas along the Gulf Coast, the risk of a hepatitis A epidemic is extremely low. Vaccine will take at least one to two weeks to provide substantial immunity.
• typhoid vaccine (low probability of exposure, even under these conditions, in U.S.),
• cholera vaccine (low probability of exposure, even under these conditions, in U.S., plus no licensed cholera vaccine available in the U.S.), or
• meningococcal vaccine (no expectation of increased risk of meningococcal disease among emergency responders).
• rabies vaccine series (the full series is required for protection). Persons who are exposed to potentially rabid animals should be evaluated and receive standard post-exposure prophylaxis, as clinically appropriate.

Also see post above. Ab.

Mellie

Will do.

I want to say a BIG thank you to Mike and Beth Lynn for donating the use of Beth's bike
so that I can ride with Kenneth as he does his run. Mike is Ken's flying partner.

Thank you to everyone for your great support of this amazing effort! And, just to bring the
idea home as to how long a run this is - it's like running the Boston Marathon TWICE!

Go Ken Go! See Ken Run!

Melissa
Wildland Firefighter Foundation

There will be t-shirts for sale at the start of the mega-run... Ab.

MS

Be Safe. Ab.

The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise is preparing for an even more extensive Interior/Agriculture commitment. In a report released yesterday, NIFC calculated what resources it could release for the recovery effort while still maintaining a sufficient reserve to fight wildland fires.

Managers of NIFC’s participating agencies are prepared to make available

• 2 area command teams,
• 8 Type 1 IMTs,
• 20 Type 2 IMTs, and
• 155 crews.

They are also prepared to dispatch

• aircraft,
• materials stored in the eleven geographic area caches,
• radios, and
• contracted services.

Shep

Issue: Interagency support for Hurricane Katrina

Background: Category 4 Hurricane Katrina made landfall with 140 mph winds on the gulf coast of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida panhandle Monday morning August 29, 2005. Damage assessments of the coastal and inland areas affected by the hurricane continue. Destruction of existing infrastructure in the affected areas has made travel and communications difficult. Initial assessments are still being conducted.

The following table contains current information on the location of Interagency Resources:

Resource Committed                            Mission             Location

Area Command Team          - Williams-Rhodes  Incident Coordnatn  Atlanta, GA
TypeI Incident Mgment Team - Custer           Base Camp           Baton Rouge, LA
TypeI Incident Mgment Team - Quesinberry      Mobilization Ctr    Meridian, MS
TypeI Incident Mgment Team - Pincha-Tully     Mobilization Ctr    Stennis, MS
TypeI Incident Mgment Team - Gelobter         Base Camp           Jackson, MS
Logistics Mgment Team      - Prevey           Mobilization Ctr    Maxwell AFB, AL
Logistics Mgment Team      - Humphrey         Mobilization Ctr    Meridian, MS
Logistics Mgment Team      - Jenkins          Mobilization Ctr    Meridian, MS
Logistics Mgment Team      - Lineback         Staging Area        Camp Beauregard, LA
Logistics Mgment Team      - Floyd            Staging Area        Barksdale ARB, LA
Planning Team              - Terry            Planning            Orlando, FL

• 1 Area Command Team,
• 4 Type I Incident Management Teams,
• 5 Logistics Management Teams,
• 1 Planning Team,
• 37 Type II crews, and
• 954 Overhead
• totaling 1,674 personnel on the incident.

Currently the Forest Service is tasked with 30 mission assignments totaling 28 million dollars.

Anticipate an order for one additional Type I IMT for deployment in the New Orleans area.

All Southern Region Forest Service employees have been accounted for.

Contact: National Incident Information Center, 202-205-1450, niicfam @ fs.fed.us

• the first, who the hell is in charge? is it FEMA, senators and representatives, W, state police, the military, or an IMT?
• the second, exactly what JW was saying, why does it seem that the wheel is being recreated?
• lastly, if a IMT is not running the show, why aren't they running it? isn't this what an Incident Management Team does? are things so political, and people so prideful that they are not willing to let experienced people deal with the situation at hand?

it's hard to sit back and not get frustrated knowing that we have teams and a system, already set-up, that is effective and works.

i believe that the victims of this tragedy deserve the best, and right now, uncle sam, is not taking care of it's OWN people. let's hope and pray for better days to come.

nuff for now...

Hack

I would like to throw this idea or suggestion out to all of the AOBD, ASGS, and ATGS that are on a team. I was recently up in Montana on a fire assignment managing a helicopter. After our shift was over I went out to dinner with the pilots and I asked them what they thought of having a sand table at the morning and evening briefings. One of the pilots is a reservist for the Army and he thought it was a great idea, the other pilot didn't know what sands tables were until we explained it to him. After I explained the use of sand tables he also agreed what a great benefit they would be.

The sand table will give the pilots a visual of the terrain, hazards, fire perimeter, dip sites, and helispots. I think this would be a big benefit to the pilots and give them a more thorough and visual safety briefing. I think it will also get most of the pilots in the briefing to speak up if they have any input because they will have something to refer to and give a visual of what they are trying to explain.

What do folk's think about this?

An-R5er

Here's a link to another useful web page.
http://disasternews.net/index.php

And here's what the CDC recommends about infectious disease following a hurricane:
After a Hurricane: Key Facts About Infectious Disease (pdf file)

Hickman

Apparently this email on vaccinations is circulating behind the scenes. Ab.

__________________________________

If possible, we should forward this email to the ICs and crews dispatched to the Katrina recovery effort. Federal Occupational Health recommends vaccination before arriving at the recovery effort. Vaccines could be obtained at the local clinics or hospitals before departing to the area. The individual's Agency would be responsible for the vaccine cost.

Personal hygiene is paramount to prevent transmission of Hepatitis A following work in a recovery zone. Please note the increased diligence on the Tetanus booster to the last five years versus the normal span of ten years.

The DOI contact for further information is Bob Garbe, DOI Office of Occupational Health and Safety, @ 303-236-7112.

If I can be of further assistance, please contact me at your convenience.

Kevin Jensen
Interagency Medical Standards Program Manager
1249 South Vinnell, Suite 110
Boise, Idaho 83709
208.947.3753 (phone)

Date: 8/30/2005

FOH Disaster Advisory #1 - Vaccinations

Several federal agencies are deploying folks to the disaster area to assist in the local and state recovery efforts. FOH staff may be getting questions regarding recommendations we have for vaccinating federal employees who might be traveling or working in the impacted area.

Here are our recommendations for deployment to the disaster:

All staff traveling to area should be given:
1. Tetanus. If not previously vaccinated within the last 5 years.
2. Hepatitis A vaccination. If not previously vaccinated with the two-shot Hepatitis A series. Should Hepatitis A vaccine become unavailable, staff should be given Hepatitis A Immunoglobulin. Employees DO NOT need both.

Staff participating in the following activities should be given the indicated vaccination:

Staff providing direct healthcare OR medical / rescue activities will need: Hepatitis B immunoglobulin. If not previously vaccinated with the Hepatitis B series. If time permits and the employee is likely complete the Hep B series go a head and start the vaccination series with the immunoglobulin. Otherwise, just give the immunoglobulin.

Staff providing support for animal control (e.g., dogs, bats, etc.), capture, treatment, or care should be given: Rabies immunoglobulin. All employees should be educated that they should avoid any encounter with an abandoned or loose pet. If they are bitten, it should be reported ASAP to the JFO (Joint Field Office) or local medical personnel.

Steve Scott, MD, MPH
Associate Medical Director
Federal Occupational Health
Seattle, WA 98121
I will stay in touch with the CDC and make sure as the situation changes we put out additional advisories.

9 days to go. Again, I'd like to thank all that who have pledged for my ultra-run. And boy has it been taking off in the last few days.

I'm in the taper phase now. Eating lots of high calorie food (pedia-sure makes good shakes). Running low mileage. That's tough to do, but that's what works. Staying away from people with colds, etc.

Vicki seemed a bit worried this morning on the phone that I might injure myself, or push beyond limits. Well, let me say Ultra-running is all about finding those limits and going right to the edge of your personal ability. It always amuses me a little when firefighter friends say to me how crazy this all is to run this kind of mileage. I ask them if they have ever worked REALLY hard on a fire (digging line, climbing, hiking....with little food and or water) for 16 or even 24 hours straight? The answer is, of course. So, I get to eat and drink as much as I want, wearing a few ounces of clothes. Does anyone need to run this much? Absolutely not. 20-30 minutes a day is all you need to stay healthy, right? So again, it's simply about DOING IT. The same reason people climb Everest, yes? The same reason a few individuals show up at Badwater, Death Valley in July every year, and set off to run 130+ miles in 120+ degree heat halfway up Mt. Whitney. And if they do it in the allotted time, you know what they get? A belt buckle.....and the satisfaction (personal) that they accomplished what they set out to do. No money, no Wheaties box covers.

So for Vicki, and those that show up on the 10th...RULES, and warnings. (Clearly some of these are meant to be humorous, but true nonetheless)

I will be in a great mood at the start of this thing. Be advised that that mood may very well change. Unfortunately, I don't know when or where that will happen. My mood may swing. Giddy one minute depressed and sobbing the next. I WILL be confused later in the run...no doubt. Someone may look me straight in the eye, and ask me a question (Wendy can attest to this) and I may not answer, or give an answer to a question asked of me an hour ago.

Please don't give me any food that I did not bring with me. The stomach is extremely touchy about these things. Lori, I will eat as many of your cookies as I can after the run....Yes, and then promptly throw them back up again. Although, I may ask the bike riders to carry a pouch of pretzels, and or Gummy Bears. Or I may ask them to run an errand to the support rig for something specific....Thanks, in advance...because I may not thank you then.

The fluid thing is fairly scientific, so don't feel bad if I wave off Gatorade, or other "Ade".... However, anyone that is holding a bottle of Mt. Dew at mile 40, may get it swiped.

Folks riding bikes later on in the run, please, please don't weave too much. It's going to be an extremely slow ride, but last time I thought I was going to fall over a few times from vertigo.

Anyway, overall, even if at times I may not look like it, I will be having fun. But more importantly, it is again, about doing it. In the case doing it for a good cause. So for those that show up, please have fun also. And be safe out on the road.

Thanks again for everyone’s support. We’ll see many of you; hopefully, at Fox Air Base on Sept. 10th……. Run starts promptly at 0700.

KCP

TO ALL FWFSA MEMBERS

The registration deadline for the Membership Conference to be held in Reno on Dec. 2-3 has been extended from today, 9-1-05 to 10-15-05. The conference is extremely important to all federal wildland firefighters.

Registration for the event has been slower than anticipated so we'll chalk that up to the fire season. If you have misplaced your conference package and need new material, please contact Casey Judd directly at (916) 515-1224 or FWFSAlobby@aol.com for a new package.

For those who have recently contacted Casey regarding FWFSA membership, we thank you VERY much. Following through on that commitment is extremely important for the growth of the organization and thus our collective voice nationally. Please know that once your membership is confirmed, you too will receive conference registration information.

JW

Sedgehead.

signed:
R8 camp slug.

Thanks DeSoto NF for the info and watchouts. One time in my youth when there had
been a fire in City Park, I counted 7 HUGE (3-4 foot long) water moccasins that had
evidently moved out of the fire area. I exercised jumpers for wealthy owners and led City
Park trail rides so I was on horseback when I saw them, but those snakes were scary.
The horse was jittering and jingling along, all too happy to be out of there...

Be Safe
Mellie

Crews have been called up. Two teams have gone or so I heard several days ago. Perhaps someone can fill us in on specifics. Ab.

Thanks for all that you do, you have certainly started to get the "office people," to
start realizing our profession, and mainly our livelihood. Its not so much that we
want to be "glamorized," but recognized for and by what we do. Every reader
on this site should be moved to join the battle... the battle for what we justly deserve.

NZ HELITACK

As soon as we were alerted about a fire, we rushed from work to ShingleTown to get our kids from school; rushed home to gather pets and important papers before heading to safer territory. Looking back, our home was obscured by towering flames.

Fire destroyed 30 structures in our tiny community, most of them homes. The tanker and helicopter pilots did a magnificent job. God bless all the firefighters and emergency personnel. Words cannot express our sincere thanks.

their home was saved
be safe all,
River